DeShanna K. Brown is the Special Projects Manager for the Annual Fund Program at Georgia State University, where she manages and organizes the fundraising efforts from, faculty & staff, students, and parents. While working at Georgia State, the faculty/staff campaign revenues generated over $500k and the campaign has received an Award of Excellence (2007) and Special Merit Award (2006 & 2007) from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Brown has a Bachelors of Science in Organizational Communication from Kennesaw State University, a Masters of Public Administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management and currently pursuing her Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from Novasoutheastern University. Brown is a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education.
Reshunda L. Mahone is the Director of Annual Giving at Spelman College, where she manages and oversees the fundraising efforts from alumnae, friends, faculty & staff, students, and parents. While working at Spelman College, Mahone launched the College`s automated TeleFUND Program and increased the alumnae participation from 16% to 28%. Prior to joining Spelman College, Mahone was Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Georgia State University where she managed several Annual Giving Fundraising programs including the Telephone Outreach Program, Graduate Legacy and Campus Campaigns. Mahone also worked at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL and the University of Florida Foundation in Gainesville, FL. Mahone has a Bachelors of Science in Business from the University of Florida and a Masters of Business Administration from University of Central Florida. Mahone is a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Nonprofit fundraising has become highly specialized, and each segment of your donor market requires a different set of relationship management skills. Whether you are reaching out to private foundations, wealthy individuals or your own members, you need to understand who they give to, and why. The Atlanta Summit focuses on the relationship aspects of fundraising, and offers you several ways to enhance your relationship management skills: Day One: In the morning, listen to a panel of private, corporate and community grantmakers who will openly discuss their philosophy on grantmaking, how they operate, and most important, how you can build a more successful relationship with the grantmaking community. In the afternoon, participate in seminars led by experienced grant seekers who have successfully secured many foundation grants, and have built successful relationships with the grantmaking community. Day Two: Attend a series of fundraising seminars covering the hottest areas of fundraising (capital campaigns, major gifts, annual giving campaigns, and many more). Panels of experts will discuss the latest developments in these fields, and then enter into a dialogue with the participants that addresses their most pressing questions. WHY ATTEND THE FUNDRAISING SUMMIT? Fundraising is primarily a relationship business, and with increasing pressures facing all nonprofit professionals to build key relationships, it is becoming more important, though much more difficult to meet people face-to-face. Our innovative Summit format provides the most efficient and cost effective use of time away from the office by enabling attendees to interact with experts in the field, as well as other nonprofit leaders. CAN ONE ATTEND SPECIFIC SESSIONS ONLY? We understand the demands that are placed on you and on your time. That’s why you can attend only the seminars that are of interest to you. Come for the day or stop by for a couple of hours. You pay for only the seminars you wish to attend and only for the information relevant to you. It’s a novel approach to learning that allows you to get exactly what you’re looking for in a short amount of time. WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE SEMINARS? Each seminar features a panel of 3-4 experts who will give a short overview of the key developments in that field. After that , we will move into a moderated discussion to explore what these developments mean for nonprofit organizations. During the seminar, panelists will engage with the audience in an interactive manner to ensure the real-world implications of these developments emerge, and the session will end with a summary of practical next steps. HOW IS THE SUMMIT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL EVENTS? The Summit offers a unique format to help you accomplish the following:
