Starting Point

Mary Risner, Chief Development Officer at Westover School, talks about choosing a side, being comfortable talking about money, understanding the mission, doing the hard stuff, picking favorites, and more.

Mae Parker, Director of Annual Giving at Grinnell College, talks about changing a life, finding inspiration in failure, approaching the hiring process, helping donors get from "either/or" to "and", giving a lift to annual giving, and more.

Adam Bradley, Senior Director of Annual Giving at the University of Michigan, talks about asking stupid questions, searching for talent, thirty-one flavors of remote work, having too many giving days, being an annual giving advocate, and more.

Gina Fiorillo, Assistant Vice President for Annual Giving at NYU, talks about being an inch wide but going a mile deep, understanding everyday people, the art of storytelling, dealing with change, trusting your inner voice, and more.

Melinda Phillips, Former Assistant Vice Chancellor for Annual Giving at Vanderbilt University, talks about feeling fulfilled, setting realistic expectations for yourself, dealing with burnout, losing human connection, writing thank you notes by hand, and more.

Tyrell Warren-Burnett, Senior Director of Annual Giving at the Oregon State University Foundation, talks about being a sponge, knowing what you don’t know, building a personal board of advisors, applying lessons learned in other fields, and allocating an hour of each day to doing research on the trends in your industry.

Amanda Lazarus, Co-Executive Director, Annual Giving at Brown University, talks about copiloting a program, teamwork, using technology to facilitate broader alumni connections, being intentional about prospect visits, the significance of giving days, and more.

Anthony Cernera, AVP for Development Connecticut Children’s talks about celebrating your mistakes, playing chess, hiring the right team, expanding your network, having a good life, and more.

Greg Knedler, Associate Vice Chancellor for Development at Troy University, talks about questioning the pastor, making time to learn and think, using big data, staffing around AI, hiring people who use both sides of their brain, and more!

Gloria Goosby, Director of Annual Giving at Furman University, talks about the importance of having a mentor, being a player-coach, establishing workflows, using technology to build relationships, the future of phonathons, and more.