Training/Facilitation

"Suzanne delivers exceptional results. She knows non-profits well, having experienced first hand the challenges the sector faces. As a result, her services are not only strategic but relevant and timely. Suzanne is an excellent trainer and coach and her capacity to motivate learners and move them from theory to practice is remarkable." Ratna Omidvar President, Maytree

Suzanne offers:
	Short workshops and conference sessions
	Full-day courses
	Facilitated sessions to enable participants to exchange ideas or solve problems
	Keynote presentations
	Board, staff or volunteer retreats
	Intensive custom training initiatives over an extended period of time

Aiming for Excellence: Invaluable Project Management Strategies
Assessing Our Current Context and Key Fundraising Principles
Board Governance at Its Best! Strengthening Your Leadership
Capital Campaigns
Change Management: Responding Proactively to Transition
Corporate Partnerships: Building Strategic Relationships with the Private Sector
Dreaming Big: Making Magic Happen in Your Community
Extreme Teams: Building Teams That Make a Difference
Generative Thinking and Problem Solving
Grant Seeking: The Process for Presenting Your Case
High Quality Relationships: Managing People for Success
Individual Giving and Planned Giving
Leadership: What Lies Within Us
Organizational Systems, Processes and Policies: Addressing the Need
Partnerships and the Power of Synergy
Personal Solicitation and Major Gifts
Social Innovation
Special Events
Strategic Fundraising: Securing the Resources You Need
Strategic Marketing and Resource Development: Moving Towards Action
Strategic Planning: A Proactive Response to the Future
Undertaking a Strategic Assessment and Effective Project Management
Volunteer Management

Suzanne also leads workshops on a wide array of fundraising topics, including: direct mail, corporate sponsorships, corporate fundraising, major gifts, donor stewardship and other techniques.

Other topics available upon request.

Aiming for Excellence: Invaluable Project Management Strategies

Non-profit managers who excel are always superlative project managers. They manage tasks and relationships effectively and strategically. In short, they do the right things in the most efficient manner.

This high-energy and motivational session provides the concepts, ideas and tools to:
	undertake effective research for projects
	engage your stakeholders in a thoughtful and engaging planning process
	strengthen your implementation, team building and follow-up skills
	enhance your people management skills
	evaluate and enhance your programs and projects for greater impact and revenue

[Top]

Assessing Our Current Context and Key Fundraising Principles

To be truly effective in fundraising, it is critical that you have a sound understanding of what’s happening in your environment. What are the issues and trends that you need to address to be strategic in your decision making and garner the best results?

This one-day session provides:
	a review of trends and the current context facing non-profits
	demographic and statistical information impacting the charitable sector in Canada, including a review of giving patterns as well as pertinent issues and challenges
	an overview of basic factors for effective resource development planning
	a framework for establishing a cost-efficient program
	an understanding of evaluation and establishing and measuring benchmarks
	an emphasis on donor cultivation and stewardship

[Top]

Board Governance at Its Best! Strengthening Your Leadership

Leading-edge non-profit boards incorporate good governance practices into their work. They understand their role and provide clear and consistent leadership, oversight and direction. Board members also work to continually improve Board processes in order to enhance their own effectiveness, create a high quality volunteer experience, and steer their organization towards success and increased impact.

Topics of this high-energy full-day session include:
	reviewing different Board governance models
	the role of the Board, individual Board members, the Chair, Executive and Board committees
	setting guiding principles and core values for the Board’s work
	addressing Board liability, accountability and due diligence, including an overview of risk management
	running effective meetings
	problem solving and making sound decisions
	overcoming common governance pitfalls, such as micro-management, internal conflict or aimlessness
	creating a system for continual improvement for your Board

[Top]

Capital Campaigns

In this competitive climate, capital campaign fundraising in the community-based sector is challenging and requires creative, non-traditional and strategic approaches to ensure success. At this session you will share information and gain practical tips to guide your own plans. You will also take away a preliminary plan to meet your own organization’s capital needs as well as a resource kit with sample plans and relevant tools.

Topics for the day include:
	identifying and defining your capital needs
	assessing your organizational readiness and establishing achievable goals
	articulating your requirements and developing a case for support
	developing appropriate strategies and timelines
	creating a preliminary budget and plan
	canvassing for support
	moving towards a successful outcome

[Top]

Change Management: Responding Proactively to Transition

This session provides you and your team with an opportunity for reflective, experiential and collective learning in change management, team building, and problem solving.

