Your Nest Fest Aotearoa, NZ Masterclass Speakers
Get In Quick These WILL Sell Out!
Lynne Wester
Founder and Principal – DRG Group
Lynne Wester strongly believes that donor relations is the key to unlocking fundraising success and that organizations must be as dedicated to the donor experience — or DX — as they are to the ask itself. Known for positively disrupting the status quo, Lynne helps organizations when they need it the most – when crisis or opportunity arrive.
Lynne and her teammates at The DRG Group partner with nonprofits large and small on a variety of initiatives from developing sound strategy and vision to utilizing technology and creating meaningful donor engagement – all designed to positively impact the fundraising bottom line. In addition, she is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, access, justice and belonging — especially in the fundraising and nonprofit sector.
Lynne regularly contributes to national publications such as the Washington Post, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and CASE Currents as a subject matter expert. She is a four-time author and has contributed to two other books. She also hosts the number one nonprofit podcast in the world — Fundraising is Funny — alongside T. Clay Buck, CFRE.
Lynne delivers thought-provoking fundraising lessons with a keen focus on the donor experience, internationally known as the industry expert on donor relations. Her southern accent and crucial honesty resonate in rooms large and small.
Lynne received her B.A. from the University of South Carolina, holds a Masters in Strategic Fundraising and Philanthropy from BayPath University, and proudly sports a DUCKtorate from the Disney Institute. She volunteers at many nonprofits and serves on the University of South Carolina board.
Watch Lynne’s interview with Michelle here (intro @ 3.22).
Join us for a transformative day class and workshop specifically crafted for professionals dedicated to advancing donor relations and engagement within their organizations. This immersive session is designed to empower you with the insights, techniques, and innovative approaches necessary to cultivate deeper connections with donors and drive meaningful philanthropic support. In an era where donor expectations are rapidly evolving, staying ahead with adaptive and personalized strategies is key to sustaining and enhancing donor relationships.
Led by Lynne Wester, renowned expert in donor relations, this masterclass will provide a comprehensive exploration into the art and science of engaging donors effectively.
Learning Outcomes:
– Develop a deep understanding of modern human psychographics and how to align your engagement strategies to meet their evolving expectations.
– Master the use of data analytics to segment donors, personalize outreach, and measure the effectiveness of your engagement efforts.
– Explore creative approaches to stewardship and communications that go beyond traditional methods, including experiential events, donor recognition programs, and powerful reporting.
– Gain insights into building a donor-centric culture within your organization that prioritizes relationship-building at every level.
This masterclass is not only an opportunity to expand your professional toolkit but also a platform to engage with peers from the field, share best practices, and forge collaborative networks. Whether you’re aiming to revitalize your existing donor relations program or seeking to implement innovative engagement initiatives, this session is poised to provide you with the knowledge and inspiration needed to elevate your engagement to new heights. Prepare to transform your approach to engagement and create lasting impacts that resonate with your donor community.
In addition, you will leaving having developed a toolkit for measuring engagement success and adjusting strategies for continuous improvement.
This masterclass is an opportunity to network with peers, share challenges and successes, and brainstorm collaborative solutions. Whether you’re looking to revitalize your program or seeking fresh ideas to increase participation, this session promises actionable insights and inspiration to take your efforts to new heights. Join us to redefine what’s possible in donor communications and engagement.
Clive Pedley CFRE FFINZ (And Friends)
Director & Chief Executive at Giving Architects
“Direct personal experience from supporting and harnessing incredible acts of generosity, many millions of dollars over the years, has given me the insights and experience needed for me to advise for-purpose organisations in New Zealand every day.”
Clive has been advising, coaching and training for growth in the for-purpose sector in New Zealand and Australia since 2000. He is well regarded as a thought leader, an informed, enthusiastic practitioner and practical presenter.
Clive was President of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand (FINZ) from 2011 to 2013, and a member of the FINZ National Council from 2009 to 2015. He was named a fellow of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand in May 2014.
Clive was the first New Zealander appointed to the Board of CFRE International in 2014, a global accreditation organisation for fundraisers worldwide. In 2017 Clive was appointed to the Responsible Investment Association of Australia Impact Investment Forum committee and was directly involved in establishing New Zealand’s inaugural Impact Investment Advisory Board. This level of international engagement and investment thinking has led to a sound understanding of traditional philanthropy and emerging international best practice in areas such as social impact investment.
Clive leads the Giving Architects teams in Australia and New Zealand. Together they work directly with sector leaders and a broad range of fundraisers. Clients range from some of the largest and most iconic charities, through to local schools and sports clubs.
