Workshops by Time

Workshop and Plenary Descriptions

Workshop Levels:

1: New to fundraising ( less than 1 year of experience)

2: Experienced fundraiser (1-3 years experience)

3: Advanced fundraiser (4+ years experience)

Audience:

A: Organizers/Program Staff

B: Development/fundraising staff

C: Board members and grassroots leaders

D: Executive Directors

E: Everyone, all of the above

Spanish translation will be provided at many workshops and all plenary sessions. Those sessions that will be simul-translation are indicated by the words “(Spanish and English)”

Friday August 4 Opening Keynote 9:00-10:30am (Spanish and English)

Money, Happiness, Social Justice and the Future
Money is critical to creating the future we want, so our fundraising must have social justice woven into its very fabric. Kim Klein and Sonya Garcia Ulibarri will describe how fundraising must lead our work for change and how to make money our ally in shaping our future.

Sonya Garcia Ulibarri, Executive Director, Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training
Kim Klein, Publisher, Grassroots Fundraising Journal

Track: Boards and Fundraising

Boards That Work: Effective Board Development (Spanish and English)
Effective boards are possible! This interactive workshop will consider the roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards and explore strategies for building boards that fundraise, provide thoughtful leadership, and promote your organization’s mission and vision.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Board Fundraising Commitment Form (Word format 76kb)
Board Roles and Responsibilities (Word format 68kb)
Spanish Board Roles (Word format 1.3mb)
Spanish Commitment Form (Word format 756kb)

Level: 1-2 Audience: C

Aspen Baker, Executive Director, Exhale
Ellen Wu, Board Treasurer, Exhale

Track: Fundraising History and Politics

The Outsider’s History of Philanthropy
A new lens on philanthropic history explores the nonprofit system as a tool to control women and people of color while protecting the wealthy and relieving government of its responsibilities to its people. Learn what it really means to be tax-exempt in this entertaining and participatory workshop.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Rebecca Johnson, Lead Organizer, Cooperative Economics for Women

Track: Fundraising Skills and Practice

The Accidental Fundraiser: An Introduction to Grassroots Fundraising (Spanish and English)
When you’re just starting out, you don’t even know what you don’t know. If you’re not sure what the first steps are in creating a successful fundraising program, this workshop is for you. You’ll learn the basic, underlying principles that govern all fundraising and you’ll be on your way with new ideas, new energy and a better sense of direction!

Level: 1 Audience: E

Stephanie Roth, Editor, Grassroots Fundraising Journal and co-author, The Accidental Fundraiser: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Money for Your Cause.

Fundraising for Organizers
The integration of fundraising and organizing strengthens both. We will discuss why and how this happens, then look at common mistakes organizers and fundraisers make and how to avoid them in order to build stronger fundraising and organizing campaigns. Organizers will leave with practical tips for taking advantage of fundraising opportunities within their organizing work.

Level: 1-2 Audience: A

Mike Roque, President, Adobe Consulting

Track: Giving Money: The Flip Side of Fundraising

Models of Giving in Communities of Color

What is different about philanthropy in communities of color and indigenous nations? How has the definition of “philanthropist” expanded? The founder of one of the earliest Native foundations and the organizer of the first Hmong women’s giving circle share the successes and challenges of advancing self-determination in their communities.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Moderator: Aparna Shah, Development Director, Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice

Panelists:
Barbara Poley, Executive Director, Hopi Foundation
Mala Thao, Community Asset Builder, Asian Americans/ Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy.

Track: Making It Work: Fundraising Systems

Financial Statements Made Easy (Really!)
Ever wish you could get a grip on your organization’s finances? You can! You’ll learn how to use an income statement, a balance sheet, and a variance report to gauge your organization’s financial health. Easy-to-use handouts are designed to reinforce your new skills back in the real world.

Level: 1-2 Audience: E

Sojeila Maria Silva, Fiscal Fitness Program Manager, Northern California Community Loan Fund

Track: New Models for Social Justice Groups

Who’s Up Next: Generational Changes in Leadership
How can we prepare for the departure of long-term leaders and support a new generation of leadership? This workshop discusses the differences between Baby Boom and Generation X leaders, explores organizational models for successful leadership transitions to a new generation, and examines the impact of generational change on fundraising.

