Coming together to make our community the best it can be
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Suzanne Brault Pagel, Resource Development Director at United Way and John Franklin, CEO at United Way of Northern New Jersey pose for an "usie" at the New Strategies four-day forum.
Contributor: Suzanne Brault Pagel, Resource Development Director at United Way Fox Cities
Thanks to Thrivent Financial, I have
the opportunity to participate in a unique advanced management
education program conducted by Georgetown University. New
Strategies is a leadership program exclusively designed to help
nonprofit executives generate added financial support through
increased revenue generation.
The four-day forum covered topics including: social media funding,
earned income, corporate support, predictive analytics, cause
marketing, government funding, gifts in-kind, database management,
sponsorships, direct mail, impact investing and deferred
giving.
The hands-on forum was directed by nationally recognized leaders
in the nonprofit and philanthropy fields. Georgetown faculty and
MBA teams add additional depth. My involvement did not end at the
conclusion of the forum; for one year I will have continued online
instruction, information, and support.
A full analysis of each participating organization was done before
the forum to get a picture of our programming priorities and
revenue activities. The curriculum was crafted to take into account
the specific challenges facing each of the nonprofits.
My class of 29 participants came from a diverse range of
nonprofits providing a network to share insights, challenges, and
best practices for sustainability and mission success in the
nonprofit field. The Fox Cities was well represented as
Thrivent Financial's sponsorship included the Financial Information
& Services Center, Inc., Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities,
COTS, Inc., and Homeless Connections.
This experience was a wonderful way to recognize United Way's
strengths and an opportunity to explore new ideas to sustain
financial growth and support of our mission to improve lives for
everyone in our community. I was repeatedly struck by how fortunate
we are to be in a community demonstrating collaborative action;
working together is really hard work. The Fox Cities benefits
greatly from strong leadership and a desire to make our community
the best it can be.