Donor Participation Project

The Donor Participation Project (DPP) convenes fundraising professionals who:

• Are concerned about the nationwide decline in donor participation (20 million US households lost between 2000-2016).
• Believe this can be solved by changing our fundraising practices and want to learn from peers who are moving the participation needle.

To that end, we meet monthly for a Lunch Analysis session:

• A 45-minute meeting that is a part book club, part scholarly discussion, part brainstorming session, and part support group. Each Lunch Analysis covers a specific topic in donor participation and has required reading and discussion.

Here is what we learned in year one of the Donor Participation Project.

Upcoming Sessions

• 12/15/2021 2021 Fundraising Year-In-Review
• 1/19/2022 Why People Give: Fundraising Recommendations from Behavioral Science by Russell James, Ph.D. 
• 2/16/2022 Lunch Analysis Session with Mark Schaefer
• 3/2/2022 Starting from the End: Purdue’s Approach to Transformational Gifts with John Dinkens and Michele Miller
• 4/13/2022 Lunch Analysis with Ryan Robinson
• 6/8/2022 Lunch Analysis with Dr. Rod Githens and Mindy Danovaro

Past sessions:

• Project Kickoff: How We Gather Report (community-building, fundraising/engagement of Millenials)
• Growing Engagement Among Underrepresented Groups (summary and video)
• Monthly Giving: All or Nothing (summary and video)
• William & Mary’s Successful Giving Participation Strategy
• 2021 DPP Happy Hour
• Live Q&A with Jim Langley, Langley Innovations
• DPP: Small Group Discussions (the week after each monthly session)
• The University of TN’s Donor Participation Growth
• Donor Experience Mapping with Emily Taylor, teenyBIG
• Engagement to Major Gift: Lessons from Case Studies with Adam Platzer
• Trust & Authenticity: The Nonprofit Communications Culture Shift with Dr. William A. Donohue
• Advancement Job Fair
• Marketing Automation Study Group
• Gaming and eSports Fundraising: A New Frontier with Diego Scharifker, USO
• Put It to the Test: They Might Be Fundraisers with Kirk Schmidt
• What to Ask When Buying Tech with Julie Knight
• Why you Need a Donor Innovation Officer with Dan Lombardi
• Manage Complex Projects with Airtable by Jaemi Loeb

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