2023 Summit Session G Details

Breakout 1G: Integrating ChatGPT and Other Large Language Models into Your Daily Workflow | Salon C-4, LL

The world of technology is changing quickly as the rapid growth in Large Language Models (LLMs) has just begun to revolutionize the way we work, communicate, and learn.  Tools, such as ChatGPT are quickly becoming household names and are already influencing the way we work.  LLMs are transforming how organizations operate, making it easier to automate tasks, provide personalized recommendations and improve efficiency in different workflows.  We're seeing large tech companies adapt as the technology landscape changes and our industry is no different. At Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles (JFSLA), we've already started applying these new technologies into our daily workflow.  We'll go over how JFSLA has leveraged ChatGPT, Google Bard, and other tools to increase our efficiency and donor satisfaction with tasks such as:- Revamping Donor Thank You Letters- Donor Bios with Sources- Individualized donor email templates for donors who have supported a campaign, appeal, event, etc.

Tatiana Tuccio Schechter serves as the Manager of Resource Development at Jewish Family Service Los Angeles and is passionate about actionable intelligence. She specializes in strategic growth and prospect management strategy for campaigns, major gifts, planned gifts and annual giving.Tatiana has over 7 years of experience in the nonprofit sector where she spent the early part of her advancement career in health care philanthropy. At JFSLA, Tatiana has been charged with building the agency’s first donor analytics program with an emphasis on growing the Major Donor Gift Program. Since joining JFSLA, Tatiana has developed the department’s dashboards, prospect management structure, and wealth screening process.

Breakout 2G: Putting the Pieces Together: A Cohesive Approach to CRM Implementation | Salon C-1, LL

Preparing for future fundraising campaigns provides an essential opportunity to lean in and evaluate your technology ecosystem. Developing a strategic technology framework that unites internal and external partners to create a holistic approach is integral to building an effective and efficient fundraising organization. In this presentation, we will show you how bringing the right stakeholders to the table can enable your organization to envision a bigger, bolder future. In addition, you will gain helpful tips on leading teams through cultural and system process changes. The presenters will share their experience, which began with a single system selection process and grew to encompass not only a CRM and Finance system change, but also how the organization utilizes fundraising technology overall. Whether you are a large shop or smaller team, you will gain insights on how to navigate through initial discovery, CRM selection, and implementation to ensure your technology project success.

Barb Fischer is an Advancement Services professional and has been in the nonprofit space for over 20 years. Originally from Toronto, she worked at two large hospital foundations. Her jobs ranged from managing data for an in-house call center, helping with a CRM transition, and managing a business systems team. She also took on leadership of the annual giving department, increasing revenue by bridging the gap between great creative and the power of data and a good segmentation plan. She expanded her role at her next adventure as Director of Advancement Services, leading the gift processing and prospect research teams. Her next stop was Toledo, Ohio (the love bug bit and made her move, but that’s a story for the reception). Barb was fortunate to land at The University of Toledo Foundation and is currently Associate Vice President of Advancement Services. She leads a team of high-functioning professionals in Marketing, Prospect Research, Stewardship, Events, and Information Systems. She is currently leading the organization’s CRM implementation. Outside of work, she enjoys video games (currently addicted to Stardew Valley and God of War), reading, knitting, and enjoying the occasional cocktail with her husband.

Holly Parrish is a Senior Consultant for JCA, an independent consulting firm dedicated to the technical and operational needs of nonprofits. A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) since 2004, she has worked for more than 25 years in fundraising, public relations, and marketing. Before joining JCA in January 2020, Holly was managing partner of PH Solutions, a consulting firm focused on outsourced grant management, CRM consulting, and fundraising advisory services. At JCA, Holly has worked on needs assessments, selection projects, implementations, and Raiser’s Edge optimization projects for the National Civil Rights Museum, Baylor College of Medicine, Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, St. Olaf College, and the University of Toledo Foundation. Holly is also on the training faculty for the Edyth Bush Institute for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, a division of the Crummer Graduate School of Business for Rollins College. Prior to consulting, Holly led fundraising programs for Cornerstone Ministries of Tampa, Lakeland Regional Health Foundation, and the Aerospace Center for Excellence. Holly holds a B.A. in Communications and Religion from Florida Southern College and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration & Non-Profit Management from University of South Florida. Holly is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Past President for the Greater Polk Chapter) and is a past member of the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. Holly lives in Lakeland, Florida and is a regular volunteer for many things musical and theatrical.