Download Workshop Handouts:
What’s going on for Generation X and the Baby Boomers? (Word format 104kb)
Case Scenario (Word format 26kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Helen S. Kim, Consultant and Team Member, Building Movement Project
Frances Kunreuther, Director, Building Movement Project
Emery Wright, Program Director, Project South

Foundations vs. Grassroots Fundraising—Let the Battle Begin!
Two diverse teams of debaters will go head-to-head to settle once and for all the ancient struggle between grantseekers and grassroots fundraisers.  A provocative, no-holds-barred post-lunch debate on one of the most relevant topics for social justice groups today.

Moderator: Sung E Bai, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities and Domestic Workers United

Foundation Debate Team:
Christine Ahn, Board Member, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Gary Delgado, Founder and Former Executive Director, Applied Research Center
Jan Masaoka, Executive Director, Compass Point Nonprofit Services.

Grassroots Fundraising Debate Team:
Dolores Garay, Consultant
June Rostan, Lead Community Organizer, Voice@Work, AFL-CIO
Luis Sanchez, Executive Director, Inner City Struggle

Track: Boards and Fundraising
Board Strategies: Overcoming Fears of Fundraising (Spanish and English)
This workshop is part fundraising therapy, part strategy. We will talk together about the fears of and barriers to fundraising and explore tools to help ourselves and our Boards create a fundraising workplan that is manageable and tangible and that reflects the values of our organizations.

Level 1-2 Audience: E

Kimberly Aceves, Executive Director, Youth Together
Aparna Shah, Board Member, Youth Together

Track: Fundraising Skills and Practice

Dive Into Development Planning
There are four parts to fundraising…plan, plan, plan, and work your plan! Learn the steps to creating a successful development plan. We’ll assess your current situation, taking stock of outside factors, examining cash flow, assigning responsibility, and more! Bring your current income and expense statement. Dive into development planning…the water’s fine!

Download Workshop Handout (PDF format 1mb)

Level: 1-2 Audience: E

Russell Roybal, Director of Movement Building, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The Personal Touch: Cultivating and Upgrading Donors
A workshop for people who have done some individual donor fundraising but want to go to the next level by developing a stronger major gifts program. We’ll discuss strategies for cultivating, involving, and soliciting donors for larger gifts. Topics include donor involvement and recognition, research, and planned giving.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Donor Dialogue Continuum (Word format 27kb)
Donor Bill of Rights (PDF format 27kb)
Stewardship Plan (Word format 31kb)

Level 1-3 Audience: E

Byron Johnson, CFRE, Projects Director, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

Raps That Raise Money: Fundraising at Any Gathering (Spanish and English)
Making a fundraising pitch at a special event, house party, or other gathering is a far more effective technique to raise money than “passing the hat.” In this workshop you will learn practical tips for preparation, making the pitch, and following up to increase your event fundraising by $1,000–$10,000.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Event Pitches (Word format 45kb)
Gift Chart (PDF format 84kb)
Worksheet (Word format 49kb)

Level: 1-2 Audience: E

Mark Toney, Executive Coach

Track: Making It Work: Fundraising Systems

Getting the Word Out: Communications and Fundraising
What is communications and how does it fit into fundraising? How can a small, overworked development staff create an effective communications strategy that enhances fundraising? How do you build fundraising into your overall communications plan? You’ll leave this workshop with practical tools on how to become better known in your community (and the world!) through communications planning.

Level: 1-3 Audience: A,B,D

Diana Ip, Co-Director, SPIN Project

Selecting the Right Donor Database
The right donor database can help you identify, cultivate, solicit, thank, and steward your donors. The wrong one can drive you insane. How do you find the right database? This workshop will discuss how to identify your needs and how to select a database that fits.

Download Workshop Handout (PDF format 315kb)

Level: 1-2 Audience: B,D

Robert Weiner, President, Robert L. Weiner Consulting

Raising Money with Email
An interactive, to-the-point, unpretentious, useful and fun workshop, loaded with practical advice and real world examples. Come with your questions, leave with the real deal: answers and recommendations about how your organization can make the most of your e-mail program.

Download Workshop Handout (PPT format 10.4mb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: ABD

Madeline Stanionis, Consultant

End-of-Day Wrap-Up
Facilitated by Kim Klein, Publisher, Grassroots Fundraising Journal

Going Grassroots: Creating Change through Fundraising

Why should you care about how your organization is funded—not just whether it has the money to operate? Although many organizations try to connect their fundraising to their social justice values, this process can be challenging. This session explores how social justice can and should influence our approach to fundraising.

