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Speakers

Katya AndresenKatya Andresen is Vice President of Marketing for Network for Good, the world's largest provider of online donation services to nonprofits. She develops and executes the charitable giving portal Network for Good's marketing strategy, including consumer outreach, media relations, corporate partnerships and nonprofit marketing.

Seminar Recording: Standout Marketing

Before joining Network for Good, Katya was Senior Vice President of Sutton Group, a marketing and communications firm supporting non-profits, government agencies, and foundations working for the social good. She has also served as a marketing consultant overseas, promoting causes ranging from civil society in Ukraine to ecotourism in Madagascar. She also worked for CARE International.

Fundraising Success Magazine named Katya Fundraising Professional of the Year in 2007. She has trained hundreds of causes in effective marketing and media relations, and her marketing materials for nonprofits have won national and international awards.

Katya is the author of the book, Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes (Jossey-Bass, 2006) and was featured in the ebook, Nine Minds of Marketing. She is also author of a chapter in the upcoming book, People to People Fundraising (Wiley, 2007).

Katya traces her passion for good causes to the enormous social need she witnessed as a journalist prior to her work in the non-profit sector. She was a foreign correspondent for Reuters News and Television in Asia and for Associated Press, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News in Africa. She has a bachelor's degree in history from Haverford College.


Kurt AschermannKurt Aschermann, has extensive experience as a marketing and resource development professional. He has recently been named President and COO of Charity Partners LLC in Boston, Massachusetts.  Charity Partners is a new company dedicated to providing innovative fundraising solutions for respected charities throughout the U.S. and the world.  Its first platform is called Tickets for Charity.

Seminar Recording: Corporate Appeals - Creating A For Profit Mentality

Prior to his current position, Aschermann was Senior Vice President of Resource Development and Marketing for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In that position he created systems and programs to stabilize the organization’s fund raising operation while dramatically increasing the overall donor base and diversifying the methods used to raise money.  In 1990 BGCA raised and spent approximately $280 million. In 2002 that number was $1.2 billion.

Kurt has been a teacher, worked in government/politics and for March of Dimes; he also has consulted to various for-profit and non-profit groups. He is a well-known speaker and lecturer on nonprofit/for-profit relations, and board development, and has authored several articles about the changing donor environment and new economic realties of non-profit management. He was a recent recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.


Melanie BoydMelanie Boyd, is Director of Development with the Dayton Philharmonic Symphony. Formerly, as Senior Managing Director of David Valinsky Associates, she provided counsel on bequest giving, capital campaign management, case for support development, annual appeal efforts, and campaign feasibility studies for local, regional and national nonprofit organizations spanning the health and human services, performing arts, religious and social service sectors. Her career experience includes overseeing development efforts for a nationally accredited, private, non-profit community corrections agency.

Seminar Recording: How To Launch Your Bequests Program

Throughout her professional and volunteer experiences, Melanie has been fortunate to work alongside dedicated professionals, tireless volunteers, and generous donors who share her commitment to and passion for serving others. As co-author of The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to Raising Money Through Bequests, she clearly recognizes the critical role planned giving plays in even the smallest of development offices.


Gary CannonGary Curtis Cannon, is an attorney practicing in the San Diego, California area. He is a veteran of nonprofit legal counsel, advising nonprofits on all issues of compliance with Federal and State reporting requirements, fundraising laws and regulations, including State charity registration laws, and the IRS revised Form 990.

Gary advises clients on the formation of Nonprofit corporations, both public benefit and mutual benefit, private foundations and public charities, as well as other nonprofit legal entities such as unincorporated voluntary associations. He has counseled clients regarding choice of entity, corporate governance, the rights and duties of officers, directors, and group members. He advises on and prepares 501(c)(3) and other applications for tax exempt status under Federal and State tax codes. Gary is a partner in Affinity Fundraising Registration Services for Nonprofits. For more information, visit his web site at GaryCurtisCannon.com

Seminar Recording: State Registration Requirements for Nonprofit Fundraising - FREE


Margaret May DamenMargaret May Damen, CFP, CLU, ChFC, CDFA is President and Founder of the Institute For Women and Wealth in Palm City, Florida. She expresses a unique and passionate perspective on Women and Philanthropy.

