First CNFC 2024 | Foundation Magazine

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Powerful Keynotes, Intensive Super Sessions,
Leadership Networking, Unique Takeaways
Conference Sponsors:

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Plus Optional One-Day Fundraising Skills Workshop

(See Details)
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November 18th, 2024
OBA Conference Centre | 20 Toronto St | Toronto, ON.

The First Canadian National Fundraising Conference is an Executive Forum where leaders of major charities, nonprofits and foundations exchange new insights, hear from their peers, discuss their challenges, and get deep dives which help resolve their most fundamental challenges in fundraising as an organizational team. All fundraising experts in the philanthropic sector will benefit by attending, particularly teams which are responsible for marketing, donor outreach, gift planning, legacy giving and corporate engagement.

Our speakers examine the state of fundraising to reveal new ways of building teams and implementing philosophical approaches through collaboration. We’ll explore trends, outline proven strategic approaches, detail how to implement rapidly escalating technology, and show how to build your team of fundraising and donor experts.

Join us on November 18th and connect with a highly-experienced, well-respected group of speakers and advisors whom you can trust to show you what you need to know now to succeed in all aspects of fundraising strategy.

Our faculty understands philosophical commitments, hidden perils, AI growth, media channels and all the paths that deliver new funding and more. Listen, learn, comment, participate and see what actual organizations are doing to grow and keep donors, expand their funding streams and collaborate across the full extent and power of your organization.

Bring your team including marketing, fundraising, finance, technology, operations, donor engagement and donor experience managers, staff and consultants across your organization.

Plus plan to register your hands-on creative team members to roll up their sleeves at an optional, concurrent One-Day Workshop on the tools, tactics and approaches to Creating Fundraising Campaigns That Really, Really Work. Workshop delegates can also attend the Conference’s Opening Keynote, Lunch Keynote, and Closing Networking Session. Find out more. Download Workshop Brochure

And take advantage of special rates for group and association member registrations. There are discounted rates to bring up to 3 colleagues. Plus, a bonus for members of AFP Canada, Philanthropy Foundations Canada , and Canadian Association of Gift Planners. Discounts are offered as our choice to support these associations and their members across Canada. Click on the appropriate button. Learn more and sign on today. Space is limited for this event so early sign up is recommended.

CONFERENCE TIMETABLE & AGENDA

SEE DETAILED SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

Keynote Speaker: Lara O’Donnell, Executive Director, The Weston Family Foundation. Lara O’Donnell (she/her) was appointed Executive Director of the Weston Family Foundation in 2020 and is responsible for all aspects of the strategy and program delivery, reporting to the Board of Directors. Prior to joining the Foundation, Lara was the Director of Research Partnerships at the Canadian technology scale-up Element AI, where she was responsible for the design and execution of the research partnership strategy. Previous to that, Lara has held leadership roles within the Canadian research and innovation ecosystem. She was a Senior Director of Research at CIFAR (formerly the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research) an organization dedicated to creating transformative knowledge by convening interdisciplinary teams of scholars, and Director of the Accelerate and Elevate programs at Mitacs, building bridges between academia and industry.

Luncheon Keynote: Steve Burrows, Author, Birder Murder Mysteries, Environmental Supporter/Speaker

A Flock of Fundraisers. Steve Burrows is one of Canada’s premier mystery authors, but he is also a major supporter and spokesperson for the environment and its relation to bird life. He has spoken at Margaret Atwood’s Springsong Festival – Pelee Island, Canada (Guest Author); International Crane Coalition – Colorado, US (Guest Speaker); Noirwich Festival – Norfolk, UK; International Ornithological Conference – Vancouver, Canada; International Festival of Authors – Harbourfront, Toronto, Canada; and Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. He’s also a funny and informative speaker and this luncheon talk is guaranteed to entertain and enlighten.

Closing Keynote Speaker: Suzanne Duncan, Vice-President, Philanthropy, Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Transforming Charity: Gender Equality, Wealth Transfer, and the Future of Fundraising. The gendered transfer of wealth now under way has the potential to supercharge feminist philanthropy. Suzanne will discuss how we all have a stake in supporting more intersectional gender-based approaches to Canada’s most pressing social problems. She has helped social justice organizations reach their philanthropic potential for 20 years. At social service organizations like YWCA Toronto and  The  WoodGreen Foundation, she connected visionary donors to innovative projects. She spent 9 years at the CAMH Foundation where she raised $39 million+ for major mental health initiatives while curating and creating experiences for donors to feel the impact of their giving.  As the Vice President of Philanthropy at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Suzanne is advancing gender justice and ensuring women, girls and non-binary people have the power, safety, rights and support to thrive today and tomorrow.

