Apra Canada 2014 Conference Sessions

Session Description: It is time to select a research tool for your shop. This may be a foundation/corporate directory or a tool for individual wealth measurement. You may be renewing and want to know what else is out there or perhaps making a new purchase. How to decide? In the session we will go through the best process to make ‘bullet proof’ decision. Learn to know exactly what you are looking for, which questions to ask and how not to be distracted by the ‘bells and whistles’. At the end of the process, you will use the measurement tool to...

Session Description: Have you ever pulled a list from your database for further analysis in more depth only to find out that you forgot some key types of information in your lengthy output? Have you had trouble summarizing that same data quickly and efficiently or struggled to present this same data in a visual format that can draw out the obvious conclusions? This session will describe and offer step-by-step instructions on how to use the following Excel tools: the "vlookup" formula, Pivot Tables, and Graphs/Charts. Each of these tools can help any Research Officer provide analysis for themselves or their...

Session description: The Prospect Management & Research team at Sunnybrook Foundation would like to present on some of the innovative value-added services that they have developed in regards to working with the Major Gift team and beyond, including: Major Gift/Research Partnerships (weekly strategic portfolio review with the purpose of moving prospects through the pipeline) Finding Connections (Board prospect review strategies; coding, identifying, analyzing and Presenting connections (how much weight do you assign a connection?) Daily Media Review (targeted search strategies/sources) Prospect ID (daily reports for screening unassigned prospects) Streamlined Event Research (screening process/research format) Records Management/SharePoint (sharing and storage of...

Come enjoy your breakfast and hear updates from the APRA Canada Board of Directors.

Session Description: When your development shop needs to make a huge change that impacts the majority of staff – and external audiences – it involves a shift in culture that can be hard to encourage. In this session, learn about the complete revamp of prospect management at the University of Calgary: how they went from an open cultivation culture where any prospect could be engaged by anyone, to a collaborative prospect management system with assigned prospects and cross-faculty strategy and prospect development. Learn about the project management and change management that made this culture shift a success, and key strategies...

Session Description: This session will focus on the development of a Moves Management System at CAMH Foundation during the planning phase of a campaign. What started out as a relatively small project initially focused on the Major Gifts department ended up resulting in a much larger, more comprehensive, integrated approach that spanned multiple departments and ultimately required input and coordination across the entire Foundation. Key learnings from the process will be shared. Highlights: Building a campaign pipeline and managing prospects through the development cycle Reporting: How to get what you need out of the database (and what to put in)...

Session Description: Open Data is central to government policy and public institutions at all levels: international, global, provincial, and local. How can this information be used in prospect research? Attendees will gain insight to global and Canadian open data, policy and players in these areas: • Global (EU, OECD, World Bank) open data • Canada’s open data activities • Ontario’s “open access” to open data • Leaders in open data publishing • Open data policy guidelines Highlights: Open data initiative International sources for advancement/prospect research A bibliography of sources

These two sessions are for those new to development/prospect research. Attendees will hear from experienced development researcher (as well as Elizabeth Crabtree) on a variety of topics including developing and using templates, media monitoring, understanding the fundraising cycle and the role research plays in each stage. Attendees should register for both of these sessions for the full experience.

These two sessions are for those new to development/prospect research. Attendees will hear from experienced development researcher (as well as Elizabeth Crabtree) on a variety of topics including developing and using templates, media monitoring, understanding the fundraising cycle and the role research plays in each stage. Attendees should register for both of these sessions for the full experience.

Session Description: Metrics are a key part of showing the ROI for investments in staff, but what are the right metrics to use. Whether you are talking about metrics for your research shop or metrics for fundraisers, the same principles apply in deciding what to measure, how to measure, and how to report. This session will walk you through the metrics used in research, prospect management and for fundraisers at the University of Calgary and, more importantly, talk about why these are the metrics used and how to apply general principles to designing or updating metrics for your own shop...

Elizabeth Crabtree is the Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Resource Development at Brown University, where she serves as a member of the Advancement Division’s senior leadership team and an advisor to the Sr. Vice President for University Advancement. She provides guidance and support in planning and managing campaigns, special fundraising initiatives, constituent and volunteer engagement programs and oversees Advancement Information Technology and Systems, Prospect Development and other Advancement Services units. Previously, Elizabeth held development and nonprofit management positions with Northern Illinois University, Benedictine University, College of DuPage and the Digital Schoolhouse Foundation. She is a former president of APRA...

Session Description: Small shops and big shops, and everything in between, the mission of the fundraising team is the same: forge and foster relationships, and raise money to support the organization’s mandate. Prospect Management (PM) plays a part in these activities and PM’s involvement differs depending on the size of the organization and available resources. The question becomes: how can PM be a key player at any organization? From the basic elements to concrete, real-world examples, you’ll learn about Prospect Management: what it is, why you need it, how it benefits your organization, what exactly is involved, and how PM...

Session Description: Whether you are a new researcher or seasoned, in a one-man shop or large, staging research will save you time and energy and ultimately allow you and your fund development team to prioritize their research efforts and work effectively together. Join veteran researchers Tracey Church and Sarah McCarthy as they work through the theory and in-the-field practice of staging your research so you are not constantly fielding full profile requests and falling behind in your research queue. Staging and prioritizing your research queue will allow for a more productive day and communicate to your fund development team the...

Session Description: Anecdotally we all know that front-line fund-raisers and researchers communicate differently. Although we all have the same end goal in mind, sometimes it seems like we are speaking two different languages. Learn from the successes and failures of one researcher and one development officer and your peers about what has worked for them, what hasn’t, and what tips they’ve picked up along the way. Highlights: Gain a better understanding of how development officers like to receive information by hearing first-hand from a seasoned front-line fundraiser Develop strategies to enhance conversation between researchers and development officers to more effectively...

Session Description: Collaboration between major gift fundraisers and researchers is essential to maximizing fundraising success. Struggling to improve, or even establish, the working relationship between development research and major gifts is a common challenge. Learn practical tips for improving your relationships with your major gifts team from the dual perspective of development research and major gifts. In addition to tips speakers will give an honest overview of challenges they have faced and overcome as well as on-going challenges. This session is ideal for new researchers looking to build positive connections with the fundraisers they work with.

Session Description: Social media strategy for fundraising and prospect research professionals. Listening and learning tools. Discussion on what is needed to get up to speed for individuals and organizations. Highlights: Social strategy Vs. Following the herd Digital vs. Social How to listen, learn and prospect using social

Session Description: Our presentation will focus on several aspects of corporate and foundation research, including unique approaches used to identify corporate and foundation prospects at the University of Alberta. We will discuss a rating system for private and public corporations and foundations that has been developed as the result of a collaborative project between the Office of Prospect Research and the Corporate and Foundation Relations team at the University of Alberta. We will also discuss the development of an effective way to identify different funding opportunities for projects in a timely manner (Funding Alerts), some strategies used when presenting corporate...

Session Description: In this session we will share from experience how existing data was used to find new prospects, and then to assign and manage them in the most efficient manner. Our premise is much of the raw data is already captured in your systems -- what's needed is a way to "unleash" it so that your team can easily work with it. That involves making it more visual, interactive, and then allowing the team to create various metrics and models in a simple and quick manner. We'll also discuss how predictive models can be developed and used to hone...

Session Description: Today's research shops are being asked to identify prospects for initiatives that exist far outside the scope of your traditional prospect base. We will discuss methods and tools for prospecting in new interest areas and demographic groups. We'll also identify factors to consider when capturing new interest areas and demographics in your database. Highlights: Identify key prospect identification projects at your organization Use interest/demographic/professional affiliations to identify specific projects for your key Takeaways on best practices for data management and reporting on prospect identification projects; scalable for organizations of different sizes

Session Description: We are all good, honest people but ethics has a sneaky grey area that can trip up the best and brightest professionals. In today's fast-paced, share-everything-on-social-media environment, we are constantly challenged with ensuring that the work we do as researchers and fundraisers is ethical. In this turbo-charged session, you will have the chance to brush up on the fundamentals of ethical best practices and professional standards while at the same time having a ridiculously good time. Come join me and be ready to sound your buzzer! Highlights (or session objectives) Discuss the importance of ethics within fundraising and...

Session Description: Join Celeste Bannon Waterman, VP of Research & Analytics for KCI and Alexandra Basen, Capital Researcher at Roy Thomson and Massey Hall, who will draw on their combined experience and a recent joint project to share their preferred techniques, and a realistic assessment of associated benefits and drawbacks. Topics addressed will include formulas to estimate capacity based on giving patterns, recommended data sources and accompanying limitations. Researchers and analysts will gain insight into Canadian resources and specific techniques to help identify prospects and estimate capacity. Highlights: Formulas to help estimate capacity based on data sources. How to apply...