Language and Tools to Move Through the Donor Cycle with Confidence (2025)

A fan favorite is back – but updated to reflect how donor preferences are evolving! This requires not only continued language development and refinement from gift officers, but also a greater emphasis for gift officers to have more comfort in being more direct, more inviting, and also put a greater emphasis on increased partnerships.

We hear time and time again, “I get the concepts of donor visits. But what do I say in those key moments? What language works?

This series provides essential language tools to secure the first visit, qualify donors for capacity and inclination, cultivate them effectively, make a compelling solicitation and more.

And most importantly, this series will provide the tools to support your ability to be direct and inviting, and partnership-focused – just as donors are looking for.

Over a series of eight one-hour webinars, we’ll break down each step of the donor cycle. We’ll provide language-building tools that will help you secure visits, qualify capacity and propensity, build meaningful relationships, overcome objections, and successfully solicit and close gifts — all while developing your own personal conversational style. Join us for the entire series of “The Seven I’s,” or choose the topics that suit you best.

Each session will include a take-away exercise for participants to build their skills. This series is great for newer gift officers and transferable hires. Discussions will support authentic approaches for officers looking to expand their style and is a tool for leaders who want to create a stronger culture around language, approach, and team discussions. Each webinar will be grounded in KDD Philanthropy’s signature commitment to immediately applicable, practical tools.

Identify (March 5, 2025)
The donor journey begins with identification: the ability to identify prospects thru a variety of avenues is essential to maintaining a robust portfolio of institutional donors over time. Our first module will explore how to find new donors/champions, discuss how to work with research partners in this process, and give participants tools to conduct true qualification on behalf of the institutional portfolio.

Introduce/Inform (April 9, 2025)
Securing an initial appointment can be one of the most stressful activities for fundraisers — and at the same time, it is one of the most essential. This outreach is necessary to build a portfolio, and it establishes the foundation for ongoing interactions with the prospect. This session provides strategies and scripting to overcome the barriers of anxiety and uncertainty in executing this essential duty, and it builds skills and shared best practice for maintaining frequency of contact to significantly increase likelihood of securing that first conversation.

Interest (May 7, 2025)
Simply visiting with a donor is not enough. Successful gift officers are curious, inquisitive, and able to ask probing questions with an authentic style that discovers the donor’s motivations and dreams — building the basis for a deeper relationship over time. This session will explore the use of probing questions and how those questions support movement through the donor cycle. We’ll share the talking points and tools that are most effective in allowing you to ask critical questions, understand propensity and capacity, and lay the groundwork for next steps.

Involve (June 11, 2025)
Prospects and donors who are meaningfully engaged with our institutions are more likely to make a first gift, and later to grow to make stretch gifts. We will discuss a variety of strategies and talking points for better engaging prospective donors in our work as we move them through the Seven I’s. This will include how to work with natural partners (students, faculty, physicians, volunteers, organizational leaders, etc.) to strengthen the engagement of our prospects through each step of the cycle.

Invite Part 1(July 9, 2025) and Invite Part 2 (August 6, 2025)
Making a compelling ask and closing a solicitation can be difficult for some frontline fundraisers. In addition to the hours of preparation that go into determining dollar amount and proposal details, the ask itself must be framed to compel a prospect to action in support of your institution. Focused exclusively on the intricacies of making an effective ask, this session will explore the following strategies and the language that accompanies each of them:

• Developing a successful test ask
• When and how to use a white paper or proposal in your solicitation process
• Using this process to identify objections or barriers
• Creating a conducive environment for a successful ask

Invest (September 3, 2025)
Once the ask is made, the work continues. The gift officer must be prepared to negotiate objections, discuss donor expectations, and strategically move the ask to

closure. None of these strategies are carried out by accident: They require preparation, a thoughtful, forward-thinking approach, and the right language tools. We will explore the tools and talking points needed to move through negotiation and closure of a meaningful gift.

Impact (October 1, 2025)
In 2020, only 22% of first-time donors made a second gift to that same institution. In this module, we will explore the essential role gratitude and donor relations play in building long-standing relationships with our donors. We will discuss the key tenets of building a culture of and commitment to gratitude, how to deploy that gratitude strategically to further donor retention, and the language that underlies this process…because it’s so much more than simply saying thank you. Additionally, we’ll explore how to use probing questions to ensure we continue to meet donor expectations and grow life-long relationships between the donor and the institution.

Putting the Pieces Together (November 5, 2025)
In this session, we’ll bring the pieces of our sessions together, ensuring participants have a holistic and strategic approach to engaging prospects and moving through the cycle to ensure ongoing generosity. Together, we’ll discuss challenges and solutions, and we’ll provide additional exercises to anchor in key learnings.

You may register as many members of your team as you like for one cost (instructions for how to invite team members will be included automatically at the bottom of your AnyMeeting webinar confirmation email).

Looking for CFRE credit? Full participation in any KDDPhilanthropy webinar is applicable for 1.0 points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

Webinars are 60 minutes at 10am PST/11am MST/12noon CST/1pm EST. Participate live or purchase the recordings.

Webinar Speakers:

Kathy Drucquer Duff is an expert in advancement and leadership development with clients around the world. She's worked in and with institutions across the nonprofit spectrum, including education, the environment, healthcare, and social services. Her work spans training, coaching, and strategy, and is informed by a strong belief that the best investment a leader can make is in the people who carry out the work of inspiring and securing philanthropy every day.

Kathy founded KDD Philanthropy ten years ago after honing her approaching in a career that included serving as Associate Vice Chancellor of University Development at University of California, San Diego, Vice President of Philanthropy at Sharp HealthCare Foundation, and Associate Vice President of University Relations and Development at San Diego State University.

Kathy is a regular speaker for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP), and authored "Productive Conversations with Donors: A Handbook for Frontline Fundraisers."

Carol Spychalski is a returning presenter to KDD Philanthropy webinars, Carol Spychalski’s approach is informed by the work she does every day to secure greater generosity for a cause she believes in.

As Vice President of Philanthropy for San Diego Humane Society, Carol leads the organization’s major, planned, and foundation giving efforts. She and her team regularly put to use the skills, strategies, and approaches needed to be successful in today’s fundraising environment, and Carol uses that knowledge to inform KDD Philanthropy webinars and other offerings.

In addition to serving as a part of the leadership and philanthropy teams at San Diego Humane Society, Carol is an affiliate at KDD Philanthropy. She has a background in fundraising in higher education, healthcare, and nonprofits.