Through creative exercises and discussion, you will:
	articulate and reflect on how change manifests itself at your organization
	consider how you can individually - and as a team - deal with change and its impact
	explore the key stages and elements of change to understand how best to manage and support transitions personally and organizationally
	explore the cycle of social innovation and your individual and collective strengths and constraints related to this cycle of change
	create a sense of teamwork, synergy, collaboration and commitment to enhance your personal and collective change management skills across your organization

[Top]

Corporate Partnerships: Building Strategic Relationships with the Private Sector

As government support decreases, the private sector has been inundated with requests for funds. In addition, the current economic downturn is exacerbating this trend. In response, many corporations are moving from “straight philanthropy” to “investing” in long-term partnerships that meet their organizations’ goals. These partnerships can provide your non-profit organization with increased resources, new networks and excellent spin-off opportunities. But you need to be creative and pro active to build and sustain effective long-term relationships.

This high-energy and idea-packed session shows you how to secure and maintain high quality corporate partnerships that meet your non-profit organization’s goals and mandate. You’ll gain practical ideas, strategies, and advice (and energy!) to begin to build or enhance the corporate relationships you have always dreamed of having. You will also receive a resource kit that provides you with practical tools and sample proposals to guide your work.

[Top]

Dreaming Big: Making Magic Happen in Your Community

Anyone who has created a new and inspiring program, service or initiative that enhances the quality of life for others, will almost always say, “It started with a dream.” Being able to dream big is an important part of manifesting community solutions and it is also great fun.

At this session, you explore the power of dreaming big and how a powerful vision feeds into the creative process. Through story telling and examples of success, you will access ideas to help you achieve your dreams for your society and community. You will leave this session inspired and ready to embark on your next great dream with your supporters and community members. And you will be armed with lots of practical tips, approaches and solutions to help the magic unfold.

[Top]

Extreme Teams: Building Teams That Make a Difference

You know you are part of an extreme team when:
	together you accomplish more than you ever dreamed of
	you celebrate each others’ different styles, approaches and strengths
	everyone is on the same page and works towards the same ends
	you work harder than you have ever worked before but you feel energized and invigorated
	there is trust, respect and a shared confidence among colleagues

[Top]

Generative Thinking and Problem Solving

Experience the expansiveness of generative thinking by learning new ways of reflecting, reasoning, and problem solving. Approach issues from a new perspective and bring increased creativity to the way you do your work.

In this highly interactive workshop, you:
	explore core principles of creativity, innovation, and brainstorming
	discuss the creation and sustenance of learning environments and cultures
	participate in alternative thinking, problem solving, and communicating using new techniques of lateral and focused creative thinking
	apply these approaches to actual issues arising within your organization
	have fun and explore building a team approach that awakens your creative spirit, effective thinking, and problem solving

[Top]

Grant Seeking: The Process for Presenting Your Case

If you know that your organization needs a strategic approach to grant seeking but are not sure where to begin, this workshop is for you. In this lively one-day session you draw on the best-practice experiences from the foundation and corporate sectors to “think like a funder.”

You learn how to:
	frame your issue and needs
	focus your energies on the most likely grant prospects for your project
	build an irresistible case to meet your funder’s goals and your own requirements
	write a winning proposal
	move through the grant seeking cycle from developing internal readiness to building relationships, undertaking follow-up and providing stewardship

[Top]

High Quality Relationships: Managing People for Success

Getting the job done depends on both our ability to manage and complete tasks and how effectively we engage and relate to the people with whom we work. This fun and engaging session focuses on principle-centered leadership styles and approaches that bring the best out of your peers and colleagues. Learn strategies to delegate effectively, build extreme teams and facilitate effective group problem solving. Also learn how to manage difficult people and develop approaches to ensure you don’t become a difficult person yourself!

[Top]

Individual Giving and Planned Giving

Individual donations represent the largest market of available funding in Canada. Are you maximizing this opportunity? In the morning, this high-energy session explores the key facets of individual giving, including annual giving and major gifts. Key ideas include acquisition and prospecting techniques, membership strategies, community member appeals, direct mail, telemarketing campaigns, monthly giving, online giving and e-philanthropy. You will understand and be ready to implement key cost-efficient donor recognition and stewardship strategies to build a lucrative donor base.

Planned giving is the focus for the afternoon session and it covers:
	what is planned giving
	why it is a critical fundraising strategy
	no-cost and low-cost marketing tools
	engaging potential planned giving donors

[Top]

Leadership: What Lies Within Us

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spend a day exploring how to enhance your leadership and team-building skills to achieve your organizational dreams and vision. This interactive and high-energy workshop provides you with new ways to increase your personal and professional effectiveness, leadership and management skills.

By looking at a principle-centred approach to relationships and problem solving, you discover ways to unleash the creativity of yourself and others. Topics include effective leadership, team building strategies, facilitating and mobilizing groups, handling difficult people and motivating groups. Together, participants uncover what makes a visionary and motivational leader.

[Top]

Organizational Systems, Processes and Policies: Addressing the Need

To ensure your organization’s success in fund development, it is essential that your staff, volunteers, Board members and advisors clearly understand their roles and responsibilities.

