Deeper Donor Relationships in Planned Giving: From Conversations to Legacy Commitments
Speaker: Robyn Furness-Fallin and Gary Laermer
Whether driven by a new strategic plan, a campaign launch, or personal career growth, many professionals are expanding their focus to include planned giving. This interactive session explores how to build deep, long-term donor relationships that lead to meaningful legacy gifts. Through presentation, discussion, and hands-on exercises, participants will learn how to start and sustain donor conversations, outline compelling cases for support, and develop actionable plans with measurable outcomes. You'll leave with a clearer understanding of the donor journey, how to make these relationships institutional, and why stewardship continues even after a planned gift is made.
Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Donors: Identifying Issues & Applying Best Practices
Speaker: Tara Adams and Tony Pomonis
As fundraising professionals, we are on the precipice of the largest transfer of wealth in human history. While this provides an unprecedented opportunity for philanthropic giving, it also comes with increasing challenges for fundraisers, planned giving officers, professional advisors, and other staff regularly engaging with our donor population. Cognitive impairment in elderly donors is on the rise, often resulting in diagnoses of dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, which can create difficult ethical and legal issues for our professionals when discussing charitable gifts. Are you prepared for this inevitable scenario? Our session will teach attendees about the cognitive impairment in donor populations, how to identify the top signs, and applicable best practices on how best to handle these situations through an ethical and legal lens. Participants in our session will leave understanding what next steps to take when they, or their colleagues, are faced with the issue of cognitive impairment in an elderly donor.
Embracing Values-Driven Philanthropy: Strategies for Joyful Giving and Sustainable Community Transformation
Speaker: Jennifer Oyer
Building on the keynote's foundation of authentic relationships, this interactive breakout dives into the joyful giving framework to empower your philanthropy with purpose and passion. We'll unpack values-driven approaches from Community Impact Advisors' playbook, including tools for identifying donor motivations, crafting impact stories that resonate emotionally, and designing stewardship systems that celebrate community wins. Attendees will engage in hands-on exercises to apply these principles, emerging with a personalized roadmap to infuse joy into giving programs, amplify donor loyalty, and drive measurable, values-aligned change—ensuring your organization's legacy endures through inspired, community-centered philanthropy.
Building Exponential Growth: A Strategic Approach to Legacy Giving
Speaker: Linda Spuck
How do you unite an organization around a shared enthusiasm for legacy giving and build momentum that drives lasting results? This seminar uses a real-world case study from Sharp HealthCare Foundation to show how a focused, organization-wide strategy can dramatically expand planned giving results. Drawing from the Foundation's initial three-year legacy giving strategic plan, Linda shares practical lessons learned, encouraging outcomes, and the steps that helped align colleagues around clear priorities. Attendees will leave with actionable insights on assessing organizational capacity, identifying opportunities, setting achievable goals, and focusing efforts where they matter most to accelerate their own legacy giving programs.