This 101 Masterclass provides a comprehensive yet concise overview of essential elements in sustainable fundraising programs. Participants will explore key features such as ethical standards, crafting a compelling case for support, and identifying potential supporters. The course delves into effective communication, impact reporting, and engagement strategies. Additionally, it covers significant fundraising program components, including digital engagement, donor acquisition, retention strategies, regular giving, major donors, legacy giving, trusts and foundations, and business support. Essential fundraising management practices and current trends and market observations will also be discussed, offering a well-rounded introduction to the fundamentals of successful fundraising.
101 Masterclass Overview
1) Key features of a sustainable fundraising programme
2) Ethics and ethical standards
3) Case for Support
4) Identifying supporters
5) Communication, impact reporting and engagement
6) Key features of significant fundraising programmes
– Digital engagement
– Acquisition
– Retention and developing a donor journey
– Regular giving
– Major Donors
– Gifts in Wills
– Trusts and Foundations
– Business Support
7) Fundraising management essentials
8) Key trends and market observations
Learning Outcomes:
1) Understand Key Elements of Sustainable Fundraising Programs:
– Gain knowledge of the essential components required for creating and maintaining a successful and ethical fundraising program, including developing a strong case for support and identifying and engaging potential supporters.
2) Implement Effective Donor Engagement and Retention Strategies:
– Learn how to effectively communicate with donors, report on impact, and develop strategies for donor acquisition, retention, and creating a meaningful donor journey, encompassing regular giving and major donor programs.
3) Apply Knowledge of Diverse Fundraising Techniques:
– Acquire practical insights into various fundraising techniques, including digital engagement, gifts in wills, trusts and foundations, and securing business support, while staying informed on current trends and market observations to enhance overall fundraising effectiveness
Main Event Speakers And Session’s
Lynne Wester – Acknowledgement Best Practices for Any Size Shop
Ian McQuillan – Fundraising ethics and its important role in effective fundraising
Laura Golland – How getting ready for fundraising growth can grow your income.
Ella Francis – Let’s talk about the ‘F’ word (Failure)
Shanelle Clapham and Mamta Blatt – Growing your Bequestors using Facebook
Michelle Berriman – Fundamentals of Relationship Fundraising
Fiona McPhee – Mobilising Support across your organisation
Lynne Wester
Founder and Principal – DRG Group
Lynne Wester strongly believes that donor relations is the key to unlocking fundraising success and that organizations must be as dedicated to the donor experience — or DX — as they are to the ask itself. Known for positively disrupting the status quo, Lynne helps organizations when they need it the most – when crisis or opportunity arrive.
Lynne and her teammates at The DRG Group partner with nonprofits large and small on a variety of initiatives from developing sound strategy and vision to utilizing technology and creating meaningful donor engagement – all designed to positively impact the fundraising bottom line. In addition, she is a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, access, justice and belonging — especially in the fundraising and nonprofit sector.
Lynne regularly contributes to national publications such as the Washington Post, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and CASE Currents as a subject matter expert. She is a four-time author and has contributed to two other books. She also hosts the number one nonprofit podcast in the world — Fundraising is Funny — alongside T. Clay Buck, CFRE.
Lynne delivers thought-provoking fundraising lessons with a keen focus on the donor experience, internationally known as the industry expert on donor relations. Her southern accent and crucial honesty resonate in rooms large and small.
Lynne received her B.A. from the University of South Carolina, holds a Masters in Strategic Fundraising and Philanthropy from BayPath University, and proudly sports a DUCKtorate from the Disney Institute. She volunteers at many nonprofits and serves on the University of South Carolina board.
Watch Lynne’s interview with Michelle here (intro @ 3.22).
Saying thank you is both an art and a science. We must balance the need to display genuine gratitude with operational and broad-scale efficiency. These two things don’t naturally go hand in hand. Join us as we explore best practices and trends in acknowledgement writing, digital vs. mail delivery, and personalization vs. customization of content. We will assist you in building a program that is meaningful for your donors and still efficient for your team.
Learning Outcomes:
– Learn how to evaluate your current process
– See best practices for mail vs. digital acknowledgements
– Tips for streamlining and scaling your efforts
– Determine where and when to spend time customizing content
Ian MacQuillin
Director of Rogare
If you’re looking for Ian MacQuillin MCIoF(Dip), you can usually find him at the intersection of the Venn diagram of ‘Fundraising’ and ‘ethics’.
