RD & Marketing Speakers

Resource Development & Marketing Speakers

 Harvest Room

Monday Sessions

Kit Kiefer

Using Direct Mail to Promote Your Club – From the Marketing & Supplier Side


9:30-10:40 AM


About Kit:

Kit Kiefer has been a professional marketer working with local and national clients for more than a quarter-century. 

 

A journalist by trade, Kit joined the sports-marketing firm PHC in 1991 as vice president-creative and eventually worked with all the major sports leagues, Marvel Entertainment, Disney, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and other major organizations on brand-building and product development.

 

In 2002 Kit joined Delta Dental of Wisconsin, where he helped build their marketing department and eventually became the company’s corporate communications manager.

 

During his time at Delta Dental Kit earned his master’s degree in communication, wrote six books for Marvel Entertainment, and worked as a travel writer for The New York Times.

 

Kit joined the startup Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection in 2013 as its communications manager and helped the company launch its innovative travel insurance line. He also began teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

 

Today Kit is the owner and chief polymath at Polymath Research + Marketing, where he conducts market research and creates award-winning content for local, state, and national organizations of all types and sizes. He also teaches marketing at UWSP and is the faculty mentor for Agency 81, the university’s student-run marketing agency.


Stevens Point Area School District & BGC of Portage County

Preparing for the Unexpected


10:50-12:00 PM


About the Session:

Over the summer, the Boys & Girls Club of Portage County sent 40 Club members on a trip to Washington D.C. While on the excursion, a Club member tragically passed away. The Boys & Girls Club of Portage County, Mental Health Navigation, and the Stevens Point Area School District came together to support all who were affected by this tragedy. Learn from these three community partners and hear how they reunified the club members with their families when they returned along with the preceding events that have taken place since the tragedy. 



Megan Spranger

Keeping Volunteers Closer: How Better Engagement Leads to Major Gifts


1:30-2:40 PM


About Megan Spranger:

Megan Spranger is originally an Army brat but has called the Fox Valley home since the early 2000s. Megan studied history at the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh and received her law degree from Valparaiso University Law School. She also spent a summer studying abroad in Ireland at University College Dublin. 


Before she stepped into fundraising, Megan was a practicing attorney. Her transition to the non-profit space came after a period of “what do I really want to do with my law degree?” and a perfectly timed job posting by Lawrence University. She is currently employed at Lawrence as a Director of Major Gifts & Gift Planning, handling major gifts, gift planning, and volunteer management. She leads the 40th and 50th Reunion Committees and has a donor portfolio encompassing multiple regions of the country. 


Megan lives in Kimberly with her husband, Derek, and their daughter, Grace. Megan loves to read and explore new places, whether in a book or on a trip (or both!). Megan currently spends her time volunteering with the Women’s Fund of the Fox Valley Region, PULSE Young Professionals, and is on the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Northeast Wisconsin Chapter. 


Cara Gosse & Jenifer Allen

Maximizing a Small Team


2:50-4:00 PM


About the Session:

Fundraising for a non-profit is rewarding but can come with challenges.  Oftentimes, that includes small teams and limited resources.  In this session, we will teach you how to prioritize your time and deploy your resources to maximize your team.  We know there are many ways we could spend our time, but which will have the greatest impact and cannot be overlooked?  Focusing on the right things (cultivating relationships, donor retention, and stewardship, for example) and ditching the guilt of not doing everything will help you make the most of a small team.  


About the Speakers:

Cara Gosse has spent her 22-year career in the nonprofit industry, and has spent the last 16 years as a fundraiser in healthcare, higher ed, and human services. She calls herself a “professional matchmaker” – learning about the passions and interests of a donor and the impact they want to have on the world, and matching them with the needs and plans of the organization and the community.  Now she works for Children's Wisconsin as a Development Director.


Jen Allen's 19-year fundraising career started in higher education before she transitioned to large community-based non-profits. She loves creating processes to make fundraising more impactful as well as establishing relationships with the donors who make carrying out the mission of an organization possible. 


Tuesday Sessions

Trina Doxtator

Vice President Partnership Development, Fork Farms


Moments that Matter: a Framework for Going Beyond the Expected to Create Moments that Matter for Your Donors, Board Members, & Volunteers


8:30-9:30 AM


About the Session:

Your work changes lives. And your donors know your life-changing mission. But do they feel it? Have you connected them with it in a way they’ll never forget? This session is for everyone in development or marketing, no matter your role. Using “The Power of Moments” as a framework and real-life examples, you’ll walk away with the inspiration and foundation to approach your work with a nuanced and powerful new lens. One that is sure to expand your impact. And one that’s guaranteed to increase your joy, too!


About Trina Doxtator

Trina has more than ten years of experience leading innovation and inspiring philanthropic investment in organizations across the healthcare and nonprofit sectors. She has held leadership roles in communications and fundraising with the St. Elizabeth Hospital Foundation (Ascension), and most recently as Director of Development and Marketing Communications at Catalpa Health. 

Trina currently serves as Vice President of Partnership Development at Fork Farms. Fork Farms is a mission-first agriculture technology company headquartered at Titletown Tech in Green Bay that is dedicated to transforming how people across the country engage with and access fresh food. Trina has served on the Board of Directors for the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for nearly a decade, currently serving her final year as Past-President.


Andy Gussert & Matt Watrous

How to Build a GR Plan to Bring Money to Your Club


9:40-10:50 AM


About the Session:

All politics is local, and it's based on relationships. Your Clubs can push for effectual policies and solutions across cities and counties, but change doesn’t happen overnight or without proper preparation. In this seminar, we will cover the essentials of an effective advocacy plan at the city, county, school district, state and federal level. Because if you fail to plan...you are planning to fail. 


About Andy:

Andy Gussert has served at the top levels of government, development and non-profit strategy for over twenty-five years. His work includes national head of the trade movement, state president of an education association, and executive director of a government research bureau. He worked for five legislative leaders, and recently coordinated the efforts to raise over $30 million for Boys & Girls Clubs across Wisconsin during the pandemic.


Club Level Advocacy Planning

https://www.bgca.net/Funding/Gov-Relations/Advocating-Youth/AdvocacyTools/Pages/ClubLevelAdvocacyPlanning.aspx


Tracy Ogden

Starting the Conversation about Planned Giving & Endowments 


11:00-12:00 PM


About Tracy

Tracy has spent the last 20 years working for nonprofits in the Fox Valley. She joined the Club staff in November 2009 as the Development and Marketing Director. During this time, she has led the Club’s fund development and marketing department, successfully grown fundraising events, grants, the Club’s annual campaign, our community marketing presence, and cultivated donor relationships.  


In December 2020, Tracy took over as CEO.  

Tracy is currently running a $16m renovation and expansion of the Oshkosh Club.  She has also worked closely with Boys & Girls Clubs of America on conferences and committees, including serving as the Vice President of The Professional Association.


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