Description:
Catholic school staff members are used to facing and meeting extraordinary goals with sometimes less than ordinary resources. Increasingly, in these times of tight budgets and often declining enrollments, more is being asked of development and recruitment directors as well as principals and presidents. This session will provide proven plans to use to organize parents, alumni and other volunteers to make a real financial impact on the school. It will also offer ways for staff to prioritize their tasks so that their precious hours are used for initiatives that will have maximum impact.

Description:
This session delves into the effective utilization of communications and marketing strategies for your ministry of fundraising and outreach. Catholic fundraising has a unique spiritual component that integrates into the mission of religious organizations. This session will assist you in communicating the vision of your organization and marketing the mission. Additionally, the appropriate tools for outreach to your publics will be discussed.

Description:
Special events, committees, development advisory councils, governing boards are just a few of the ways we use volunteers. Without them, many of our events would be in serious jeopardy. This session will talk about all aspects of partnering with volunteers effectively.

Description:
One of the challenges of any direct mail program is to try to mail as efficiently as possible. Most database programs have the capacity to segment and merge lists in such a way that will optimize postal savings. Learn some tricks of trade at this session.

Description:
J. Patrick Murphy, C.M., Director of the School of Public Service of DePaul University, will engage the participants in a discussion identifying what are key management responsibilities and how best to use one’s skills in executing these responsibilities effectively.

Description:
[CROSS-POSTED WITH PARISHES] In a small development office, the development director wears many hats. Often, the hat that gets left on the shelf is that of major gifts officer. In this workshop learn not only the importance of pulling this hat off the shelf but also some very practical, time-effective things one person can do to further develop majors gifts.

Description:
The Boomers are the largest generational segment in our population and also the most diverse. Engaging this generation in planned giving is essential to the future of any institution on charity. Every planned giver should be part of this important conversation.

Description:
This session will assist administrators in developing realistic revenue projections for their Catholic schools. Issues to be discussed include implementing realistic goal-setting procedures for earned and contributed revenues, assessing the most favorable number of students based on staffing and overhead expenses, and growing the endowment and its projected investment returns. Also discussed will be special circumstances such as parish and diocesan support, school mergers and collaborations, and the impact of capital campaigns.

Description:
Direct response fundraising still remains the foundation upon which a healthy development program is built. Learn how to make your program more effective by implementing best practices that will give you better results.

Description:
While all of us have grown comfortable with acquiring donors through other direct marketing media, many of us have our doubts about online donor acquisition. Come to this session and be converted!

Description:
Perhaps, one of the most important things a development director does is choose a consultant or service provider. How do you find consultants and providers? How do you know if the consultant or provider is the right fit for your organization and your budget? Learn the answer to these questions and how to use consultants and service providers effectively in this session.

Description:
We will discuss the ways in which we can manage our resources strategically, practically and ethically while, at the same time, ensuring the effective achievement of organization objectives. We will examine how the mental models that we all hold firmly about these issues might impair our ability to innovate toward the achievement of these objectives. This session is also presented by the School of Public Service of DePaul University.

Description:
While most gifts we receive will always come from individual giving, corporate and foundation gifts can make a major impact on our budgets and empower our organizations to create new initiatives. Learn more about how to seek and find these kinds of gifts at this session.

Description:
In this difficult economy, all fundraisers are concerned about the state of bequests they receive. What should we all know about bequests? What is the appropriate action to take when a notice of a bequest is received? How can we monitor the progress of a will towards final settlement? These questions and those from the participants will be addressed in this section.

Description:
Presidents, Principals and Board Chairs each have a key role in a school’s development program. Having each know and understand their role and then working together is critical to success. The trend of some smaller schools moving back to a Head of School model will be addressed. Also part of the presentation will be a discussion of the transition from religious to lay leadership, a now common situation for many Catholic schools.

Description:
For most not-for-profits, postage represents a very large expense. This session will deliver specific strategies that will allow you to optimize your postal discounts. The presenter will describe a blended approach using commingling and drop shipping your advantage. A "must attend" session for organizations with acquisition and acknowledgement programs.

