You Survived Another Year! Celebrate!

Congrats! Another year of fundraising is in the books (or almost, anyways)! We reached out to some of our members to hear what some of their biggest celebrations, challenges, and unique stories were from this year. Some even went beyond and dug into the vault in sharing their highs and lows from years gone by.

Katherine Higgins
Communications Manager, Society of St. Vincent de Paul — Madison

Biggest Fundraising Celebration
Personally, my biggest fundraising celebration this year was our annual breakfast fundraiser, Care Café, in May. I had never been a part of an event at that scale and it was my first time seeing the event in-person rather than virtually. I am proud of the work we did to make the attendees feel valued, inspired, and energized. On the communications end, we used every aspect of the event (invitations, table centerpieces, lobby/podium/stage décor, client testimonial video, emcee, take-home swag) to emphasize that the work we do/our mission is not possible without donor support.

Biggest Fundraising Challenge
My biggest fundraising challenge this year was continuing to sift through ideas and decide which ones to act upon. It's a good problem when you have to pick and choose between a few great options! As a small team, we make sure to have a clear reason and plan of action before producing anything.

Chris Ziemba
Donor Relations Manager, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin

Biggest Fundraising Celebration
I started my nonprofit work with a small organization in Chicago. I do remember one of my first grant applications getting funded. It probably felt like a huge amount of money for that organization and the Executive Director being very grateful for that funding.

I have also been a part of campaigns (annual and capital) where the team felt a sense of great accomplishment. A couple of Second Harvest “Share Your Holidays” campaigns come to mind when we finally met our goals for those. Of course, asking for large gifts and having those conversations go well is always a great feeling.

I believe we shouldn’t overlook the everyday fundraising accomplishments which don’t always get a “celebration.” At times, we as fundraisers need to celebrate milestones as we work toward our goals.

Biggest Fundraising Challenge

A couple of things come to mind. First, I think of having to pivot throughout the pandemic (2020–21) to help with additional development tasks within our department while still interacting intentionally with donors. The stressors of the organization wore on everyone as there were many things changing so quickly. I was learning new things, helping with added departmental responsibilities, and trying to keep up with my regular work. I began to feel like we would not have the resources to do our work and thank donors. Donors stepped up and I was relieved when we were back to being fully staffed within the department.

Today we have different challenges. I’d say competition for donors’ time and interest seem to be a big challenge. That’s begun to push me as a development professional to continue to foster healthy relationships while becoming bolder in my communication when discussing gifts.

Unique Story
Having spent a few holiday seasons as Development Director for The Salvation Army, there are stories from the annual “Red Kettle” campaign which are fun to think of. For a few years in a row, we’d have Krugerrands (South African gold coins) mysteriously appear in Madison-area kettles in December. Each of those coins is worth about $2,000. 

I also had a lady frantically call saying she mistakenly put an heirloom ring in with her loose change into one of the red kettles. She asked if I could find it because she was worried, she’d lost it forever. I assured her I'd check for it once I could get out to pick up the kettle that day. Once I hung up, I admit I thought "this has to be a joke." Later, when we found the ring amongst a batch of coins, I was happy to be able to call her to let her know we’d found it.

Lori Werbeckes
Fund Development Director, Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired

Biggest Fundraising Celebration
The Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired is part of The Big Share, an online giving day hosted by Community Shares of Wisconsin. Board members have added to the day’s success by setting up peer-to-peer fundraising pages to encourage their family and friends to contribute. This type of board member involvement has boosted the number of gifts we receive during The Big Share, and introduced many more people to the Council’s services.

Unique Story

After several visits with a donor who rarely left his home due to mobility issues, I was invited to his home once again. The donor led me to believe he was going to make a gift and that I would come to pick it up. We had a nice visit and at the end of our conversation, he told me that he had already sent me a check and wondered if I had received it. I had not. I left, returned to my office and looked through my mail. He had taped a 5-figure donation check to the back of a postcard and mailed it to me!

Joe Vande Slunt
Director of Development, Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Biggest Fundraising Celebration
This fall, I celebrated my 8th anniversary with Olbrich, along with our Donor Engagement & Grants Manager, Jake Immel. It's been very rewarding both professionally and personally to continue to develop relationships with our donors, members, and volunteers, and to see the fundraising success that comes from those long-term relationships. Our operating budget has doubled in the past several years, and our development and membership teams have played an important part in that growth. It's allowed us to do some amazing things with programming, facilities, and staff, which helps us better serve our 340,000+ guests each year.

Biggest Fundraising Challenge
There's not enough time in the day. I have to remind myself that it's a marathon and not a sprint, and that's okay. We're going to be adding a member to our development team soon, which is very exciting!

Unique Story
I started at the Gardens shortly after my mom passed away from pancreatic cancer. At first, it was very difficult for me to work with donors on their memorial gifts, as I was still going through a lot personally. But as time went on, my experience losing a parent allowed me to meet those folks where they were at. Helping them remember their loved ones in a positive and meaningful way allowed me to process my own grief a bit better, and now it's one of the most rewarding things about my job.

Janie Winston
Director of Development, UW Carbone Cancer Center, Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association

Biggest Fundraising Celebration
I just asked a donor to up their estate gift. I had booked their gift for $2.5 million last year and she went up to $5 million! (All over a glass of wine, mind you!)

Biggest Fundraising Challenge
I worked for a tiny nonprofit when I was first in development and the office was down to just me for about 3 months. I was literally cleaning the toilets!