Breakout 3G: Enhancing Digital Engagement Capabilities and Integrations - A Case Study | Salon C-3, LL

The University of Nebraska Foundation is near the end of a 3+year digital engagement initiative focused on implementing tools to enhance digital engagement capabilities across the university, allowing for smoother data sharing, improved communication possibilities, and increasing the ability to engage with university constituents. This project extends integration for CRM to email tools, events software, online giving, crowdfunding, and texting programs. It adds new capabilities through an events management platform, social networking tools and digital engagement analysis. The project team includes university, alumni association, and foundation representatives to build upon shared objectives for digital engagement of all constituents.Key factors included project management, change management, needs assessments, requirements analysis, tool selection and system enhancements and integrations. We'd like to share how we brought stakeholders along as well as how we stubbed our toes.

Kate Nimety serves as President, Management Consulting for Zuri Group. Kate's deep focus on the people and processes within a fundraising landscape positions her as a leader in organizational management, functional system design, and change enablement. She brings more than 15 years of experience in fundraising systems consulting. Kate has an extensive background in system selections, process design, information delivery and reporting, and conversion mapping. Partnering with organizations in various roles from strategic advisor to end-user trainer, Kate fuses with project teams to design creative solutions that fit organizationally. 

Christina Provost has worked in Project Management, Product Management and Information Technology for private fortune 100 companies, state government and non-profit higher ed fundraising. Her focus has been on process improvement, product management and project management. In her free time, Christina enjoys time with family in the great outdoors. Her favorite activities are hiking and kayaking in the National Parks, biking in the great plains and cheering on Husker football.

Breakout 4G: Barcodes on Direct Mail Remits - Help Your Gift Entry Team With Speed and Accuracy | Salon C-5, LL

Direct Mail Remit Devices are essential to properly recording the gift from your constituents. It can identify the donor, the campaign, and the designated fund. When receiving and processing a large batch of gifts - such as a giving day, or the end of the year crunch time - the volume of data entry can lead to mistakes and fat-fingering some of those values. In this session, we will explore different barcode formats and data encoding that can help your gift processing team speed up their gift entry while also reducing typing and keying mistakes.  We will also demonstrate how to include them on your remit devices.

Jay Ballinger is the Solution Architect for Sutter Health Philanthropy which usually requires taking disparate data sets and finding efficient ways to process them. A lifelong technologist, Jay enjoys finding the right tool for the right job, which usually requires a pinch of commercial off-the-shelf software and a dash of custom tools and processing.

Breakout 5G: Reorganization to Adapt to a Post-Pandemic Reality | Salon C-6, LL

After the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Advancement Services department at Southern Methodist University grappled with destabilized processes and increased turnover. As part of the shift from sustained crisis management, a new organizational structure was developed to effectively prioritize tasks, combat burnout, and ensure progress toward vital strategic goals. In this session, we’ll review the reorganization undertaken to address each of these challenges, including the establishment of dedicated Operations and Analytics units. By equipping our team to overcome the tyranny of the urgent, reducing administrative burden, and creating intentional paths for growth, these changes have positioned staff to be and feel successful in a post-pandemic reality. Join us to hear lessons learned, from getting executive buy-in at the outset through the tracking of metrics to determine efficacy, and all the critical change management in between.

Chase Robinson is Executive Director of Development Services at Southern Methodist University where he oversees the teams responsible for analytics, prospect development, gift processing, constituent records, operations, and database/system development. Early in 2023, he led the reorganization of the Development Services team to adapt to post-pandemic market conditions and to best support the evolving needs of SMU’s $1.5 billion ‘SMU Ignited’ capital campaign. Prior to joining SMU, he was Manager of Donor Information Services at Cook Children’s Health Foundation and a regional officer for JDRF and FARE. Chase is a people-first leader and a passionate advocate for the field of advancement services who is always eager to ‘talk shop’. He is a proud husband and father who loves gardening, running, cheese, and soccer.

Breakout 6G: Going B1G! Transformational CRM Strategy Takes a Village! | Salon C-2, LL

If you want to move fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Maximizing the value of human-centric technology requires a human-centric approach. Join us to learn how Penn State achieved the most ambitious, inclusive and impactful Enterprise-Wide CRM Strategy ever attempted in Higher Education, co-developed with 90+ leaders across 30+ Schools and Units. This strategy has immediately been put into action to provide heightened constituent experiences, increased operational efficiency, and data empowered situational awareness for Division of Development & Alumni Relations and External Affairs!

Corey Snow serves on the Higher Ed Digital Strategy Team at Huron, specializing at the intersection of CRM technology and business innovation. He previously served on the Education Industry Solutions Team at Salesforce, bringing purpose-built products to market for Higher Ed. Prior to joining Salesforce, Corey served as CRM Strategist and Solution Architect at Harvard University, partnering for impact to foster cross-campus collaboration and promote shared success with CRM and engagement technology across the enterprise. Corey is grateful to have been immersed in technology for his entire career, acting as a technologist in diverse sectors including healthcare, marketing systems, data storage, pharmaceuticals, publishing, and non-profit. His current mission is to enable Higher Ed Institutions to thrive into an era of accelerating relevancy by embracing and leveraging the power of human-centric technology.