Keynote Speaker: Jerome W. Scott, Director, Project South

Respondents:

Sister Carmen Barsody, Co-Director, Faithful Fools Ministry
Reverend Kay Jorgensen, Co-Director, Faithful Fools Ministry
Nancy Otto, Consulting Associate, Klein and Roth Consulting

Moderator: Dahnesh Medora, Program Director, National Community Development Institute

Track: Boards and Fundraising

How Grassroots Boards Can Raise Money (Spanish and English)
In many grassroots organizations, boards are elected by and from the membership. This workshop explores the advantages and challenges of working with this type of board and looks at effective fundraising strategies for grassroots boards, along with models of short- and long-term board recruitment and development.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Sara Mersha, Executive Director, Direct Action for Rights and Equality

Track: Fundraising Skills and Practice

Feeding the Youth Movement: Grassroots Fundraising in Youth Organizations
A panel discussion on grassroots fundraising tactics for youth and youth organizations dedicated to social justice work. The panel will provide concrete examples of successful tactics and insight on using grassroots fundraising to engage youth and strengthen organizational culture and commitment to social change values.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Moderator: Santy Salazar, Coalition Leader, Youth Together

Panelists:
Tracy Benson, Co-Founder and Board Member, Asian Freedom
Jonathan Peck, Director, Project Yes, Southwest Youth Collaborative
Gabby Perez, United Students Alumna, Inner City Struggle
Ari Ruiz, United Students Youth Member, Inner City Struggle

How to Build Your Donor Base on a Shoestring
Your organization benefits many people. How do you convince them to contribute? Explore affordable ways to identify prospects, recruit new donors, and encourage the ones you have to give more. The workshop focuses on practical approaches, immediate results, and success stories from fellow participants.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Agenda & handouts (Word format 56kb)
Audience to Technique Chart (Word format 56kb)
Setting Goals (Excel format 12kb)

Level: 1 Audience: E

Ellis M.M. Robinson, Author, The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit

Selling Social Change: Capitalism for Anti-Capitalists (Spanish and English)
Nonprofits across North America are developing and selling goods and services that support their missions and discovering strategies for educating their communities, activating their constituents, and expanding their budgets. If you're looking for options beyond grants and donor fundraising, come learn more about how you can earn money from your mission.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Beyond t-shirts (Word format 28kb)
Income sources for nonprofits (Word format 28kb)
Top tips - earned income (Word format 28kb)
Worksheets - earned income (Word format 60kb)
Spanish (PDF format 120kb)
Spanish - beyond t-shirts (Word format 28kb)
Spanish - SSC article (Word format 56kb)
Spanish - top tips earned (Word format 32kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Andy Robinson, Author, Grassroots Grants: An Activist’s Guide to Grantseeking and Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out): Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits

Special Events: More Money, Less Risk
What makes a special event special? Learn how to choose the right event for your kind of organization, your leadership, your community, and your values. Take home a planning tool to raise more money, build the buzz, have more fun, and avoid common mistakes.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Joan Flanagan, Author, Successful Fundraising: A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and Professionals

Track: New Models for Social Justice Groups

The Future of Boards
Even with good intentions, many boards are not living up to basic expectations of governance and support. We need better ways to work with boards to generate leadership and contributions of time, expertise, and money. Join us for a provocative discussion on how board role, composition, and process are being reinvented.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Download Steve Lew Workshop Handout (Word format 232kb)
Download Pat Bradshaw Workshop Handout (PPT format 189kb)

Steve Lew, Senior Project Director, Compass Point Nonprofit Services

Pat Bradshaw, Associate Professor, Organizational Behavior, York University (Canada)

Track: New Models For Social Justice Groups

From Turf Wars to Unity: Organization-Building vs. Movement-Building
A panel of representatives from grassroots organizing and advocacy groups will discuss ways to move beyond competitive divisiveness over seemingly scarce funding and toward a more holistic and strategic long-term approach to raising money—for both our organizations and our movement.

Download Workshop Handout (PPT format 700kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Moderator: Sujin Lee, Alliance-Building Director, Movement Strategy Center

Panelists:
Aspen Branch-Moore, Development Director, People Organized to Win Employment Rights
Barbara Brenner, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Action
Mike Chavez, Communications Director, Californians for Justice

Track: Fundraising History and Politics

The Indispensable Public Space: Reclaiming the Commons
Air, water, schools, bandwidth are all part of "the commons"—space that belongs to all of us but is becoming increasingly privatized for the use of an elite few. What issues are involved in protecting the commons? And what does this have to do with fundraising?

