NAYDO eDEVELOPMENTS
January 2025 News from North American YMCA Development Organization
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Message from the NAYDO Chair
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NAYDO AND THE NEW YEAR The new year is really here! Here’s hoping you enjoyed the holidays and took time to rest, relax and re-charge. While I’ve never been one for new year’s resolutions, I have found it helpful to plan the coming year around some carefully chosen goals. Here are mine for 2025: • Support the Gateway Region YMCA as they prepare to host the BEST EVER NAYDO Annual Conference on YMCA Philanthropy in St. Louis, Missouri. We hope to see you there April 30-May 3. • Continue to learn, expand my horizons and embrace new ideas. It isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary to stay current, be productive and move our Ys forward. Don’t forget to check out NAYDO’s online offerings for January. • Speak up and champion causes that are near and dear to my heart. As representatives of one of the world’s best-known nonprofit organizations, we have a powerful bully pulpit – let’s use it to advance our cause! Whatever your plans for 2025, I hope they include NAYDO. We are here to serve you and your community in all your financial development needs. Let us know your needs! Happy New Year, |
Carolyn Grady, NAYDO Chair
SVP, Chief Development Officer, YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh
MONTHLY WEBINAR SERIES
Tuesday, January 14, 1:30-2:30 pm Central – Special NAYDO Webinar
Planning for a New Administration and 119th Congress
YMCA of the USA Presenters:
Abby Rogers, Executive Vice President, Growth and External Engagement Team
Jeff Britt, Senior Vice President, Chief Government Affairs Officer
Q&A with Government Relations team
Change is underway in Washington, D.C. With the new 119th Congress sworn in January 3, and a new administration soon to begin, Ys are thinking about 2025. How will the political and economic landscape evolve? What does this mean for philanthropy, fundraising, operations, and government funding?
Hear from members of the Y-USA Government Relations team as they discuss the importance of advocacy, building relationships, and how Ys may want to adapt to these new changes. They will explore the potential impacts on charitable giving so you can better plan for success in the year ahead.
Learning outcomes:
• How the new Congress and administration may affect the Ys work
• What is known about federal funding in 2025
• The importance of clear communication
• How to position your Y to do the most good in this changing environment
Register
January 16, 1:30-2:30 pm Central/1:30-2:30 pm Central
A Better Feasibility Study: How to Prepare for a Successful Campaign
Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE, Capital Campaign Pro
Do you really need an outside consultant to interview your biggest and best potential donors? There’s a better way to test the case and the goal for your campaign. Join Amy Eisenstein, a thought leader and innovator in the capital campaign field, to debunk prevailing myths about feasibility studies. Learn how you can leverage this critical, early campaign planning tool to truly build relationships with the philanthropists in your community and get a jumpstart on your campaign.
Learning Outcomes:
• Learn the pros and cons of traditional fundraising feasibility studies
• Identify feasibility study models and how to pick the best approach for your organization
• Understand the important role a feasibility study plays in successful campaigns
Register
February 20, 1:30-2:30 pm Central
The Critical Middle: YMCA Annual Fund Strategy Reimagined
Presenters from YMCA of the North:
Shane Hoefer, Mission Advancement
Monica Kenney, Mid-Level Giving Officer
Kurt Simer, Lead Mid-level Gift Officer
With donor attrition spiking following the pandemic, YMCA of the North applied a traditional yet ground-breaking mid-level giving strategy to the Annual Fund. By braiding a focused team of gift-officers, intentional waves of stewardship and solicitation, data-driven workflows, and an integrated all-in communications effort, the Y of the North saw its retention rate increase 64% and the total number of donors skyrocket, reversing several years of declines. This webinar will teach participants scalable, relationship-focused fundraising techniques that can be sized for any YMCA.
Learning outcomes:
• Understand the theory and practice of mid-level giving in order to create a mid-level giving program at your own Y
• Learn how to leverage a donor management system to drive fundraiser workflows linked to donor behavior
• Enhance, institutionalize, and deepen each donor's relationship with the Y, executive directors, and the fundraising team
• Integrate donor communications with fundraisers' personal outreach
Register
NAYDO NETWORKS: UPCOMING VIRTUAL EVENTS
NAYDO Networks are peer groups – loosely based on job duties – where you can ask questions, share ideas, find solutions, and connect with peers in the Y Movement. Here are the latest Network events.
