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Breakout Session 5C: 
The Trajectory of Donor Relations: A Discussion by Seasoned Leaders

Jaime Porter, Nancy McKinney, and Mark Lanum

Thursday, September 24
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM

Session Description

In its humble beginnings, donor relations was often an add-on function to someone’s full-time job or afterthought once the dust settled from major gift activity. In its teen years, donor relations practitioners focused on industry standards like recognition circles, honor rolls and form letter acknowledgments, with no seat at the table when it came to major donors and prospects. Today, we are visionary strategists – connectors, communicators and collaborators. We are magicians with existing and emerging technology. And a blend of writer, psychologist, manager and psychic. In the best of all worlds, we are sought-after partners in the stewardship and cultivation process. But this world as we know it has forced us to re-think our practices and methods. Where do we go from here?

Keywords: TBD

Who Should Attend

   



 
  TBD TBD TBD  

Learning Objectives

TBD

About the Speakers

Jaime Porter
Vice President, Advancement Services
Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals

Jaime Porter is a founder of ADRP. Jaime has held leadership positions at Princeton, NPR, Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown Law. She has been a frequent speaker at many ADRP and other conferences. She is a graduate of Drake University.

Nancy McKinney
Interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Advancement and Executive Director, Donor and Gift Services
University of California, Berkeley

Nancy Lubich McKinney is the interim associate vice chancellor for Advancement and the executive director of Donor and Gift Services at the University of California, Berkeley. Donor and Gift Services encompasses gift agreements, gift acceptance, fund management, gift processing, donor acknowledgement and recognition, stewardship reporting, and compliance. In her interim role she is also responsible for Advancement Information Systems and Finance and Administration. Nancy is a past president of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP). Prior to her advancement career at Berkeley, Nancy had an 18-year career at Bank of America.

Mark Lanum
Senior Director of Donor Relations
Brown University

Mark Lanum is the Senior Director of Donor Relations at Brown University. Previously, Mark served the University of Washington for nearly 20 years, including 15 in stewardship and Donor Relations roles. A self-described "people person by nature and computer nerd by choice," Mark brings a passion for leveraging technology to address human needs. This passion fuels his enthusiasm for systems that are scalable and sustainable so they facilitate personally meaningful stewardship for as many as possible. He appreciates "a good org structure, strategically-focused projects, and teammates who like to laugh as much as I do." Mark enjoys photography, travel, and driving with the sunroof open.

About the Moderator

  

Debbie Meyers
Assistant Vice President for Advancement Operations
Chautauqua Institution

Debbie has worked in advancement for more than 30 years, much of that time in higher education. In addition to creating or enhancing donor relations and stewardship programs at the University of Maryland, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Florida, she has built communications and development programs for a Catholic high school, an art museum and a health center development office.

An ADRP founding board member, she chaired the international conference and has presented at every ADRP international conference. Debbie has a bachelor's degree in English from Loyola University New Orleans and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Florida, thanks to her mother who corrected her grammar from her first spoken word. She married her high school drum major, and they have four grown children and two bad dogs.