Seminar Recording: Boomer Women And The New Rules For Fundraising

Margaret May is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences and workshop leader on topics of empowering women to fulfill their wealth legacy abundantly. Recent presentations include 2006 and 2007 International AFP and 2005 and 2006 National Committee on Planned Giving Conferences and the 2007 Association for Healthcare Philanthropy International conference.

Margaret May is a graduate of Boston University. Her 40-year career in fundraising, financial planning and philanthropic consulting began in the late 1960s as a vice president for development at Boston University and as a purlic relations director for the College of Fine Arts. Her career includes work in the corporate world as Senior Financial Advisor for 18 years with American Express Financial Adviosors where she specialized in philanthropic estate planning for women. She is listed in "Who's Who in Finance in America," a past president of the Treasure Coast Planned Giving Council and served as an instructor in investment and finance at Florida Atlantic University's continuing education department.


Cheryl ClarkeCheryl A. Clarke is a fundraising consultant, trainer, author and “recovering lawyer.”  She wrote Storytelling for Grantseekers: The Guide to Creative Nonprofit Fundraising (Jossey Bass, 2001) and co-authored (with Susan Fox) Grant Proposal Makeover: Transform Your Request from No to Yes (Jossey Bass, 2007).  Clarke works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, primarily in California. She also regularly teaches workshops in fundraising techniques and grantwriting both locally and nationally.  She is a featured trainer at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, and has co-moderated the highly regarded “Reality Grantmaking” numerous workshops throughout Northern California.  Clarke was a presenter at the 2006 and 2007 AFP International Conferences and the 2006 American Association of Grant Professionals Conference.

Seminar Recording: Get Your Grant With A Proposal Makeover

Prior to establishing her consulting practice in 1995, Cheryl held senior development positions at The Marine Mammal Center, the University of California – San Francisco and the University of San Francisco School of Law.  She has a Bachelor of Science of Journalism from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.  Clarke is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and served as the Golden Gate Chapter’s Vice President for Education for two years and as a board member for three years. In her free time, Clarke writes short fiction and has been published in several literary magazines, including Potpourri and Bust Out Stories. Her professional website is www.CherylAClarke.com

Pam CookPamela Cook, ACFRE operates her own business (PamelaCook.com) in which she has conducted nonprofit searches for development and management staff since 2000 and has more than twenty years experience in corporate community relations and nonprofit fundraising. 

Seminar Recordings: Giving Circles

Pamela has more than twenty years experience in corporate community relations and nonprofit fundraising. 

Pam was 2000 and 2001 president of the board of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.  She serves on the Board of the SEMI Foundation and on the West Coast Regional Advisory Board of the Institute of International Education.  She also served on the board of the Fulbright Association and was a Big Sister for fourteen years.

A graduate of Duke University (BA), University of Virginia (MA), and a Fulbright Scholar at the Australian National University, Pam received a certificate in corporate community relations from Boston College.  She has also completed the Stanford University Management Development Program, the Stanford Advanced Management College, the Coro Community Leaders Program, and the Environmental Forum of Marin.

Pam is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and is a registered Fundraising Counsel with the State of California.  She was named as the 2003 Hank Rosso Outstanding Fundraising Executive by the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Executives and Northern California Grantmakers.


Dori EggettDori Eggett, CPA is Tax Senior Manager at EKS&H (www.eksh.com).

Dori Eggett is a senior manager in the tax service area and has been involved in public accounting since 1987. Her areas of special expertise include tax planning and compliance for nonprofit organizations, as well as individuals, closely held business entities, partnerships and trusts.

She is affiliated with professional organizations including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants; Board member of The Denver Post Community Foundation; and member of the Finance Committee of the of Colorado Nonprofit Association.


Kevin FlatteryKevin Flattery is Director of Development Cardiovascular Services at the University of Kansas Hospital.

