The annual fund appeal provides your organization the opportunity to take a one-time donor and make them a partner with a simple, timely thank you providing feedback on how their gift will make a difference and educating them about your mission. As fundraisers, we know people give because they are asked. They also give because they are thanked and feel valued. How does your nonprofit bridge the gap from entry level annual giving to transitional mid level giving to major giving and planned gifts? Are you building your funding support from the bottom up to ensure your organization's long term survival? What are your cultivation and solicitation strategies? Do you have stewardship strategies that build donor connections to your organization's vision and mission? These essential strategies hold the key to transformational contributions. Ongoing targeted communications, accountability, acknowledgment, recognition and celebration strategies are vital to keeping the donor relationship alive and they can occur with minimal budgeting impact. You will learn about the traditional donor giving life cycle and how stewardship links the prospective major gift donor to the nonprofit organization and its mission and success.

Please RSVP to rsvp@npdp.org or 406/756-3618 to ensure enough handouts and seating.

About the Presenter

Ruth Ackroyd, CFRE, has extensive experience in development, fundraising, donor relations, capital campaign leadership and nonprofit management. With nearly fifty years volunteering and working in the nonprofit world, she retired as Director of Institutional Advancement at Flathead Valley Community College and was a founding member of NpDP. Ruth has served in leadership roles on a number of boards, including: Kalispell Daybreak Rotary, P.E.O Kalispell Chapter BM, Flathead Community Foundation, AAUW, Stumptown Art Studio, iComfort Village, Montana Equestrian Events and Disability Rights Montana. She earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Southern Connecticut State University along with a certificate in gerontology and a master's degree in counseling and education administration from Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles. Ruth and her husband of 53 years, David, a founding member of Alpine Theatre Project, reside in Whitefish and have two adult married daughters and four amazing grandchildren.