Description:
It is no longer possible to do direct marketing without understanding and incorporating social networking into your program. A real social networker will help the attendees learn how to engage others, especially that next generation of donors, in your mission through a variety of social networking tools.

Description:
Some among us predicted that by 2010 direct marketing via the postal service would be a thing of the past. Unlike the commercial sector, we in the charitable sector are not experiencing the same rate of growth in terms of donations online. An integrated program that allows for a variety of giving avenues is the best approach. Come learn more at this session.

Description:
While all of us engage in direct response fundraising, sometimes we are so busy managing the program, we do not take the time to evaluate how effectively we are doing our direct response programs. In this session, you will learn some standards against which you can measure your current practice in order to improve your efforts.

Description:
The most challenging and yet often the most rewarding part of being an administrator is working with others. Managing our human resources demands a particular type of skills. In this session, another associate from the DePaul School of Public Service will address dealing with people factor in our offices.

Description:
Giving USA publishes an annual report on the state of philanthropy in the United States. Bank of America completed a separate study about giving in the United States last year. At this session, you will learn what are the implications of the research for Catholic fundraising today.

Description:
Planned giving marketing: we all need to do it more effectively to capture our share of the dollars that will be left to charity in the coming decades. How can understanding donor life stages, motivations and crafting appropriate messages help us? In this session, we'll describe the demographics and psychographics of different groups of planned giving donors and will share recent research showing how best to communicate with these donors. Then we'll showcase actual case studies of innovative planned giving programs that have modified their marketing materials to better communicate with their donors. You will leave this session with energy and enthusiasm to re-shape your own planned giving marketing.

Description:
Pride. Envy. Sloth. Greed. An examination of the seven deadly sins can offer concrete lessons about how not to run your capital campaign. On the flip side, the seven virtues offer insight into how a campaign is best served by those exhibiting qualities, such as faith, hope and patience. This session will provide practical guidelines for envisioning, launching and executing your school’s capital campaign.

Description:
Based on a study begin in 2009, this group has been making gifts online and through the mail to 30 leading catholic organizations under a fictitious name. The study has been tracking every response to those gifts via email and postal mail and including some donor service requests related to those gifts. The presenters will share the best ideas and the overall results, so you can see where you stand, and get ideas to improve your donor stewardship.

Description:
Every fundraiser knows that it is much more cost effective to re-engage lapsed donors than to acquire new donors. This session will discuss techniques and programs that have worked for them in re-engaging lapsed donors in our missions. Sometimes, it is easier than you may think!

Description:
This session will address how a better understanding of culture and skillful use of segmentation can enhance our fundraising efforts, whether we write in English or another language.

Description:
Often we find ourselves so busy running various aspects of the development program that we don't take the time to actually consider why we are doing what we are doing and how we are succeeding. Having clear and measurable goals is important. In this session, learn how important planning is to good development work and how good planning makes work more measurable.

Description:
While running the office systems, programs, and managing staff are essential, without a plan of action these tasks can become overwhelming. In this session offered by the DePaul School of Public Service, the participants will learn how to balance planning and executing the plan.

Description:
All of us are familiar with the "giving pyramid." The purpose of this workshop will be to discuss best practice and "moves management" techniques to consider the potential of annual donors as major gift prospects.

Description:
Today’s parish is much more than a church building or a place of worship. The parish is a faith community with a variety of integrated but different functions. Good stewardship challenges us to support not only the parish plant itself but also the multiple ministries the parish offers. While weekly parish offerings are the foundation of parish support, often these gifts are not enough to sustain the many vital parish programs. This session will address these issues, as well as give participants valid reasons and ideas to enhance parish development efforts.

Description:
In this session, participants will learn skills to help them learn to look more deeply into their own donor databases to find prospective planned giving donors. The presenter will demonstrate how "culling the file" is well worth the effort.

Description:
What is a feasibility study? How important is a feasibility study in preparation for a capital campaign? Take a closer look at how to conduct and prepare for a study, how to choose who to do your study, what to expect in your study findings, and how to determine a reasonable cost.

