Western Canada Fundraising Conference 2025

more info to come

More info soon

more info to come

We’ve all been there.

You think everything is going great and your Board takes an unexpected turn and starts interfering with your work and you are left scratching your head wondering what the heck went wrong? How did it happen? What did “I” do wrong? How can I maneuver a course correction? How do I bring them back, refocus, manage a course correction.

For more than 35 years Tony Myers has been watching Boards in action, working with Boards and sitting on NGO Boards locally, nationally and internationally. Tony will share concrete examples of things gone wrong, why they happened and more importantly how those lessons learned will help you survive and thrive working with you Boards.

Learning Outcomes:
Who Should Attend

In this session Mary will use a storytelling approach to kickstart a conversation about building authentic donor relationships that lead to increased trust and larger donations to support your organization.

We'll delve into asking strategic questions to create alignment between the donor and your organization and unlock major gifts.

Mary will share how a quick phone call with a donor turned into a $1 million gift with a simple question - 'Why?'

Are you spending time and money creating corporate engagement / partnership proposals that keep missing the mark? Is your gut telling you that something has changed but you just can't figure out what that "something" is?

This interactive session will help you better understand the changing game of corporate funding and provide tips and tricks on how you can tweak your strategy to create a more successful outcome.

More info soon

Want to expand your monthly donor base? Join Lisa from Keys Marketing Group and Karri from Harvey McKinnon Associates as they reveal the strategies behind a multi-channel fundraising success. Discover how the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides increased their monthly donors by 40% using an integrated approach with digital ads, direct mail, and telemarketing.

Walk away with actionable insights to boost your own donor retention and revenue!

Sponsorship is very different from donations, gifts and philanthropy. So why do we think we can interchange them and use the same prospect list? Come to learn and clearly understand through case studies, examples and interaction how to determine who your organization should be calling on for corporate partnerships and why! The folks that a local member association like Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) are calling on is quite different from whom a post secondary or social service agency or Basketball Canada should be call on. Know when to stay in your “own lane”! Get the inside scoop and understanding on how your individual giving donor list and big data can help you prospect corporate partners. Get ahead of your competition by understanding better how to prospect for corporate partners.

Continuing the beloved tradition at WCFC -- presenting key information from CanadaHelps' annual Giving Report

More info to come

Conferences are often where you meet people who often do what you do, just for another organization in another place. And you're there to advance your sector for the benefit of your employer. Which is cool.

Even career networking events are often about finding a job, or meeting people who can help you in a very linear way. They often focus on title, hierarchy and as much as we all like to talk about diversity, many gatherings are defined by their sameness of ideas.

Also, most gatherings tied to work and career happen in windowless conferences centers, and if there are windows you are trapped on the wrong side of them!

So let's just once, escape it all.

And be open to a gathering of purpose - to advance....YOU.

What will you leave with?
· New ideas from new people who can add value in your work and life
· Actual progress on your career goals and a reconnection to your purpose and value as a fundraiser
· A more articulate vision of your life path and how to move forward, faster

Warning! This is not just a walking workshop, it will challenge you to think, it will present you at times with the silence of your own thoughts and it will end with uncomfortable performance art? If you’re not open to something different, sit this one out.