Do you want to hone your development writing skills or think more about reputation? Are you tasked with communications in your role and want to be more effective? This episode is for you. I ask our guest, Ben Feller about brevity in communications, how his experience in the White House has changed his view, and how development is critically intertwined with communications.

Ben is a Partner at Mercury, where he leads media strategy. An award-winning writer, Ben offers strategic counsel on communications after a 20-year journalism career in which he distinguished himself as one of the finest reporters in the nation.

Ben specializes in crafting powerful messaging for corporations, universities, foundations and leaders, and in managing complex, fast-moving challenges. He has a rich understanding of how the news media works and how to shape a communications strategy that delivers real results.

Prior to joining Mercury, Ben served as the chief White House correspondent for The Associated Press, a premier role in which he led presidential coverage for the largest news organization in the world. He offers expertise on the media, politics, writing and public engagement, and a deep reputation for accuracy and integrity across the political spectrum. Ben has particular experience in the fields of education, health care, the economy, national politics, voter attitudes and civic affairs.

Ben’s full-time career began in 1993 as a reporter for the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa. He also wrote for the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C. and The Tampa Tribune in Tampa, Fla. A native of State College, Pennsylvania, Ben graduated from Penn State in 1992 with a degree in journalism. He lives in New York City.

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Hello! Thank you for tuning in to our very first miniseries. Today you will be hearing Part 2. If you haven’t already, please see Part 1 which aired on July 8th, a few weeks ago. Today’s episode features four dynamic professionals in different parts of the country and holding different positions of leadership. In today’s episode the questions will center around who these professionals are, and what they’ve done to date to cope with the pandemic and remote work.

We will hear from the following four people in the following order: Willie Jude II, Vice Chancellor at The University of Wisconsin–Parkside; Allison Baker, Senior Director of Development, Women's & Children's Health at Johns Hopkins Medicine; Kelley Morris, Vice President of Individual Giving at Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation; Karim Kafray, Executive Gift Officer at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Each person will speak for about 15 min. I ask them a similar line of questions, but in their answers you will get a good sense of how different work places operate and how perspectives are differ depending on the role.

Please connect with us and send in questions for our speakers as we will be hearing from them again. Let’s get started!

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Do you remember what it was like to begin your career? This week, I interview Michele Ripka about her desire to join the fundraising field and we learn about what she is looking for in a career and how she views our work. This episode is a fresh take on the field. Michele reminds us about the importance of mentorship and working together. 

Michele Ripka is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan (U-M), where she earned her Masters degree in Business Management from the Ross School of Business, and Bachelors degree in Violin Performance, while studying Performing Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD).

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Hello everyone! I am thrilled to share with you a project that has been in the works for sometime. I am pairing up with BWF consulting to do my first ever sponsored program. "Finding a Sense of Place" the miniseries, will be a several month study, looking at the complexities around returning to the office--- or not. Our professionals featured are all over the country, representing different levels of leadership and different sectors within the industry. We explore lots of questions around people’s experiences over the last year, and their plans for this upcoming one. We talk about logistics, preferences, and how plans to return or not play into future goals.

This week, we will start with a conversation between me and Josh Birkholz, the CEO of BWF Consulting. We will Learn more about Josh and his opinions on workplace dynamics as well as ask some of the questions we will be entertaining with Karim Kafray (MD Anderson), Allison Baker (Johns Hopkins Medicine), Kelley Morris (Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation), and Jude Willis (University of Wisconsin Parkside).

This episode is sponsored by BWF. BWF is a full-service philanthropic consulting services firm. BWF serves large- and medium-sized nonprofits in the areas of campaign management, high-net-worth fundraising, organizational consulting, data science, digital marketing, and technology. Clients include universities, health systems, arts & culture organizations, and NGOs throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and the Pacific Rim. As a truly comprehensive fundraising consulting firm, BWF has a team of consultants with expertise in every facet of philanthropy. For more information please visit bwf.com.

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Happy New Year! Happy 4th of July! I am so excited about what this season has in store for the Debrief. 

On this episode, Elizabeth shares her perspective on how to prepare for your new year from the greatest place of strength. This is important as we navigate another big year of changes personally and professionally. We talk empathy and ambition, revisiting your case for support and building a comprehensive fundraising plan.

