Engagement leads to giving. The importance of focusing first on building relationships cannot be overstated.
This workshop will highlight the importance of first building relationships with individual prospects and donors that will lead to the formation of lifelong stakeholders for your organization.
The session will review various ways to develop personal engagement strategies as well as how to design targeted and effective events that help form closer bonds with donors and prospects.
The session will review the various ways to create meaningful volunteer experiences separate from Board Service and will include a review of the value in forming adjunct leadership councils/committees. Also covered will be the importance of fine-tuning the message and case for support and how to guide the conversation and build strong and trusted relationships with key individuals.
Melissa von Stade
Melissa von Stade is a fundraising consultant in Princeton, NJ with over 35 years of experience serving nonprofits. In addition to her role as Director of Development at The Pennington School, Melissa currently provides fundraising counsel to several leadership organizations in Central New Jersey including Trinity Counseling Service, Kent Place School, and Doane Academy.
From 2013 to 2018, Melissa served as the Assistant Head for Development at The Peddie School and focused her efforts on preparing the school for a $100M campaign and on building annual fund receipts. Prior to Peddie, Melissa worked at the University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Dean for Advancement, Alumni Affairs and Communications at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Director of Development for the Morris Arboretum.
Prior to working at UPENN, Melissa served as Vice President of the Wayland Group, as a consultant to over 45 nonprofits in New England. Melissa began her career at Harvard University and served in several roles from 1983 to 1993. Melissa taught a graduate seminar at Radcliffe University on fundraising beyond the Annual Fund and she served as the 2017 Conference Chair of the CASE NAIS conference in Austin, TX.