Ian is the director of the international fundraising think tank Rogare (Latin for ‘to ask’; pronounced Ro-gar-ray), which he founded in 2014. Rogare explores fundraising’s most challenging ‘under-thought’ issues, to help fundraisers better use theory and evidence by translating academic ideas into professional practice, and building fundraising’s knowledge base.
Ian is recognised as a leading thinker on fundraising ethics, whose ideas have been published in the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing.
His main contribution to the field is the development of a new normative lens of fundraising ethics called Rights Balancing Fundraising Ethics, which aims to balance fundraisers’ duties to their donors with duties to beneficiaries – who have, surprisingly, been an absent stakeholder in fundraising ethics.
Rights Balancing Fundraising Ethics has gained considerable traction in the global fundraising profession, being incorporated into professional qualifications in the UK and Europe. Ian leads Rogare’s research agenda, with major work streams on ethics (including the ethical implications of using AI in fundraising), the philosophy of fundraising, the professionalisation of fundraising, gender issues, and the ethics of donor relationships.
Saying thank you is both an art and a science. We must balance the need to display genuine gratitude with operational and broad-scale efficiency. These two things don’t naturally go hand in hand. Join us as we explore best practices and trends in acknowledgement writing, digital vs. mail delivery, and personalization vs. customization of content. We will assist you in building a program that is meaningful for your donors and still efficient for your team.
Laura Golland
Owner Of Snapdragon Fundraising
Fundraising Consultant | Philanthropy Expert
After many years of honing my craft as a Fundraising Leader, I am taking my experience into the fundraising consultancy world. I have worked across all areas of fundraising during my career, delivered income doubling strategies, built award winning teams and have good knowledge of our unique New Zealand market. I understand how to get the best out of your current fundraising program and how to make it manageable, scalable and profitable. I am offering tailored consultancy services to support across a range of areas, from strategy to implementation, building you the dream team to mentoring your current fundraising superstars, helping you with data management to testing reactivation strategies. I have a lot of experience that I am excited to share to further your mission.
Laura is a senior level fundraising leader with over 17 years’ experience. She excels at coming into organisations, analysing their programs, and creating a robust plan of work to get tangible results. She considers herself to be a good all-rounder who can build both fundraising programs and teams from scratch.
Having worked for charities in the UK and in New Zealand, Laura has a particularly good understanding of the small to medium charity space and how to bring about those small changes that can lead to visible growth in income. She is a fearless leader when it comes to getting investment strategies adopted at board level and advocates for an agile approach to fundraising – testing, learning and failing fast to get the best outcomes.
Laura has built and led award winning teams and champions the importance of investing in your staff to drive excellence in your fundraising. She also loves data, the insights it can bring and how to use it to bring efficiencies and provide the best possible donor experience.
Outside of work Laura is slightly obsessed with Greyhounds and is often found walking her two on the south coast of Wellington.
This session is designed to guide you through the essentials for preparing your organisation for significant fundraising growth and expanding your donor base. By adopting a systematic approach and refining each aspect of your programs and donor experience you’ll not only establish scalable fundraising systems, but you will organically start to increase your income as you work.
Learning Outcomes:
– Learn how to evaluate what building blocks you need to achieve sustainable growth.
– Tips and tricks for building a plan that will then enable you to reliably handle acquisition.
– Understand where optimisation and refinement in your processes can generate income.
– Learn how thinking of your programs holistically can drive income growth
Ella Francis
Individual Giving & Relationships Team Lead at Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
Ella has spent the last seven years diving deep into the world of fundraising after making the switch from sales and marketing. She loves working for the greater good and sharing knowledge about these spaces. During her time in fundraising, she has worked across a range of Individual Giving programmes and other fundraising initiatives for well-known New Zealand and global charities. She has experience building grassroots projects from the ground up and optimising established campaigns. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed success, worked through failure and learnt many lessons along the way. Ella loves data, strategy and building team cultures where curiosity is encouraged, and everyone can thrive. She currently lives in Tāmaki Makaurau with her husband, Joel, and larger-than-life Labradoodle, Manny. In her spare time, she is currently renovating her home.
Failure – it can range from simple slip-ups to anxiety-inducing situations. This session will talk about normalising and embracing failure in the workplace. It will walk through the pressure to be perfect, how to build confidence and deal with failure so that you grow out the other side. We’ll also discuss how to share failure and empower others to help to create healthy and fail-safe environments for yourself and your colleagues. And of course – there will be some real-world examples along the way!
Learning Outcomes:
– Tips and tricks on how to build resilience and get through the rough times.
– How to have a healthy approach towards failure for yourself and your team/workplace.
– Important personal and professional qualities to utilise in your day-to-day such as how to ask for help.
Bequest programs are an anomaly in the fundraising world – we know it’s a great way to generate big gifts, but, often, you won’t know much or anything about your generous benefactor until after you get the gift. So how can you build a solid bequest program if sometimes it can, quite literally, feel like taking a stab in the dark?
In this session, Vic Alvarez & Mamta Bhatt from Parachute will share how to create detailed personas and pick the right platforms, stories, lead capture strategies, and nurture comms to identify and convert quality bequest prospects.
Join Vic & Mamta as they simplify the strategies to find the right people to grow your bequest program, and give you practical tips you can implement as soon as you leave the session.
Learning outcomes
– Build intricate bequest personas using tools already at your disposal – Google Analytics, social analytics, donor data, supporter survey
– Identify the right channels and content / creative to find the people that are right for your org
– Create cross-channel, multi-funnel strategies, with a holistic, long-term focus to achieve your bequest growth targets – across awareness, acquisition and nurturing
– Implement these strategies in key channels – Meta, search, SEO, email
– Adopt effective tactics from case studies of successful bequest acquisition strategies in Australia & NZ
Vic Alvarez
Digital Consultant At Parachute Digital
Vic has decades of experience in fundraising and digital. She kicked off her career managing Facebook, video, and display campaigns for brands like Big W, Woolworths and BWS, before adopting those tactics to drive donors, supporters and income the NFP space
She has worked on every kind of digital project you can think of – bequest prospecting, new websites, lead gen, peer to peer, appeals, and RG conversion – building winning strategies, concepts, comms plans, audience & channel plans, and implementing successful tactics to exceed targets. She has delivered strong digital donor and income growth for big and small charities alike including Fred Hollows NZ, BCF NZ, ActionAid, The Nature Conservancy, SANE and many others.
Mamta Blatt
Director of Strategy & Delivery Parachute Digital
Mamta is that intriguing mix of technical skill and creative flair. She’s a digital purist who literally lives and breathes the behaviour we tell charities that their donors will respond to. Her all-rounder knowledge and practical skills is why she is now leading as our Director of Strategy & Delivery – ensuring we’re constantly innovating and delivering the best results for our clients’ digi campaigns.
Over the years, and despite what the digital and real world has thrown at us, Mamta has created and delivered wildly successful lead gen, p2p, cash appeals and RG acquisition outings, and retention strategies and comms that have resulted in millions of $$ raised for orgs in Aus & NZ, and the acquisition for 500,000+ new leads, supporters, donors & event participants.
She’s a strategist, writer and producer all in one, able to manoeuvre between crafting compelling copy for your appeal landing page, harnessing SMS to get the most out of your p2p fundraisers, driving high volume & low CPL for your Facebook acquisition campaign, to implementing complex marketing automation workflows to nurture supporters into donors & doers.
She also loves a yarn – working the DigiRaise, FIA, FINZ and webinar circuits – as well as mentoring digital talent.
Fun is her middle name and you’ll always find her singing, dancing, yogaing, hiking, travelling, studying something random, and just having an all-round good time.
Mamta changes her favourite charity with every new project. Her sweet spot is strategy, content marketing, mentoring, acquisition, and digital advertising.
Chief Nester Fundraising Nest
Speaker, thought thinker, authentic leader.
Working Internationally over 25 years, from grass roots cold face youth worker through to CEO of a National Peak body Michelle has established a unique identity as a doer, connector, thinker, and leader. Michelle does not shy away from her unapologetically raw authentic, and real approach to just getting shit done and loves nothing more than meeting new people that share her values.
Impact takes more than actions, formulas, or textbook strategies. It starts with Inspiration and ends in Trust. Real people create real change. Real people provide inspiration, motivation, and they are passionate. They are authentic, they care, and develop trust.
These actions, values, and feelings weave themselves together and are the foundations of inspiring everyone around you.
Real people create IMPACT.
Michelle’s natural ability to forge long-lasting and meaningful relationships has delivered positive results for the many organisations for which she has worked. Michelle has a passion for events, conceptualizing ideas, and bringing a new flavour to existing programs within organisations.
In this session Michelle will introduce the core fundamentals principles of Relationship Fundraising. Relationships that deliver lifetime value to both the donors and the cause. Michelle will discuss IMPACT, importance of informed leadership, purpose, collaboration, what organisations should be doing to effectively implement the fundamental principles of Relationship Fundraising that can lead to success relationship fundraising and long-term sustainability.
