Upcoming events

Switch to Calendar View

• Trust, Transparency, and Technology

  • When
    December 03, 2025
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Register

  Navigating the Planned Giving Journey with Boomers 

  In today's complex donor landscape, understanding the philanthropic psychology of Baby Boomers is key to building lasting relationships and securing planned giving commitments. Both leading and lagging Boomers have distinct preference, yet they share one common desire: to ensure their contributions make a meaningful, transparent impact. As these donors navigate the giving journey, the importance of trust and transparency cannot be overstated. They want to know exactly how their funds will be used, and they seek clarity in how their values align with your mission. 

  While Boomers are deeply engaged in philanthropy, they are also bombarded with marketing messages. The presentation will explore how nonprofits can cut through the noise and effectively reach potential planned giving donors. By understanding the planned giving donor journey, organizations can craft messages and strategies that resonate deeply and inspire action. 

  Technology plays a pivotal role in modernizing donor engagement, allowing nonprofits to provide personalized communication and streamline their outreach efforts. We'll dive into how you can leverage technology to build trust, enhance transparency, and ultimately guide donors along their planned giving path, from first interest to committed support. Whether through data analysis or streamlined communication, technology can help build trust and foster long-term loyalty.

  In this presentation, you will learn:

  • Engage Donors Using Philanthropic Psychology: Understand the emotional and psychological factors that drive planned giving decisions and how to tap into these motivations at different stages of the donor journey.
  • Cut Through Marketing Clutter: Discover how to effectively communicate your message and capture the attention of Boomers amidst the overwhelming noise of today's fundraising campaigns. 
  • Build Trust with Transparency and Technology: Learn how technology can foster trust through personalized interactions and demonstrate measurable impact, leading to stronger, long-term donor relationships.
  • Optimize the Donor Journey: Understand how to map out and guide donors through the planned giving process, ensuring they feel informed, confident, and compelled to raise their hands. 

  By embracing both the psychology of philanthropy and modern technologies, nonprofits can build more authentic connections, earn donor trust, and inspire Boomers to make planned giving commitments that create lasting impact.

  Featured Speaker 

  Nathan A. Stelter 

  The Stelter Company, President

  Nathan Stelter is the president of The Stelter Company, a leading source for gift planning marketing solutions for the nonprofit community. The Stelter Company, which was founded in 1962, currently partners with more that 1,200 organizations nationally with a staff of over 90 individuals. 

  Nathan's personal goal and charge to his staff, his clients and this industry is to continue to lead by example as Stelter build's marketing programs based on scientific-data, informed by industry-changing research and focused on connecting people, passion and purpose by way of personal philanthropy! 

  Over Nathan's 25-year career in planning giving, he's been fortunate to speak at over 150 national and regional industry meetings on gift planning marketing trends and cutting-edge donor and fundraising research. He's been quoted in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Planned Giving Today, Advancing Philanthropy, Nonprofit Pro, and other trade publications and currently authors the highly successful Stelter Insights blog. Nathan is part chair (2023) for the board of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP), a past board member of the National Capital Gift Planning Council (Washington, DC), current member of the Mid-Iowa Planned Giving Council, member of CGP's Leadership Institute and former co-chair for CGP's National Standards for Gift Planning Success (NSGPS) task force. Nathan also proudly serves on the national board of the Giving Institute. 

  Registration

  Member - $25 

  Non-member - $60 

  Webinar Sponsor - $325 [One slide to promote company] 

  Show details
• Trust the Process: Making the Internal Case for Planned Gicing (Even in an AI World)

  • When
    January 14, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
  • Location
    PSA Financial [11311 McCormick Rd., Ste 500, Hunt Valley, MD 21031 - Potomac Room]

  Register

  Explore how nonprofit leaders can champion planned giving as a cornerstone of long-term mission sustainability. When we talk about marketing planned gifts, we usually think about donor-facing materials - brochures, emails, videos. But the truthh is, the most important marketing we do is internal. Before donors believe it's possible to leave a legacy, our colleagues and leaders need to believe it's essential. Internal marketing creates alignment and confidence; external marketing creates action. 