Seminar Recording: How To Ask For And Get A Big Gift

Kevin served as Director of Institutional Advancement St. Teresa’s Academy, Kansas City, MO for 10 years beginning in 2008. There he was responsible for the design and execution of all aspects of advancement for one of the oldest and largest private, Catholic, secondary schools for girls in the Midwest. He oversaw strategic planning, admissions, marketing, public relations, major gifts, capital campaign, annual giving, planned giving, endowment growth, corporate and foundation relations and special event fund raising. In 2006 Kevin completed a successful $14 million capital campaign that included the development of the largest community school of the arts in Kansas City. This was followed by a $10 million endowment fundraising campaign.

A veteran of the nonprofit sector Kevin has extensive experience with face-to-face gift solicitation. The early years of his career were spent in health care administration. Kevin is also the coordinator for Nonprofit Business Solutions where he has applied his extensive experience developing business plans to the nonprofit sector.


Susan FoxSusan Fox, CFRE has worked as an independent fundraising consultant to non-profit organizations since 1980 and has held the designation of Certified Fund Raising Executive since 1995. She specializes in providing training for clients in major gifts, annual fund, capital and planned giving campaigns. She also provides services in grantwriting, appeal letter writing and general fundraising strategies. Recent clients include healthcare and sevice organizations.

Seminar Recording: Get Your Grant With A Proposal Makeover

Based in San Francisco, Susan frequently leads workshops on fundraising throughout the United States and Mexico and has been an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension, the University of San Francisco and the University of Montana. She is a regular instructor at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and co-authored the curriculum for CompassPoint’s two-day course on "Writing Successful Grant Proposals." Together with her colleague Cheryl A. Clarke, Susan organizes and moderates successful Reality Grantmaking workshops at several Bay Area conferences. The two have also written a book proposal writing. Grant Proposal Makeover: Transform Your Request from No to Yes was published released recently by Jossey-Bass.


Linda GarrisonAssociated with RBSCo since 1996, Linda Garrison has been a fund raising and public relations consultant since the late 1980s. She has worked with dozens of non-profits, including hospitals, health organizations, colleges, churches and other faith-based institutions, human service providers, associations and arts organizations, providing counsel and direct services.

Seminar Recording: Weather The Storm

During her award-winning public relations career, she worked on both the West Coast and in Colorado. A graduate of The Metropolitan State College of Denver with a bachelor's degree in Journalism, Linda has taken continued professional education at several universities and was accredited by the Public Relations Society of America in 1993.


Kay Sprinkel GraceKay Sprinkel Grace, CFRE, is a San Francisco-based organizational consultant, providing workshops and consultation to local, regional, national and international organizations in strategic planning, case and board development, staff development, and other issues related to leadership of the fund raising process. From 2004 through 2006 she has served as principal external consultant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Major Giving Initiative in which 114 public television licensees participate.

Seminar Recordings:
Build The Relationship And The Money Will Come
AAA Gifts From a AAA Board

Kay speaks nationally at a variety of conferences including AFP, AHP and DMA. In recent years she has been a featured presenter at the Fundraising Institute Australia in Canberra, the Swedish Fundraising Council in Stockholm and the International Fund Raising Conference (and will be again in 2006) in The Netherlands, and in 2005 she was a presenter at the AFP Toronto Congress. She was honored as "Outstanding Fund Raising Executive" by the Golden Gate Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (now AFP) in 1992.

The author of five books, most recently, Fundraising Mistakes That Bedevil All Boards, 2004, you'll learn more about Kay at her website transforming-philanthropy.org


Margaret GuellichMargaret Guellich, MBA, CFRE, has over 30 years of fund raising experience. Currently she is Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving for the Diocese of Metuchen (NJ). Previously Margaret led Catholic Relief Services direct response program managing more than $55 million annually.

Seminar Recording: ReKindle Your Annual Fund Spark

Margaret’s background includes development audits, planning and feasibility studies, management of comprehensive development programs, capital campaigns, major gift development and cultivation, direct response/ annual funds, board development and seminars.

She is the Fund Raising Executive of the Year 2000 for Greater Washington DC Chapter of AFP and was named the Women’s Direct Response Group’s 2000 Woman of the Year. In 2001, she was selected as one of the twelve ‘Most Powerful Women in Direct Marketing’ by the Non-Profit Times.

