San Diego, CA | January 30–31, 2025
The Art and Science of Donor Development is a transformative workshop that empowers fundraising professionals to lead meaningful donor conversations and inspire passion-driven philanthropy. This experience provides proven, practical tools and frameworks to enhance donor engagement, strategic focus, and sustainable impact for organizations.
At this workshop, you’ll discover how to lead conversations that forge authentic connections. Grounded in decades of research and real-world application, this experience empowers you to identify and align donor passions with your organization’s mission. You’ll gain practical frameworks like the Donor Commitment Continuum and Priority Grid—easy-to-use tools designed to enhance your strategic focus and engagement.
This is more than just a learning experience—it’s a transformational opportunity. Walk away equipped to confidently engage donors, overcome challenges, and create trust-based relationships that drive sustainable impact for your organization.
What You Will Learn
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Adapt Conversations to Different Donor Personalities
Discover practical techniques to tailor your approach based on donor profiles, ensuring each interaction feels personal and effective. -
Turn Questions into Fundraising Opportunities
Develop skills to handle objections and inquiries with confidence, transforming them into meaningful donor engagement moments. -
Craft Value-Driven Organizational Updates
Master the art of delivering concise, compelling updates that naturally lead into philanthropic conversations. -
Measure and Communicate the Return on Philanthropic Investment
Gain insights into evaluating the impact of donor gifts and communicating their value to encourage continued support. -
Leverage Referrals to Secure High-Impact Meetings
Unlock the potential of strategically using introductions and referrals to access key donors and deepen relationships.
What You Will Get
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What Our Attendees Say
Thousands of development professionals have been through The Art and Science of Donor Development over the last three decades. Our attendees’ comments reveal these as top 5 takeaways:
Personal Growth and Application
Participants appreciated the practical relevance of the content to their roles, helping them grow personally and professionally. They found the strategies easy to apply to their day-to-day work.
Donor Engagement Strategies
Attendees valued learning specific techniques to build and enhance donor relationships, making their fundraising efforts more impactful.
Peer Learning and Collaboration
Many participants highlighted the importance of interacting with colleagues and engaging in collaborative discussions, which enriched their experience and learning.
Understanding Donor Motivation
The workshop’s focus on uncovering donors’ passions and motivations was praised as essential for securing meaningful contributions.
Practical Tools and Concepts
Tools such as the Donor Commitment Continuum and Priority Grid were frequently mentioned as invaluable takeaways, offering structure and clarity to donor development efforts.
“There was a lot to learn, so much to take away and try and apply in my daily job…I plan to spend some time drawing up a grid and analyzing all my donors. Thank you so much for a great training program!”
“This session was awesome! Thank you for leading our team through the learnings. We will be better professionals thanks to you and your teaching/training efforts.”
“I found almost all aspects of this workshop valuable to my work, I’m not sure I can choose a most valuable part!”
“I am grateful I got to attend. I am new to this field and I appreciated how structured, thorough and actionable the content and tips are.”
“I am so grateful for this workshop as it helps push me further to where I want to go as a development professional. I want to be a gift officer and I also can know how I can better support my team.”
“All the built in resources are a perfect takeaway. I also appreciated how interactive it was and is the first two-day training where I never felt fatigued.”
“As a non-fundraiser, I got a lot of value from this training, especially the first day. I’d recommend encouraging the entire advancement team attend so everyone can be on the same page and understand how we’re working toward the same goals.”
“This workshop really demystified the fundraising process for me. I feel like I have a better understanding of fundraising as a whole and a renewed excitement for the work.”
“I loved the Donor Commitment Continuum—it thoroughly allows fundraisers to evaluate where our donors are in preparing them for meaningful solicitations.”
Are you ready to enhance your skills and accelerate your impact?
Can’t make it to San Diego on January 30th? Check out our other dates or let us know and we will keep you updated as we add new workshops.
We run workshops in major airport cities around the USA several times a year. These workshops are open to all, and we recommend attending with at least one team member to get the most out of the experience. You’ll have the chance to meet and learn from others across North America, the UK, and Australia.
We also run workshops internally at larger institutions that can benefit from their entire advancement team gaining shared language and approach to donor-centric fundraising. This also has the benefit of customization as our instructional design team can reflect your institution’s preferred terms and select the most relevant video examples and anecdotes to share.
Fill out the form below to talk to a training advisor to find out more!
Contact Us!