Past Events

December Annual Meeting and Educational Luncheon: Ask a Seasoned Veteran! Pick 3 – there is sure to be something for everyone! Topics will range from: Small Shops – How to do it all; Mentorship; Donor Advised Funds; Corporate Event Sponsorships; Working with Boards; How to Capture the Right Data – and more! Bring your questions, ideas and more to learn from your peers. Each topic will have a Seasoned Veteran of the Field to facilitate the…

October Educational Luncheon: Michael McNeely, CFRE, President and CEO of The Abbey Group, Ltd. will be presenting on the topic of Donor-Centric Messaging.

September Educational Luncheon: Join us to hear “The Artful Asker”, Marcy Heim. Marcy is a nationally-known speaker who is a proud resident of the Badger State. She will share her expertise on “Asking for Anything – Artfully”.

June Educational Luncheon: The Funder Community - A New Perspective, featuring Tony Shields, President and CEO of Wisconsin Philanthropy Network

May Educational Luncheon: No doubt about it, the new tax law is bound to reduce taxpayers’ motivation to itemize their deductions, and this will surely affect their charitable giving.

April Educational Luncheon: Want to build more personal (and persuasive) relationships with your donors? Then consider: Emotional Intelligence is twice as significant as IQ and Technical/Functional Skills combined as a predictor of success.

March Educational Luncheon: Join Katie Pritchard, for a lively discussion on what Collective Impact is and how area funders and organizations are embracing this dynamic approach to solve complex social issues. Discover how you and your organization can move beyond reporting “the numbers” to becoming meaningful partners in addressing our community’s toughest challenges.

February Educational Luncheon: The new tax bill could have great impact on charitable giving. Join us for a session to breakdown what we know about the Tax Reform and Jobs Act of 2017; what our donors expect us to know and how to minimize and maximize the details of the tax law that can impact philanthropy.

January Educational Luncheon: Has your organization utilized consultants for their fundraising activity? Is it an avenue that your considering for future projects? Come learn from a panel of experts who can share their direct experience with selecting and working with consultants, consultants who have supported agencies of various sizes and how funding might be available to help you find the right professional support option.

December Educational Luncheon and Annual Meeting: The Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s On the Table events in October started many conversations and brought thousands of people together with a common goal of improving our community. Join us for the Fundraiser version.

October Educational Luncheon: A panel discussion on the topic of Managing 360 in generationally diverse and dynamic fundraising environments. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and everyone in between.

September Educational Luncheon: The work of non-profits is reflected in art because life’s successes and challenges are reflected in art. Draw the connection for your donors and prospects with strategic community partnerships.

June Educational Luncheon: With 37 years in the fund development world, I have seen the evolution of fundraising databases from index cards, spreadsheets, DOS to Windows and to present-day data visualization tools paired with a data warehouse for BIG data.

May Educational Luncheon: Real estate is often overlooked as a planned giving opportunity. Many nonprofit organizations, large and small, consider real estate too complicated and are worried about liability and risk. Join our panel of experts who will address your valid concerns. We will learn how donors can benefit the causes they love by making the largest gifts of their lifetime.

April Educational Luncheon: Women in Philanthropy -- MarthaTaylor will share new ways to better engage women in giving, as well as insights into developing women leaders in the nonprofit arena, in order to shape the future for the better.

March Educational Luncheon: Your boldest ideas and your biggest gifts almost always depend on the leadership of your board, so how can you make the most of your board members' passion and capabilities?

February Educational Breakfast: Grantmakers and grantseekers have often expressed the desire to share information on the nonprofit sector. In this speed dating style breakfast, attendees will have an opportunity to meet with representatives from foundations and corporate giving programs to exchange information about topics of importance to both.

January Educational Luncheon: Prospect research empowers fundraisers with the information they need to ask for the right gift from the right donor at the right time to fund the right initiative. 

2016 Annual Meeting and Educational Luncheon: In today’s crowded nonprofit sector, is your organization aware of area nonprofits’ expectations for philanthropy? Are the expectations of area nonprofits in line with the financial capacity of area foundations and corporations? What might give your organization an edge in competing for funding in the coming year?

October Educational Luncheon: For development operations of all sizes, one of the ever-present challenges to senior leadership is making the case for philanthropic investment. Although we all face the pressures of ensuring responsible use of our organization’s dollars, under-investment in fundraising is as much, if not more of, a problem as over-investment. Join us for discussion focused on making the case for philanthropic investment.

September Educational Luncheon: Special Tuesday Edition! Capital Campaigns are perhaps the most effective and efficient nonprofit strategy for raising major gifts, often in the millions and tens-of-millions of dollars.

February Educational Breakfast: Grantmakers and grantseekers have often expressed the desire to share information on the nonprofit sector. In this speed dating style breakfast, attendees will have an opportunity to meet with representatives from foundations and corporate giving programs to exchange information about topics of importance to both.

May Educational Luncheon: We all want donors who are excited, engaged, and want to come back again, and again. It’s about more than just retaining, but creating loyal donors who feel passionate about your cause and help share your story. Abila’s Donor Loyalty Study digs deeper into donor preferences and behavior, specifically around what drives donor loyalty.

April Educational Luncheon: “Charity returns donation”…“Arrest of non-profit executive casts shadow”…” Audit cites group for ‘shameful’ misspending”… “Former museum worker charged in theft”…“Cancer charity admits bogus claims”. Ever read headlines like these and think “thank goodness that isn’t my organization?”...

March Educational Luncheon: Join Greater Milwaukee Foundation leadership for an engaging conversation exploring the Foundation's latest Vital Signs report measuring the strength, vitality, and challenges of our region.