Margaret is an internationally known conference speaker presenting for organizations like the National Catholic Development Conference, Catholic Charities USA, the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, and the Direct Marketing Association. She was president of the Greater Washington DC Chapter of AFP Chapter and was a member of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy Board. Currently Margaret is a member of AFP’s Leadership Society and serves on several committees.

In 2001 Margaret wrote “Reviving Your Donor File” part of AFP’s Ready Reference Series. In addition, she has written numerous articles for the Non-Profit Times, the DM News, Target Marketing and FundRaising Success Magazines.


Marcy HeimMarcy Heim, CFRE, is widely recognized as an excellent and entertaining presenter. She combines her experience with a large, public research university, a small independent school and a variety of clients into thoughtful workshops, seminars and consulting.

Seminar Recordings:
Appropriate Expectations For Managing Major Gifts
I Can't Thank You Enough

Upcoming Live Seminar: Overcome Your Fear of Asking

Marcy’s teaching reflects over twenty years of first hand experience. She served as the Senior Director of Development for the University of Wisconsin Foundation where she managed constituency development staff and programs for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Her unit experienced twenty-fold giving growth and completed a $50,000,000 campaign under her leadership. In addition, Marcy coordinated the regional development efforts for the UW-Madison in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years.

In 2007, Marcy was presented the CASE Steuben Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. She’s been a featured speaker at many regional AFP conferences and the International Association of Fundraising Professionals Conferences. Marcy was recognized with the AFP Greater Madison Chapter’s Outstanding Fundraising Professional and the Professional Achievement award from the National Agriculture Alumni and Development Association (NAADA). She also served as NAADA National President and is a graduate of Leadership Greater Madison. Marcy invests time back into her community as a pro-bono development consultant with the United Way of Dane County and through work with local arts organizations and service clubs.

Marcy’s practice, Artful Asker LLC, focuses on board, faculty and staff development, motivation and training, feasibility studies/development audits, strategic planning and campaign development and management. Her clients include hospital foundations, agricultural foundations, small to medium non-profits and higher ed.


Rich HobsonRichard F. Hobson, MCP, is President of Hobson Renaissance Solutions LLC, founded in 1984. Through his firm he provides organizational consulting and technology services to nonprofit organizations of all sizes and type, with an emphasis on Educational Institutions, Arts and Cultural Organizations as well as Businesses that serve the Education/ Philanthropic marketplace. A true renaissance man, Mr. Hobson is a composer of both music and software, a performer on the consulting and concert stage as well as a product marketing and audience development specialist.  He would be quick to tell you that all of these disciplines are really the same thing.

Mr. Hobson has served as Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Thomas More College, Educational Technology Product Manager for the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company and Product Manager for Institutional Advancement software at CARS Information Systems (now Jenzabar, Inc.) Among his achievements, he led the development and marketing of digital keyboard lab systems for K-12 schools, designed a new generation of Fundraising applications for Higher Education administrative database systems and achieved major growth and diversification of the funding base at Thomas More College.

Mr. Hobson is a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) with the Small Business Specialist designation. He holds a Master of Music degree in Composition from the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University and a Bachelor of Music with a double major in Composition and Flute Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati.


John HoskinsJohn M. Hoskins, CFE, is Senior National Philanthropic Advisor for the Saint Francis Community Services. Saint Francis is a child welfare agency based in Kansas and serving 2,000 children in Kansas, Mississippi, and California.

Seminar Recording: Start Your Planned Giving Program Right

John has over 30 years experience in the planned giving and fundraising field. He has worked for the Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation and the National Benevolent Association. Prior to joining Saint Francis in 2001, he served as planned giving officer of Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado from 1993-2001.

John is a Certified Direct Marketer (CDM), a Fellow in Church Business Administration (FCBA), and a Certified Financial Educator (CFE). In demand as a speaker, John brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to seminar participants.


Phil ImmordinoPhil Immordino is the President of the Golf Tournament Association of America. Author of How to Produce a Successful Golf Tournament, Phil has been involved in the golf industry of over 15 years. He has served as Tournament Director for hundreds of golf tournaments. Currently Phil travels the country giving seminars on, “Selling Golf Tournaments”, “How to Produce a Successful Golf Tournament” and “Recruiting and Motivating Volunteers”. Phil consults with nonprofit organizations to help them found or improve their fundraising tournaments. He also works with golf courses, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, golf tournament directors, golf instructors and golf course designers, assisting them in working with nonprofits.

