CHRISTINE GILLILAND, CFRE
Principal, Way Up Solutions
Once upon a time, young Chris thought fundraising was icky. Selling those fundraising candy bars in school —#worstjobever.
If only young Chris had known about culture of philanthropy.
She would have sold a heckuva lot more candy bars!
Chris grew up to become an accomplished public relations professional in both corporate and non-profit settings.
Then, in 2013, a hospital foundation offered Chris a job managing marketing and communications. She didn’t know it at the time, but she was about to be converted — for good.
Fundraising communications took some getting used to.
She worked hard to unlearn her old “corporate” ways. She began to write from a place of love. Love for donors. Love for staff and volunteers. Love for the mission and those who will benefit.
Today, Chris is a freelance fundraising copywriter, consultant, and coach, passionately guiding clients on a journey from transactional to transformational fundraising.
And helping them raise more money.
She’s one of only a handful of people in the world certified in Philanthropic Psychology and Fundraising Copywriting with the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy in the UK.
PAUL NAZARETH, MFA-P
VP, Education & Development at CAGP
Paul has worked in Canada’s philanthropic sector for over 20 years. Currently, he is vice-president, Education & Development at the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP), and was previously VP at the charity CanadaHelps.
Paul has been a philanthropic advisor with a national wealth management firm in a trust company and spent 15 years working with charities from universities to churches.
Paul is on the board of several charities, including The Circle on Indigenous Philanthropy and the Advisory Council of Carleton University’s Masters in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program.
He serves as faculty for the Master Financial Advisor in Philanthropy (MFA-P) program led by CAGP, Knowledge Bureau and Spire Philanthropy, and is a frequent instructor for the tax and advisor community through organizations like CPA Canada, Advocis and estate planning councils.
Paul writes on philanthropy for a variety of publications and regularly appears on national radio and television to speak about creating a personal legacy through charity.
LOUIS DIEZ
Founder, Donor Participation Project
Louis Diez advises nonprofits in annual fund development, digital fundraising, and engagement strategies.
He currently serves as the VP, Community of Almabase and hosts the Donor Participation Project—a fast-growing community of 3,000+ fundraisers who are concerned about the decline of donor participation in North America.
Previously, he was Executive Director of Annual Giving at Muhlenberg College, Director of the Annual Fund and Development Business Operations at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Associate Director of Development at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
In these roles, he led teams that created growth in number of donors and dollars raised through a model he calls the Sustainable Revenue Engine.
Of varied interests, Louis holds an MBA from CUNEF, a PhD in Business Administration from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (both in Spain), and an MM in Music Performance from the University of TN.
His thesis applied neural networks to predict economic performance indicators. He has also published articles on the investment value of musical instruments, edited peer-reviewed papers exploring applications for economic theories of legitimacy, and been featured in the music business section of the College Music Society’s journal.
Sigrid penner
Senior Consultant, Global Philanthropic Canada
Sigrid Penner has advised leaders in both the for profit and non-profit sectors on the value of analytics for organizations for the past 20+ years.
She believes data and analytics should be easy to understand and always result in a compelling ‘aha moment’ or a ‘call to action’. She works to distill the key nuggets and effectively tell the story to leaders and the organizations they lead. Showcasing the value of being data-informed, Sigrid’s work effectively bridges the gap between strategy and tactical.
From strategic planning to deep-dives into donor databases, to designing meaningful dashboards and reports, Sigrid focuses on guiding the process of becoming increasingly data-informed to fulfill an organization’s mission
Brad quiring
Manager of Donor Engagement, MCC Canada
Brad loves fundraising.
Over the years, he’s had the chance to work with some of the best in the business. It’s ignited a passion in him to learn everything there is to learn about fundraising — a level of “nerding out” that his wife will never understand.
(sorry, Sarah)
Each and every day, Brad is excited to go to work. He’s proud to tell his kids that he’s a fundraiser — someone that works hard to make a difference in the world. Someone that gets to witness the beauty of generosity.
Because he truly believes that fundraising is the best job out there.
Today, he serves as the Manager of Donor Engagement for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), helping raise more than $40M annually.
Brad holds a Master of Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership (MPNL) from Carleton University and serves in an advisory capacity for several small charities near and dear to his heart.
And he can’t wait to see you at the Build Good Summit!
