2024 Advancement Summit: Cultivating Major Gifts

Monday, June 24, 2024 to Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Renaissance Asheville

Schedule Event FAQs

Major donors are critical to the success of any effective independent school program. This three-day summit will focus on every aspect of a robust major gifts program by starting at the beginning—the objective assessment of a development program’s operation—and ending with the ultimate goal of a strong major gifts program: the capital campaign.

Participants will learn actionable best practices they can implement immediately to build a major gifts program that fuels a school’s vision and creates exceptional learning environments for their students and faculty.

The summit will be broken into three sections: assessing the development office foundation, building a strong major donor program, and preparing for a capital campaign. Each section will be a comprehensive look at fundraising best practices at all levels of the donor cycle. Participants will engage in breakout exercises designed to put both strategic and tactical approaches into practice—turning the major gift ask into a foregone conclusion after carefully cultivating donors and engaging staff and volunteer leaders in the process

Presented by The Winkler Group.

Audience: The summit is ideal for mid-level to senior development professionals as well as heads of schools and board members who want to develop their skills cultivating and stewarding major donors.

Registration

	SAIS Member	Non-Member School
Through June 7	$575	$689
After June 7	$675	$789

Speaker

Jim Bush
Principal & President, Winkler Group

Jim Bush is a seasoned fundraising professional and nonprofit executive with over $100 million raised for capital campaigns over his career. Jim has presented at more than fifty national and international fundraising conferences; he has been named the top speaker at six international conferences.

He has been fortunate to lead capital campaigns and fundraising initiatives for countless independent schools, including many SAIS-accredited schools.

Hotel – Renaissance Asheville Downtown

Please call Zemery Gilliam at 828-210-3006 to make a reservation in the SAIS room block.

Group rate: $216
Cut-off date: when the block is full

NOTE: SAIS does not utilize the services of a housing vendor for any events. Neither SAIS nor the hotel will call you to make reservations over the phone. Please use the above hotel links to secure your reservation directly with the hotel.

Please contact learn@sais.org with any questions.

Sponsor

Event Policies & Acknowledgments

Payment & Cancellation Policy

Acknowledgment of Risk & Safety Procedures

Participation in SAIS events signifies an attendee’s acknowledgment of infectious and other diseases and voluntary assumption of the risk of exposure or infection by attending the event. Attendees agree to comply with all guidelines and procedures, including distancing and/or masking, that may be implemented by SAIS, in accordance with recommendations from the CDC and other public health authorities.

Acknowledgment of Intellectual Property

Participants expressly acknowledge the intellectual property of the presenters of this conference and these other terms that are conditions of attendance. This acknowledgment includes the understanding that creating any form of recording, including but not limited to video or audio is a violation of the intellectual property of the speakers as well as a violation of the terms of participation in this event. Participants expressly agree not to independently record, or knowingly let anyone else record, any of the conference sessions in which they participate. Participants will also not share their unique link to the conference platform or the content therein with anyone else. The unique link to the conference platform will be used solely by the participant.

Consent to Use of Photographic & Video Images

Questions

For questions about event registration or special accommodations, contact abby@sais.org