Seminar Recording:
How To Hold A Successful Fundraising Tournament


Lisa JamesLisa James, CFRE has twenty years of executive experience with large organizations and projects. Her experience in the non-profit field includes staff positions with Oregon Health Sciences University Foundation, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation, Rogue Valley Medical Center Foundation, The Osmond Family Foundation/ Children’s Miracle Network. She served as Executive Director of the Wenatchee Valley College Foundation, and six years as Director of Institutional Advancement for Southern Oregon University and Executive Director of the SOU Foundation. 

Through her firm, James Consulting, Inc., Ms. James specializes in marketing and public relations, capital campaign counsel, feasibility/planning studies, development audits, planned giving programs and strategic planning. Regional campaign projects have included the Three Rivers Hospital in Grants Pass, the Lithia Motors Amphitheater at the Jackson County Fairgrounds and she is currently working on the 132-acre regional Sports and Community Park for the City of Medford. She is a frequent conference presenter on varied topics from marketing to planned giving programs.


Marc Lee Marc Lee, President of Affinity Resources LLC, is both a Certified Fund Raising Executive and a Webmaster. He specializes in Internet Communications – in the opportunities and challenges of marketing and fundraising online.

Seminar Recordings:
Fundraising Emails That Raise $$
Internet Fundraising Tips For Challenging Times
State Registration Requirements for Nonprofit Fundraising - FREE
Successful Email Fundraising On A Tight Budget
What Is A Development Audit & Will It Help? - FREE
How To Ask For And Get A Big Gift

Marc not only consults on fundraising, website design, and email and Internet marketing strategy, he is a practitioner. His extensive hands-on experience includes work on over 80 websites: creating database driven web sites, designing and executing Email Campaigns, Optimizing for Search Engines and setting up eCommerce and Online Donation applications. Marc is President of Affinity Fundraising Registration Services for Nonprofits.

Marc is a sought after speaker and workshop leader in the areas of Fundraising and the Internet with recent presentations at: AFP International, CASE-NAIS, Mid-America Fundraising Conference, Regional AFPs, Regional ALDE, Philanthropy Day, and University of Nebraska Continuing Education. He is the creator of the capital campaign assessment tool, CampaignReadiness.com


Linda LysakowskiLinda Lysakowski, ACFRE is one of fewer than 100 people worldwide to hold the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive designation.

Seminar Recordings:
How To Obtain Gifts From Your Local Business Community
7 Things To Know About Your Capital Campaign
You Need A Development Plan
Effective Use of Fundraising Volunteers

The President and CEO of Capital Venture, Linda was named Eastern Pennsylvania’s “Outstanding Fundraising Executive of the Year” in 2001, Linda received this same honor from the Las Vegas Chapter in 2004. In April 2006 she received the Barbara Marion Award for Outstanding Service to AFP. A magna cum laude graduate of Alvernia College, Linda is also a graduate of AFP’s Faculty Training Academy.

Linda has managed capital campaigns ranging in size from $175,000 to over $12,000,000, helped hundreds of organizations start or improve their development programs, and has trained more than 10,000 professionals and volunteers in areas of fundraising and philanthropy.

A featured speaker Linda is the author of The Development Plan (Wiley & Sons, 2007) and Recruiting and Training Fundraising Volunteers, (Wiley & Sons, 2005). She is a contributing author to The Fundraising Feasibility Study—It’s Not About the Money, edited by Martin Novom, (Wiley & Sons, 2007).


Heather McLeod GrantHeather McLeod Grant is co-author of the highly acclaimed Forces For Good (Jossey-Bass, 2008). She an advisor to the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and to leading nonprofits and foundations.

Seminar Recording: Fundraising In High Impact Nonprofits

Heather is a former McKinsey & Company consultant and a co-founder of Who Cares, a national magazine for young social entrepreneurs published from 1993-1999. Heather has more than fifteen years of experience in the social sector, and consults with leading philanthropic and nonprofit institutions. She has lectured at Stanford, and presented at industry conferences on social entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, youth engagement, and strategic philanthropy.

