FREE: Tuesday, March 15 | 10:00 AM
The nonprofit sector has played a role in widening the class divide in this country through fundraising and communication strategies that reinforce the donor’s self-image as a hero of the fundraising narrative. This session will explore the tensions that have held some organizations back from building transformational donor partnerships and provide tools to help organizations become stronger and more impactful by incorporating equitable fundraising and communication strategies. The session will also examine how to encourage an inclusive board leadership structure and build a board fundraising program based on the strengths of a board with diverse backgrounds and various levels of fundraising reach and capacity.
The session will be led by Sonya Shields. Sonya Shields joined the Cause Effective team in 2019 with over 25 years of experience as a nonprofit executive. Sonya has raised millions of dollars and built the visibility of dozens of organizations around the country. She has managed development, communication, and marketing teams for local, national, and international organizations. As a Senior Associate at Cause Effective, Sonya partners with nonprofit organizations offering coaching and consulting in the areas of fundraising and communications. She also serves as a facilitator for the Cause Effective Fellow Program: Advancing Fundraisers of Color in Fundraising. Sonya is on the Board of Directors of the Association for Fundraising Professionals-New York, the American LGBTQ Museum, and Committee Member for the Nonprofit New York Excellence Awards. Sonya received a B.A. in Public Relations from Howard University in Washington, DC, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
The SouthCoast Community Foundation is a founding member of the Massachusetts Community Foundations Partnership, a collaborative made up of 14 community foundations. Our intention is to partner with nonprofit organizations to support them as they address the critical issues facing communities across Massachusetts. One way we do this is through a series of technical assistance and capacity-building programs under the initiative, Nonprofit Strong.