Other Speakers & Sessions Include:

Julie Fiorini, General Manager, Donor Services & Brand Marketing, CanadaHelps

State of the Sector 2024: From Disconnection to Collective Action. It is a challenging environment to spark change right now. Canadians are increasingly polarized, isolated, and disconnected, many Canadian charities are struggling to raise funds for their charity in part due to the challenging economic conditions facing many Canadians, and even four years later, the lingering effects of the global pandemic have had a lasting impact on some organizations and have contributed to total burnout among some charity professionals. All hope, however, is not lost. In this 60-minute session, Julie Fiorini, General Manager, Donor Services and Brand at CanadaHelps, Canada’s largest online donation and fundraising platform, will share ways that Canadian charities can push forward to adapt to challenges and focus on their mission. Session participants will learn: Insights from trends highlighted in CanadaHelps’ 2024 Giving Report; Tactics that your charities can leverage to reach and build a community among your supporters to raise more funds; Insights about the way forward for Canadian charities to overcome these challenges.

Christian Bolduc, President, LL.B, CFRE, BNP Philanthropic Performance and George Stanois – Senior Vice-President, Toronto and Western Canada

Inside the 2024 Succession Planning Survey

This survey has provided valuable information on current strategies and future succession needs for key positions within not-for-profit organizations across the country. It helps to understand effective practices and the challenges faced by different sectors and company sizes. The survey is structured into several sections, each targeting a specific aspect of succession planning:

Executive Director (ED) succession planning: This section assessess the methods and procedures in place to ensure a smooth and effective transition of ED responsibilities. We explore competency development plans, identification of potential candidates and handover strategies.

Succession planning for the Chair of the Board: Here, we focus on processes dedicated to succession planning for the chair of the Board. It is crucial to understand how organizations prepare future chair to take over, thereby ensuring continuity of governance and organizational stability.

Bruce MacDonald, CEO, Imagine Canada

Riding the Waves: Insights and Trends Affecting Social Good. Charities and nonprofits operate in an ever changing environment. Understanding the shifts and trends is critical for leaders as they look ahead to the future for their organizations. This session will examine recent, new and some yet-to-be published data relating to the operating environment that will inform the strategies and tactics used by fund development teams.

Susan Deike, Sr. Legacy Advisor, Heart & Stroke Canada

The Magic of Transforming Leadership into Communications in Fundraising. Turning mission into donations requires a deep understanding of the process and creativity of appeals, campaigns, and of course individual relationships. Susan will dig deep into her personal experiences and insights of the power storytelling and the words we use – and appealing to different audiences. I’ll share fun stories from my varied career and maybe a few horror stories. We may touch on egos, both in donors and in the charity side of things, that can also change the way someone communicates. Lots of suggestions and ideas you can take to your teams.

Kay Marks, Director of Fundraising, Veterinarians Without Borders

Ditch the Old Fundraising Funnel: It’s Time for an Audience-First Revolution. In today’s rapidly evolving philanthropic landscape, successful fundraising requires a shift from organization-centric strategies to donor-centric relationships. Join us for an insightful session that explores the Audience First Approach and the Bowtie Funnel—a model that goes beyond acquisition to focus on long-term donor engagement, retention, and advocacy. Learn how to build personalized donor journeys, create lasting connections, and transform one-time supporters into lifelong champions for your cause. This session is essential for fundraising leaders looking to innovate and maximize impact.

George Irish, AI Fundraising Strategist/Developer, Fundraising with AI

Hesitating on AI? When to wait and when to start with smart AI fundraising. Unsure if you should start with using ChatGPT and AI for fundraising, but also worried about missing the ‘next big thing’? In this interactive session we’ll explore the concerns, risks and ‘hesitations’ that may be holding back fundraisers at this early stage of the AI revolution, and opportunities to get started with safe, ethical, and results-driven AI fundraising.

Scott Townsend, Vice President, Brand Strategy, Marketing and Communications, Parkinson’s Canada & Jonathan Affleck, Consultant, Parkinson’s Canada

Find Your Swagger: Our mission is unwavering: to reclaim the narrative of living with Parkinson’s. To inject vibrancey where others see only stillness. Step inside the creation and execution of the powerful new fundraising campaign, with insights from the minds behind the strategy and implementation. Get an insight into the reasoning, the process, the research that goes into successful multimedia fundraising where each sway and stutter-step transforms Parkinson’s into a unique swagger.

Paul Nazareth, Principal, Paul Nazareth Consulting

A Question of Generosity (with the Generosity Guy…). Fine. Maybe I was wrong? After 25 years of working in the charitable sector, and a lifetime of volunteering on the edge of burnout on top of full- time work; professional development, community board support, sector speaking, intellectual contributions – to what end IS fundraising as a profession? There IS a dissonance between fundraising, philanthropy and generosity. Just like there’s a difference between transactional golf tournaments and transitional wealth planning both are integral to modern philanthropy, are either generous? Why were donor-advised funds automatically assumed to be bad and how is the sector’s fear costing us more than we might understand? As a sector can we overcome our collective egos and brand-centeredness to ask honest questions in service of plural and civic society, in a spirit of actual truth as much as reconciliation? What we can prove with the data, is no amount of fundraising is going to get out of the crisis of housing, healthcare, homelessness and hunger so let’s connect the dots between #GivingTuesday, #NationalPhilanthropyDay and the dreaded December 31 – all fast approaching. I’m going to ask and answer these questions for myself and hope they will prompt some from you too.