Heather has been published in the New York Times, Inc., the American Prospect, and Alliance, and has appeared on CNN and NPR. Heather serves on the Advisory Boards of the Stanford Social Innovation Review and the National Civic League. She holds an MBA from Stanford University and an AB from Harvard University, and resides in the Bay Area with her husband and daughter.


Richard McPhersonRichard McPherson helps non-profit organizations increase public support through direct marketing, online communications and training. He founded Philadelphia-based McPherson Associates in 1984, providing communications and fundraising services to the American Red Cross, The Carter Center, major U.S. universities and libraries, the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, children’s hospitals, women’s rights advocates and conservation organizations.

Seminar Recording: New Trends In Digital Giving

In 2003 Mr. McPherson’s firm joined the London-based Management Centre as U.S. partner for its international network supporting NGOs and government agencies worldwide. His international clients have included the United Nations Environment for Europe Program (Geneva), Mama Cash (Amsterdam), Boys Town South Africa and the American University in Bulgaria, one of the first Western-style universities created in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism.

Mr. McPherson has served as fundraising advisor to the late Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to former President Jimmy Carter. He has conducted fundraising training programs for the Direct Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Federation (New York), the International Fundraising Congress (Amsterdam), The National Trust for Historic Preservation (Washington), and the Women’s Funding Network (San Francisco). He is a popular webinar trainer for associations and fundraising magazines.

Mr. McPherson holds an honors degree from New York University where he currently serves on the faculty of the George H. Heyman, Jr., Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Convio, America’s largest provider of online technology services to the voluntary sector. He is the author of Digital Giving: How Technology is Changing Charity (June 2007, from iUniverse, a Barnes & Noble company), acclaimed by reviewers in the US, the UK and the Netherlands.

David RenzDavid Renz, Ph.D., is the Director of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership in the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Seminar Recording: The Changing Face of Board & Staff Accountability

Dr. Renz teaches and conducts research on nonprofit and public service leadership and governance, and he helps organizations develop programs to strengthen quality, innovation, and effectiveness. Much of Renz's work focuses on helping organizations and communities design and successfully implement major change and development initiatives. Renz's research interests are in the areas of nonprofit and public service organization effectiveness, governance, and innovation in public service management and leadership.

His work is regularly published in both scholarly and practitioner publications, including Nonprofit Management and Leadership, The Nonprofit Quarterly, The Nonprofit CEO Newsletter, Strategic Governance, Leadership Quest, Public Productivity and Management Review, The Bioethics Forum, American Review of Public Administration, and Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.


Bernard RossBernard Ross is Director of the Management Centre, Europe’s leading consultancy and training organisation working solely for value driven organisations.

Seminar Recording: Asking For Gifts - The Power Of Influence

Bernard has an unusual specialty -- teaching people how to ask for money over meals! Recent successes include coaching the President of Brazil’s wife to ask for $5M during a formal lunch, helping public television specialists in the US to secure $4M in foundation funds while working a buffet, and coaching a Scottish lawyer to ask JK Rowling for £1M over dinner.

His areas of expertise are strategic thinking, change leadership and organisational transformation. He specialises in developing strategic capacity with senior teams and boards. He also acts as a personal coach to a number of CEOs of large NGOs and INGOs.

He has worked for over 20 years with not-for-profit organisations helping them transform their performance. His customers include most of the major UK charities and many leading INGOs – ranging from Oxfam to UNICEF and WHO to Save the Children.

His work has taken him to every continent and almost 30 countries. Among his recent projects are:

  • guiding the strategic planning approach and change process for Amnesty International’s worldwide post 9/11
  • advising UNHCR Italy on how to triple their income from private donors in just two years
  • facilitating a major review of the US Public Broadcasting Service in terms of how to develop new business models to reflect changing demographics.
  • Developing strategic planning materials for UNAIDS designed to help tackle the AIDS pandemic

He co-authored Breakthrough Thinking for Non-Profit Organisations with Clare Segal (Jossey-Bass 2002). His new book, The Power of Influence in Fundraising (Wiley & Sons, 2007) will be in print in time for his Seminar.