  This session guides participants in framing planned giving as both a strategic and deeply human endeavor- one rooted in trust, empathy, and shared purpose. Amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence, the discussion emphasizes that authentic storytelling, personal connection, and patient cultivation remain irreplaceable. Attendees will leave equipped with practical strategies to secure organizational buy-in for planned giving, understanding ways to communicate its long-term value to leadership and colleagues. 

  Session Goals

  1. Articulate the Case for Planned Giving: Help participants understand how to position planned giving as an essential, mission-driven opportunity that strengthens long-term sustainability. 
  2. Emphasize Human Connection in an AI World: Explore how authentic storytelling, empathy, and relationship building remain irreplaceable - even as AI transforms communication and data management. 
  3. Reinforce the Long-Game Mindset: Encourage patience and persistence in cultivating donors, recognizing that meaningful relationships and legacy gifts develop through steady trust and shared purpose. 

  Featured Speakers

  Heather Culp

  Senior Vice President, Senior Associate Dean, and Chief Philanthropy Officer for University of Maryland Medicine 

  Heather Culp is Senior Vice President, Senior Associate Dean, and Chief Philanthropy Officer for University of Maryland Medicine - a strategic partnership in fundraising between the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). She provides strategic guidance and vision for the fundraising efforts of UMMC Downtown and Midtown Campuses, UMSOM, and the University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopedic Institute. Heather also serves as Executive Director of the University of Maryland Medicine Foundation (UMMF).

  A C-suite executive with broad expertise in academic medicine and institutional advancement, Heather leads a 39-member team responsible for driving philanthropic investment in biomedical research, medical education, and patient-centered care. At UMMF, she oversees more than $110M in foundation assets, ensuring donor intent is honored through sound investment strategy and long-term alignment with institutional goals.

  Heather's experience spans grateful patient fundraising as well as alumni engagement across undergraduate and graduate institutions. Over the course of her career, Heather has driven philanthropic efforts resulting in more than half a billion dollars raised for transformative healthcare and education initiatives. Before transitioning to philanthropy, Heather practiced law in both commercial litigation and estate planning.

   Ann Kolakowski, CAP, CFRE 

  Director of Gift Planning Services for the University System of Maryland 

  Ann Kolakowski is the Director of Gift Planning Services for the University System of Maryland, where she helps 12 campuses strengthen their approach to legacy giving through strategy, coaching, and professional development. She believes planned giving should be a joyful, transformative experience - for donors and organizations alike.

  Before joining the University System in 2022, Ann held roles in planned and major gifts for the Humane Society of the United States, Towson University, and Johns Hopkins University. She also draws on a communications background that includes editing Goucher College's alumni magazine and leading communications efforts for independent schools in Philadelphia and Boston. 

  Ann hold the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) and Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credentials, and she's a past president of the National Capital Gift Planning Council. Through her consulting practice, Akorn Consulting Group, she supports small and mid-sized nonprofits in launching and growing their planned giving programs. 

  
  

  Rebecca Rothey, CFRE, CAP, AEP, IPA 

  Senior Advisor: Greater Washington Community Foundation

  Rebecca Rothey, CFRE, CAP, AEP, IPA is an experienced speaker and trainer in philanthropic advising and charitable gift planning. She provides the technical information that advisors need to work with clients and fundraisers, and that development professionals need to work with donors and their advisors. 

  Her time as Director of Major and Planned Giving at the Baltimore Community Foundation from 2012 to 2015 ignited her passion for community foundations and their role in helping donors give back to their communities. From 2016 - 2022, she served as Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Greater Washington Community Foundation and now serves as Senior Advisor. Her Baltimore experience also includes serving as a Director of Gift Planning at The Johns Hopkins University and Medicine and Director of Planned and Principal Gifts at Catholic Charities of Baltimore. She began her career in gift planning at the American Red Cross of Central Maryland as Manager of Major and Planned Gifts. 

  Rebecca serves on the editorial advisory board of Planned Giving Today. Sher served on the board of the Baltimore Estate Planning Council, is a past president of the Chesapeake Planning Giving Council, and remains an active member of the Washington,DC and other local Estate Planning Councils. 

  Registration

  Member - $50 

  Non-member - $75 

  Event Sponsor - $500  [1-2 minutes of air time before the presentation and has a flyer at the registration table for distribution to each participant.]

  
  

  Show details