Elizabeth Abel is a thought leader in philanthropy and seasoned expert in fundraising. She has designed, advised, and directed development initiatives and capital campaigns that have collectively raised more than $250 million, positively impacting tens of thousands of lives. Elizabeth is a Corporate Vice President at CCS Fundraising, a leading fundraising consulting firm to nonprofit organizations worldwide.

Tune in to learn more on our instagram live July 13th at 5pm! You can learn more on instagram @devdebrief 

Hello friends! Today I share with you the Final episode of season 3. Although this is the last episode for a little while, there are still two more ways for you to engage with the Debrief before Season 4. Tomorrow, at 5pm eastern, I will go live on Instagram @devdebrief with Lisa Greer to talk about her book and answer any questions you have from this episode. If you can’t join us there, I highly recommend you sign up via Eventbrite for our first ever zoom event on May 20th.

Lisa Zola Greer is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, convener, and the author of the bestseller "Philanthropy Revolution". Over the last decade, the Greer home in Beverly Hills has been home to nearly 200 charitable salons and events connecting nonprofits with donors and the community.

Email me your questions for Lisa on the live here: [email protected]

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Join our community event on May 20th here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-development-debrief-listeners-live-event-tickets-150829550245?aff=eemailordconf&utm_campaign=order_confirm&utm_medium=email&ref=eemailordconf&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_term=viewevent

Jill Lasman, Senior Executive Vice President at Lois Lindauer, and I talk about executive search. We toggle back and forth between the perspective of the firm, and the candidate. Jill shares her expertise on how she is placing people, what areas have become even more important in the search process, and how things have changed since the pandemic. Certain skills are now more valuable than ever before, and so listening to this episode will help anyone who is looking to make a change or start interviewing for the first time since the pandemic.

Jill Lasman is a key force in setting the Lindauer standard for executive search. A well-known and respected national search executive, Jill has placed senior leaders and their teams in many major education, healthcare and science, arts and culture, advocacy and mission-driven institutions since joining the firm in 1998.

Register for our event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-development-debrief-listeners-live-event-tickets-150829550245?internal_ref=login

This week, I spoke with my colleague Ryan Hart about conversational gift planning. Ryan has coined the term “the four gift frames” and walks us through each of them and how they can help us identify bigger, mutually beneficial gifts between our donors and institutions. Ryan explains to us that we don’t need to know the in and outs of complicated gifts to be able to identify them with our donors. Ryan also highlights the critical aspect of collaborating with colleagues- this is a crucial ingredient with the type of work we are talking about.

Ryan Hart is Executive Director of Gift Planning at Columbia University where he oversees strategic university-wide efforts to raise funds for the $5 billion Columbia Commitment Campaign through planned gifts.

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This week, the debrief begins to talk about returning to work and the outlook on FY22 with Joan O’Nell, Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development at Yale University. We recorded this episode one month ago, on the one year anniversary of working in a remotely. Joan tells us about Yale’s planning for their first ever virtual campaign launch for the fall. She also tells us about two big gifts that were closed during the virtual environment. She weighs what is easier and harder with a virtual practice.

Prior to her appointment as vice president for alumni affairs and development in July 2012, Ms. O’Neill spent eight years as associate vice president for development leading the major gifts, parent giving, planned giving, annual giving, and reunion giving programs, which together contributed $1.2 billion of the Yale Tomorrow campaign's total. Ms. O’Neill held earlier positions as area director at the Yale School of Medicine, as director of special projects and assistant to the vice president for development, as director of leadership and major gifts, and as a director in principal gifts for Yale’s previous capital campaign, which concluded in 1997. She first joined Yale in 1987 as a major gift officer.

Ms. O’Neill received a B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continues to remain at the forefront of our minds. Violence and hate permeate the news far too often.This week’s episode is a beacon of hope for how we can make change in our communities. Development holds power and is just as relevant to DEI as any other arm of our schools and institutions. 

This week, David Smith, Director of Development at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn, talks to us about his work in the context of a career in independent schools. David examines Saint Ann’s history and how it informs their work today. David has had the opportunity to execute some bold changes with his program. He tells us about cancelling Saint Anne’s gala, removing the donor roll, and reframing the idea of scholarship. David is contrarian in many ways, but he backs up his strategies with results. This episode is very thought provoking!

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