Download Workshop Handouts:
Scenario on Water (Word format 19kb)
The commons (Word format 55kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Kim Klein, Publisher, Grassroots Fundraising Journal and author, Fundraising for Social Change
Robby Rodriguez, Executive Director, Southwest Organizing Project

Thinking Globally:  “Another World is Possible” (Spanish and English)
Over the past 5 years the World Social Form has gathered the world’s worker, peasant, youth, women, and oppressed peoples to construct a counter-vision to the economic and political elites of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.  Next year, Grassroots Global Justice and others will help organize a regional forum—the US Social Forum.  Grassroots community-based organizations represent a growing sector, but are severely under-resourced. This lack of political strength demonstrates the clear need for greater convergence among progressives and for spaces in which progressives can begin to come together and articulate our vision for “another world.” For people wanting to attend the US Social Forum, or interested in understanding the role these world wide gatherings can have on all our work.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Agenda Headlines (PDF format 68kb)
Globalization Timeline (PDF format 1.1mb)
Structure (PDF format 56kb)
Todays Globalization (PDF format 76kb)
Workshop Notes (Word format 104kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Emery Wright, Program Director, Project South

Track: Fundraising Skills and Practice

Fundraising in Immigrant Communities (Spanish and English)
Staff, community, and board members from organizations based in immigrant communities in the U.S. will share their strategies, experiences, and lessons for grassroots fundraising in immigrant communities in the current political and economic climate.
Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Download Workshop Handouts:
Andrea Lee Handouts (Word format 28kb)
Andrea Lee Quinceañera Campaign (Word format 28kb)

Moderator: Francis Calpotura, Executive Director, Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action

Panelists:
Laila Al Marayati, Board Chairperson, KinderUSA
Jennifer Godinez, Associate Director, Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Inc.
Andrea Lee, Co-Director for Development and Administration, Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Lydia Lowe, Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association

Make that Ask! A Major Donor Clinic
To have a successful major donor program you need to find good prospects, build a fundraising team, develop relationships with your donors, and be prepared to ask for a gift. This workshop will offer tools for increasing your major donor program and give you a chance to practice making an ask.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Asking For Money (PDF format 88kb)
Donor Rating Small Orgs (PDF format 88kb)

Level: 2-3 Audience: E

Katherine Acey, Executive Director, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

Track: Giving Money: The Flip Side of Fundraising

Donor Panel: Demystifying Today’s Donor
A panel of social justice donors from diverse income levels and backgrounds will discuss their giving strategies, how their giving reflects their politics, and what organizations can do to raise more money from people like them.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Mike Gast flyerfront (PDF format 1.1mb)
Mike Gast flyerback (PDF format 740kb)
Mike Gast Movement Generation Support Committee (Word format 33kb)
Mike Gast Donor organizing chart (PDF format 100kb)
Mike Gast MMMC2006 (JPG format 195kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Moderator: Cristy Chung, Consulting Associate, Klein and Roth Consulting

Panelists:
Mike Gast, Donor-Member, Resource Generation
Gil Gerald, Gil Gerald & Associates
DeeDee Nguyen, Development Officer, East Meets West Foundation

Track: New Models for Social Justice Organizations

Creating a Culture of Fundraising in Your Organization
What does it take to embrace fundraising as a key element of an organization’s mission? Panelists will share their experiences—and challenges—of creating an integrated approach to fundraising and program work and discuss successes in building strong donor programs.

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Moderator: Sonya Garcia Ulibari, Executive Director, Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training

Panelists:
Ozawa Bineshi Albert, Campaign Director, SAGE Council
Solomon Rivera, Executive Director, Californians for Justice
Anne Tapp, CEO/Executive Director, Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence

Integrating Social Service and Social Change
Can nonprofit service organizations also work for social justice? This interactive session will examine how service groups can integrate social change values and activities into their work. Presenting examples from the work of the Building Movement Project, we will explore working with staff, building constituent/client involvement, and implementing new strategies.

Download Workshop Handouts:
Social Service Social Change Presentation (PPT format 248kb)
The Transformation Process (Word format 109kb)
Theory of Social Change Instructions (Word format 18kb)
Theory of Social Change Worksheet (Word format 63kb)

Level: 1-3 Audience: E

Linda Campbell, Consultant, Building Movement Project
Frances Kunreuther, Director, Building Movement Project
Caroline McAndrews, Program Associate, Building Movement Project

Bringing It All Together and Taking It Home
A spirited summary and collective brainstorming of next steps in bringing what we’ve learned back to our organizations and communities. 

Closing speaker: Priscilla Hung