Jerry F SmithAuthor, lecturer, teacher and fundraising consultant, Jerry F. Smith founded the J.F. Smith Group in 1991. Following a successful development career as Executive Director of Alumni and Development at Auburn University, Smith was asked to speak to the board of a large Christian school in Birmingham, to offer advice with regard to a possible capital campaign. At the end of the board meeting, Smith was asked if he would take the job.

Seminar Recording: Major Gifts SuCCCess Is Spelled With 3 Cs

Since then, the J.F. Smith Group has conducted feasibility studies and capital campaigns across the country. Significantly, the company has conducted two and three campaign for many of its clients. Smith is a popular and respected convention presenter. He has conducted seminars on an assortment of fundraising topics both here in the United States, for CASE, ACSI, Blackbaud, AFP, NAADD, and in Germany for the Catholic Fundraising Institute.


Patricia StirlingPatricia Stirling, works out of San Francisco and has been in the resource development field since 1981. She helped found both Cardaronella Stirling Associates and International Advancement Counsel (NAC).  

Seminar Recording: Giving Circles

Building a practice primarily in the West, Patricia has earned a reputation as a highly regarded campaign strategist, teacher and lecturer on creating campaign plans and infrastructures that help insure an institution’s success in their campaigns.

Active in professional organizations, Patricia has served on a number of boards including the Association of Philanthropic Counsel (APC); Vice President of the AFP Golden Gate Chapter; elected member to the American Association of Fund Raising Counsel (AAFRC), and former Vice-Chair of the Committee for Women and Minorities of (CASE).

Patricia received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History with honors from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and has attended the highly regarded Institute for Nonprofit Consulting (a Packard Foundation initiative.) She has been a guest speaker and faculty member at conferences and seminars for CASE, AFP, Stanford University, Golden Gate University, American Association of Medical Colleges, National Catholic Education Association, Development Executives Roundtable, Alumnae Resources, Western Alliance of Arts Administrators Foundation, and the Peninsula Community Foundation. In addition, she has had a number of articles published on fundraising management.


David ValinskyDavid Valinsky, CAP©, is the founder of David Valinsky Associates, a fundraising consulting firm that works with nonprofit organizations across the country to conduct planned giving efforts, feasibility studies, capital campaigns, and strategic development planning. With 25 years of fundraising experience, David has worked with many dynamic philanthropic institutions and causes in developing some of their most successful fundraising programs and capital campaigns to-date. He is the co-author of The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to Raising Money Through Bequests.

Seminar Recording: How To Launch Your Bequests Program

David’s good humor and down-to-earth approach to the seemingly complicated topic of planned giving have made him a welcome presenter on this often overlooked opportunity for development professionals and their donors. He was a recent presenter at the Association of Healthcare Professionals International Conference and the JCCs of North America Professional Conference.  David received the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy© professional designation from the American College.

Prior to founding the firm in 1998, he served in both national and regional senior development roles with the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor Foundation, a national Catholic health care organization with facilities in six states. One of his most meaningful experiences was serving as the lead adjunct consultant in fundraising for US AID in a three year partnership with several recovering cities in Croatia.

Brinah VincentBrinah Vincent, MBA, CFRE is the founder of Effective Fundraising Management, a fundraising consulting firm in Colorado Springs, CO. She has over seventeen years of fundraising experience in Boston, Denver and Colorado Springs. A graduate of the University of Denver, with an MBA in Public/Nonprofit Management from Boston University, Ms. Vincent is a specialist in the area of fundraising administration, including planning and prospect research. She has attended the National Planned Giving Institute and has been a Certified Fund Raising Executive since 1998.

Seminar Recordings:
Budgeting and Planning For Fundraising - Best Practices
Managing Prospect Research Strategy

Ms. Vincent was the founding president of AFP Southern Colorado, and is an active member of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement’s Colorado chapter. A sought after trainer, she is a frequent lecturer in the area of fundraising, has served as adjunct faculty for the Gill Foundation and the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, and is an associate of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence.