2026 Virginia Fund Raising Institute

Explore a practical, role-based framework designed to strengthen fundraising leadership and team effectiveness. In this interactive session, participants will identify their primary leadership role and examine how different strengths contribute to collaboration, balance, and performance. Through guided reflection and real-world nonprofit scenarios, attendees will gain tools to enhance communication, recognize areas of growth, and improve team dynamics. This session is designed to be accessible and valuable for professionals at all career stages, including those leading as a team of one.

Many fundraisers need to Make the Ask in person, on the phone, online and in writing – to major donors, to corporations, to foundations and even to Board members. When you’re making that ask you need to manage your nerves and ensure that you are shaping your Ask to have maximum chance of success. Old fashioned Moves Management is too crude an approach, as asks for becoming much more customized, more organic, and even more casual.
This session shares five key stages for any successful ask
•Passion- creating the most powerful emotional state for yourself and your prospect that addresses their concerns and motivations.
•Proposition- shaping your Case for Support to make it easy for the prospect to understand and see how they can help.
•Preparation- getting ready to meet an individual by designing a well-formed outcome and anticipating the challenges.
•Persuasion- building fast comfortable rapport and adjusting to your prospect’s communications and decision preferences.
•Persistence- handling challenges and objections effectively and where appropriate analysing what led to repeatable success.
The session is based on the Amazon best-seller Making the Ask – by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal.

Mapping psychological barriers—fear of failure, reputational risk and public scrutiny, trust issues, and family and generational concerns—to actionable engagement strategies. What truly motivates donors to give—and what holds them back? Have you ever asked donors this question directly? With a combined 45 years of fundraising experience, Carrie and Martha will guide you through overcoming both external and internal barriers to meaningful conversations.

How do we create a culture of curiosity where asking questions, discussing new ideas, encouraging different perspectives, learning from mistakes is encouraged. Where curiosity leads to a culture of experimentation where ideas, expectations shape how donor research is done and where creativity, new ideas are embedded in our daily operations with our various stakeholders.

Join DonorPerfect experts to shuffle your engagement strategy and ace your retention activities in one cohesive approach. Using the Donor Engagement Models, you will learn how to create meaningful connections with each supporter, no matter their giving capacity! From this unique session, you’ll take away research-driven steps and real-life examples to secure lasting relationships.