This one-day session emphasizes:
	the need to define these roles and responsibilities for stakeholders and to create organizational policies and procedures to guide the process
	issues of accountability and ethics related to fund development work
	strategies to develop volunteer leadership in support of fund development, including recruitment, training and motivation
	key systems, such as information, database management and marketing, that are required to ensure the efficient administration and management of donors and fundraising programs
	basic information about privacy legislation

[Top]

Partnerships and the Power of Synergy

Studies show that non-profit organizations that develop strategic partnerships and alliances in the community are more sustainable than groups that work in isolation. We also know that successful collaborations create services with a greater reach and impact than any group could provide on its own.

This session shows you how to secure and maintain high quality partnerships that will extend your organization’s reach. You’ll learn:
	the types of possible partnerships, from community-based alliances to private sector collaborations
	how to decide when a partnership is right for you
	how to research, plan, develop and maintain a partnership
	creative networking strategies

[Top]

Personal Solicitation and Major Gifts

Do you want to know how to access large gifts? Find out how to maximize your fundraising capacity with major gift supporters.

Topics of this one-day workshop include:
	components of a successful face-to-face appeal
	developing a solicitation strategy and plan
	research, writing and packaging the appeal and making the presentation itself
	follow-up, cultivation, and stewardship
	techniques and approaches to maximize success with volunteer canvassers
	an overview of the Six Secrets of Major Gift Giving

[Top]

Social Innovation

Come awaken your vision and dreams for a better world. Learn how to build your organization’s capacity to innovate.

During this expansive workshop you:
	begin to define and experience innovation
	engage in lateral thinking processes to unlock your creative genius
	learn what leading experts are discovering about innovation in the charitable sector
	reflect on inhibitors and enablers of your innovation efforts
	assess your own day-to-day ability to nurture a learning environment and creative, innovative, culture
	plan how you can champion one area of innovation within your agency

[Top]

Special Events

When is the right time to run a fundraising event? Although these activities tend to be the most often used resource development strategies among non-profits, the vast majority of these efforts often result in disappointment.

This one-day session presents:
	an assessment tool to discover why, when and where it makes the most sense to run a special event, and when NOT to!
	creative ways to ensure that your event is generating maximum results
	scheduling an event and managing event volunteers
	creative marketing and promotional ideas that help your event sizzle

[Top]

Strategic Fundraising: Securing the Resources You Need

Become the most efficient and strategic fundraiser you can be. This dynamic one-day course for Executive Directors, managers and fundraisers from all walks focuses on “doing the right things right.” By the end of this session, you will:
	have a planning tool to determine the most cost-efficient and effective fundraising techniques for your organization
	understand key fundraising markets and techniques
	know how to build a shared sense of ownership for resource development across your organization
	gain expertise in such key fund development techniques as grant seeking (from foundation, corporate, faith, service club and association-based sources), individual giving, special events and productive enterprises

[Top]

Strategic Marketing and Resource Development: Moving Towards Action

Learn how to market and promote your charity to achieve its dreams. This marketing workshop helps senior managers, staff, Board members and volunteers alike develop the framework and strategic approaches to lead and implement cutting-edge marketing and fundraising initiatives.

You learn how to:
	take ownership of a strategic marketing framework and resource development planning model
	apply the model in your strategic plans and day-to-day activities
	undertake strategic resource development initiatives in a creative and cost efficient manner

[Top]

Strategic Planning: A Proactive Response to the Future

Strategic planning helps you discern where your organization is going over the next year or more and how it's going to get there. Good planning processes are developed organization-wide and build commitment and ownership among your key stakeholders. They are also driven from a clear vision and sense of outcomes and impact.

[Top]

Undertaking a Strategic Resource Development Assessment and Effective Project Management

In this thoughtful and stimulating one-day session, you learn how to apply a strategic assessment model to your organization and create a resource development plan that is uniquely targeted to your distinct needs.

Topics include:
	a tool to assess your organizational strengths and weaknesses, the external environment, organizational requirements, and key markets and audiences
	fundraising techniques and approaches best suited to your organization’s goals
	effective project management skills for fundraising, with a focus on strategies to enhance performance (tasks) as well as relationship management
	the planning cycle as it relates to resource development: research, planning, implementation, follow-up and evaluation

[Top]

Volunteer Management

"Many hands make light work” and in today’s environment, the support of volunteers is essential to groups achieving their fundraising and resource development goals. This high-energy session provides a clear volunteer management framework to actively involve volunteers.

Topics include:
	key principles of effective volunteer development
	challenges, opportunities and the benefits related to involving volunteers in fundraising
	fundraising roles that volunteers play
	developing a fundraising volunteer management system: planning, role development, recruitment and placement, orientation and training, management, recognition, tracking and evaluation
	sample best practices and tips

[Top]