Description:
A good program always addresses on-going, immediate and future needs. In this session, four key areas of parish development will be addressed. These include: the offertory collection, capital needs, deferred giving, and electronic giving. Each area will be addressed with reference to best practice, and include actual stories of real success.

Description:
What is all the talk about intelligent barcoding? What about Saturday delivery? How can I save money on postage? Ask these and more questions at this interactive forum with experts in the field. Participants will be able to ask questions ahead of time via the NCDC website.

Description:
Social networking is an emerging market in which to proclaim our missions and it is one that is only going to continue to expand. Understanding what they network is and what is our place in it is a challenge for us all. This session will help participants see how their missions fit into this immense electronic world and how to use this network effectively.

Description:
Both large and small shops are often faced with decisions about what functions will be done in the office and what functions of a program are better left to service providers. When we are new to fundraising or our programs are still very young, this can be a difficult decision. Learn the criteria that can be helpful in making this determination from presenters who have been faced with this dilemma.

Description:
In this session, the presenter will discuss information he has gained from research about volunteers and apply it more specifically to fundraising volunteers. Attendees will learn some skills to work with volunteers more collaboratively. A member of the faculty of DePaul School of Public Policy will be the presenter.

Description:
Whether we are talking about a family, an organization or society in general, developing a sense of the importance and need for giving is critical to all our fundraising efforts. It is within this culture that fundraising is no longer only the responsibility of the development officer. Come to this session to learn how building this culture can help your organization.

Description:
With everything changing so rapidly, what is the real value of planning? How can we find the time and how will it help us raise more money? This session provides the nuts and bolts in straightforward, practical terms. Participants will leave with ten steps to focus and fulfill effective planning.

Description:
Fundraising has always demanded much multi-tasking. However, with the introduction of more technology, social networking, an overstretched budget and small staff, adding one more thing to our plates can seem almost impossible. However, all of us know that Planned Giving is our greatest hope to sustain our mission in the future. This session will give you concrete ways to market your planned giving program efficiently and effectively.

Description:
If you are looking for the next generation of donors, here is where to find them. Keynoter, Robert Wendover will specifically address fundraising and how it can be done successfully through social networking.

Description:
These days it's getting harder and harder to break through the clutter ... and achieve breakthrough results. And that makes today's new package formats more important to your direct mail program than ever before. But what is the best approach for my program - and for my own donors? And how can I make sure I'm using the right approach, at the right time, to maximize revenue? In this fast paced session, we'll share the Key Rules for choosing the right package formats for your program - and we'll share scores of real world examples showing what works, what doesn't ... and why.

Description:
If you are looking for the next generation of donors, here is where to find them. Keynoter, Robert Wendover will specifically address fundraising and how it can be done successfully through social networking.

Description:
Acquisition mailing is always a challenge. We realize it is always our most costly mailing. At the same time, it is often that one special moment to capture someone's attention. Therefore, it must be captivating and that demands great creativity. In this session learn some of the secrets of creating an appeal that can help you touch the heart of a new donor.

Description:
Whether your board is advisory or operates in a governance capacity, boards work best when everyone is clear about their roles and responsibilities. In this session J. Patrick Murphy, C.M., will discuss with participants what needs to be in place to help a board function effectively.

Description:
This session will offer participants the opportunity to interact with actual donors, who will tell their own stories of why they give. Hear first hand, what motivates a donor, and what keeps a donor engaged in the mission.

Description:
How have parishes been successful raising significant dollars in an economic downturn? Does a study or assessment BEFORE a campaign really make a difference? How have campaign plans or strategies been adjusted? Participants will hear case studies and learn how to apply strategies for success to their own parish’s needs.

Description:
In this session the participants will learn about various types of planned gifts and how to incorporate a particular request of a donor into your program, rather than walking away from a gift.

Description:
Many religious institutes are in conversations about merging or refounding to create a new entity. There are many consequences of such decisions. How does the development officer become engaged in this process in order to safe guard the relationship between the donors and mission? Listen to the truth about this process from an experienced panel.