[Laurel Groh]

My favorite sessions (and the reason that I’ve been to so many) are the hands-on, leave-with-something intensives. (This conference is one of my ultimate work-related self care thing that I do. I use it to remind myself that I love fundraising. Having intensives allows me to check things off my to do list, get excited again about things coming up, and also to take a breather before the crazy time that is the end of the year.) One of my dream sessions would be to sit down with Shanon Doolittle map out a calendar of “donor love”. (Yes, I could do this, if I made the time, but Shanon just brings such joy and creativity to the process.) Other session topics: creating a new donor/volunteer journey, the mid-size development department, how to use automations to increase your efficiency without losing your human connection to donors. I also have loved the opening “get excited” sessions each day and missed them this past year. And while I know you didn’t ask this, I prefer not to have sessions that are built around someone’s program or company.