Learning Outcomes:
– Understanding the Core Principles of Relationship Fundraising
– Importance of Building Deeper Relationships
– Effective Storytelling for Successful Fundraising
– Strategies for Cultivating Donor Relationships
Fi (Fiona) McPhee FFIA, FFINZ
Managing Director and Founder of Revolutionise ANZ (part of Revolutionise Global)
Director of The Benchmarking Project
Fi McPhee is the Managing Director and Founder of Revolutionise ANZ (part of Revolutionise Global) and a Director of The Benchmarking Project. Fi works Non-Profit and For Purpose Organisations throughout Australasia from her base in the inspiring South Island of New Zealand.
After 24 years working with for purpose organisations across fundraising, organisational culture and strategic planning, and with extensive program implementation experience, Fi combines her deep expertise with Great Fundraising to drive culture change, strategic development and execution of growth orientated strategic plans. Having lead Australia & New Zealand’s largest charity benchmarking and analytics programs for over 15 years, Fi’s insight into the charity revenue generation and the fundraising market is unparalleled.
Fi started as an on-the-tools fundraiser and has led record-breaking fundraising campaigns and implemented new fundraising channels for a broad range of non-profits. And as a Fundraising Strategist with leading industry agencies, she’s developed successful integrated fundraising strategies and high-performing direct response fundraising programs. Having acted as an advisor and consultant to a variety of start-ups supporting the for-purpose sector Fi has helped businesses grow from an idea to impact with a focus on business sustainability.
Fi’s expertise lies in bringing together evidence and people to identify problems and ambitions and unite and drive change, with a particular focus on growth.
Fi is a much sought after for her facilitation, training, strategic audit, planning and design skill and has helped design some of the highest performing fundraising strategies for a range of causes including St John, Heart Foundation, CBM, Cancer Society, Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and Australia for UNHCR. Her work rarely ends with an audit or strategy as her clients often retain her to support the implementation and review of these strategies. Practically this work can span culture development programs, internal education program design and delivery, research, analytics, and insight development as well as team and staff coaching.
Fi is an inspiring and enthusing facilitator and a regular presenter at local and international conferences. As a speaker and trainer Fi draws on academic research, action research, case studies, and best practice methodologies as well as her experience and insights from her time working with hundreds of for purpose organisations from across New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, and North America.
In addition to her day job Fi is a Mum, average skier, enthusiastic hiker, serves on three not-for-profit boards, is a FINZ Fellow, an FIA Fellow, accredited by the Marketing Association and a member of the FINZ Ethics Committee.
Fiona.mcphee@revolutionise.com fi.mcphee@benchmarkingproject.org
Website: https://www.revolutionise.com/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/fimcphee
Even if your fundraising strategy, channels and team are top-class, if your organisation doesn’t have a proactive and positive approach to understanding and supporting fundraising throughout, you will never raise as much as you could.
Mobilising support for fundraising, across your organisation, has been proven time and again to be the secret sauce in powering up you’re fundraising. But how can fundraisers help to drive the change needed internally to achieve this? Fi will share learnings from Revolutionise’s study of Great Fundraising in action – a series of action research evidenced from successful fundraising organisations from around the globe. Learn three ways you can influence a positive change in your organisation’s fundraising culture that will help you accelerate your fundraising, no matter your role.
Join Fi as she’s shares research and case studies from organisations and fundraisers who have driven the change, they needed to help them do better fundraising.
Learning outcomes
1) Master Sustainable Fundraising Strategies:
– Gain insights into developing and executing growth-oriented strategic plans.
– Understand the key elements of creating high-performing direct response fundraising programs.
2) Drive Organizational Culture Change:
– Learn how to lead culture development programs that support fundraising success.
– Understand the importance of aligning organizational culture with strategic goals.
3) Leverage Benchmarking and Analytics:
– Utilize charity benchmarking and analytics to inform and improve fundraising strategies.
– Learn to implement data-driven approaches for revenue generation.
4) Develop Effective Fundraising Campaigns:
– Acquire skills in crafting record-breaking fundraising campaigns.
– Explore new fundraising channels and techniques.
Full participation in our one-day Nest Fest Down Under is applicable for 6.5 points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.
We are giving away a full scholarship to Nest Fest Down Under!
We are giving away a full scholarship to Nest Fest Down Under!
Fundraising Nest – Brought to you by Michelle Berriman. Supported by Cory Hall and Precision.