Sheldon Pollett, Executive Director, Raising the Roof

How to Raise the Roof on Fundraising Challenges. The challenge and opportunity of evidenced based investment for evidenced based outcomes. This session will look at comprehensive solutions to complex problems. Ideas we need to think about and respond to effectively:

If system change was simple, we would have done it a long time ago
Taking a coalition-based approach to funding and impact
Investment in mission driven organizations and the challenges of partnership and collaboration with diverse stakeholders
Towards a growing movement of impact measurement and outcomes

Hear how Raising the Roof addresses fundraising opportunities and deals with the challenges of finding the right solutions.

Sara Krynitzki, Director of Public Affairs and Research, Philanthropic Foundations Canada

How Philanthropic Foundations in Canada are Approaching Their Work in 2024 and Beyond. In Canada, 1 in 8 charities is a foundation, yet foundations in Canada are an enigma to most, even to seasoned leaders in the charitable sector. At this session, hear from Philanthropic Foundations Canada – Canada’s national network for philanthropic foundations – to learn more about who foundations are today, what they’re up to, and how they are collaborating, learning and advancing change on the issues we all care about. Gain new insights and awareness directly relevant to your own work and strategies involving philanthropic foundations.

Mikhael Bornstein, Continuing Education, Professional Fundraiser, George Brown College

Effective Nonprofit Leadership: What is it and How to Develop it?What makes an effective nonprofit leader? What leadership skills are required? What leadership style is most effective? What should a fundraising leader never do? Participants in this session will learn the answers to all these questions, and more. Based on Canadian research, participants will learn what leadership skills and leadership styles produce the best results. They will learn how to develop these skill and styles to become more effective nonprofit leaders. They will learn how to avoid the common mistakes that sabotage leaders. Finally, participants will receive a list of resources so they can continue their leadership development after the summit. If you want to improve your leadership skills, this session is for you.

Participants will leave this session knowing:

• what are the most effective leadership styles for nonprofit leaders
• how to incorporate the most effective leadership styles into their own leadership practice
• how to avoid the most common leadership mistakes that sabotage success
• where to find more resources to continue their leadership journey

This session is aimed at new and experienced non-profit leaders.

Cynthia Armour, Principal Consultant, Elderstone

Leadership Succession Planning and Its Impact on Fundraising Success. Where do succession planning and fundraising success intersect? Would your organization be able to sustain a decline in income or fundraising activities if there’s a change in leadership? Do investors trust the organization can succeed without the current executive? Who is responsible for donor relations? These are a few questions we’ll explore in this fast-paced session with board governance and fundraising pioneer Cynthia Armour, (CFRE since 1995). She will also lead a facilitated discussion identifying roadblocks while inspiring leaders to take practical steps that prepare your organization for leadership transitions at the staff and board levels.

Kimberley Mackenzie, CPCC, ACC, Consultant

The 4C Framework for High-Performing Teams: Driving Results through Organizational Wellness, Confidence Building, and Coaching Mindsets. In today’s competitive environment, high-performing teams are more critical than ever. This session introduces the 4C Framework—Coaching, Collaboration, Confidence, and Clarity—designed to help leaders foster a culture of wellness, resilience, and high performance within their organizations. By focusing on the well-being of the team, participants will learn how to create an environment that boosts morale, fosters deeper collaboration, and ultimately drives more impactful results. The session will blend data-backed insights on wellness, practical coaching strategies, and actionable techniques to build confident, cohesive, and highly motivated teams.

Learning Objectives: Understand the data behind team well-being and its impact on performance; Learn and apply concrete practices that enhance the overall wellness and productivity of your team; Foster collaboration and build confidence using a coaching mindset to achieve outstanding results.

Billy Sharma, Principal, Designers Inc
Billy is leading our concurrent One-Day Workshop on the tools, tactics and approaches to Creating Fundraising Campaigns That Really, Really Work.

Additional Speakers to be Revealed Shortly

PLUS…each delegate will receive a FREE COPY of the 2024-2025 Canadian Donor’s Guide. A $125.00 Value. The Guide is the annual reference book for donors and their advisors containing data on charities collected by questionnaire as well as pertinent editorial content. At 148 pages, no publication contains this breadth of information on charities.

Delegate Rates include continental breakfast, full luncheon, refreshments, networking event, speaker handouts and special giveaways and the Canadian Donor’s Guide . Plus there are special savings for members of AFP, PFC and CAGP. Registration Fees and Savings Rates Below. Special Savings also on books from Civil Sector Press. Attendees can order on site and save!

You may register individuals for each of the Conference (yellow button) and the Workshop (blue button). If you are registering separate individuals to attend the Conference and the Workshop, use the green button. Questions? Email Steve Lloyd steve@foundationmag.ca for quick answers or help.

Single Delegate: $695.00 Member: $595.00
Two Delegates: $1095.00 Member: $995.00
Group Rate: $1495.00 Member: $1395.00

Workshop Only
Single Delegate: $595.00 Member: $495.00
Two Delegates: $995.00 Member: $895.00
Group (3) Rate: $1295.00 Member: $1195.00

(Note: Delegates must be from the same organization to receive the discounted pricing. Group is for up to 3 delegates.) More than 3 delegates? Email Steve Lloyd for rate options.

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