Grants Network
January 21, 1-2 pm Central
Grant Writing Game Changers in 2025
Beth Ann Becker, Contract Grant Writer and former Director, Grants & Foundation Relations at YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities
2025 holds new opportunities with game changing trends that promise to transform the landscape of philanthropy and funding. Learn about these “game changers,” what they are, and how to adapt your grant writing to help ensure funding. We will address the surge in data-driven decision-making and shifts towards inclusive of equity-centric philanthropy, technology, AI, transparency, the economy, and what Trump’s 2025 presidency will mean for the grant community and discuss adaptations to help you stay up-to-date with these emerging trends.
Whether you are a novice or an expert grant writer, adapting to these trends will be vital for remaining effective and successful. As we move into 2025, let’s share ideas and insights that help ensure our success. Beth will offer you her take on these and open discussion for all of us to share our strategies for grant-seeking work.
Network Sponsor: Grant Professionals Association
Register
Operations Network
January 29, 1-2 pm Central
Philanthropy and Operations: A Partnership for Growth and Success
Jared Beard, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, and Matt Thompson, District Vice President, City District, Gateway Region YMCA
The Gateway Region YMCA has strategically formed great partnerships that are allowing them to further their mission exponentially including the nation's first YMCA and Federally Funded Healthcare Center partnership with Affinia Healthcare, a new Adaptive Sports Complex in collaboration with the St. Louis Cardinals, and expansion of soccer programming to under resourced communities through a collaboration with St. Louis CITY SC. Learn about some of these success stories and how they are connecting philanthropic efforts to expand operational growth and effectiveness.
Network Sponsor: The Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine
Register
Participate in and learn from any of NAYDO's 10 Networks. Don't miss out on these great learning opportunities! To receive e-blasts about Network events, add the networks you choose to your database record using this link. Questions about Networks? Contact Erica Halpern, Networks Manager
NAYDO 2025 CONFERENCE
Conference Registration
January 31 is the registration deadline. Starting February 1, late registration is available only if the conference has not sold out. If you haven't made a decision to attend, take another look at the conference brochure. If your Y needs additional resources to operate, how can you afford NOT to attend?
Conference fee includes most meals and participation in Philanthropy School Fundamentals, Sponsor Showcase Workshops, General Sessions, Educational Workshops, Network Events, Hot Topics, Special Sessions, Philanthropy Live! projects, and the closing party at the Gateway Arch.
Hotel Reservations
If you cannot find a hotel room from those listed in NAYDO Brochure/Website, contact Mary Zoller, info@naydo.org or 504 858 3379 with your arrival and departure dates. NAYDO will assist you ONLY IF you are registered for the conference.
YMCA CAPITAL CAMPAIGN RESEARCH
How successful are capital campaigns? What drives them? What is money usually being raised for? How much money comes from the board? Am I too small to do a capital campaign? How does a capital campaign impact our other fundraising efforts?
If you've ever wondered any of these questions, you don't have to rely on anecdotes or case studies for the answers. NAYDO recently partnered with Capital Campaign Pro for groundbreaking research into how capital campaigns are planned and executed by YMCAs in the US and Canada, including those considering a future campaign, currently in a campaign, and who completed a campaign in the last two years.
Review the data:
How YMCA Capital Campaigns Are Different (And How They Aren’t)
The State of Capital Campaigns 2024-25 | YMCA Edition
Questions about a campaign? Contact Steven Shattuck at Capital Campaign Pro!
TIPS & TACTICS
Operations & Philanthropy
5 Nonprofit Trends in 2025 (+18 Ways They Should Inform Your Strategy) Neon One
Moving from Return on Investment to Return on Mission The Engage Blog, Blackbaud
Grants
4 questions to answer before applying for a grant Nonprofit Hub
Marketing & Communications
5 steps for editing AI-generated copy Ragan PR Daily
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eDevelopments Disclaimer Unless they are NAYDO members, sponsors or exhibitors, the websites, consultants, and other resources cited in these articles and links are not endorsed by NAYDO. The information is provided as food for thought only!
