Your Strategic Plan and Case Statement: Soul Mates or Intimate Strangers?

Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 9 a.m. - Noon

Hosted at North Park University, Chicago, IL

Half-Day Workshop: $90

About this Session:

When your CEO says “Do you take this strategic plan to have and to hold?” can you say “I do!” with passion and conviction? Being called upon to fund strategies that did not fully consider donors and your development capacity is justifiably every fundraiser’s nightmare. There should be a symbiosis between an organization’s strategic plans and fundraising expectations, but that’s not always the case. Using real-world, cautionary tales of planning processes that succeeded or went awry and how fundraisers responded, this session equips development leaders with the perspective they need to secure a prominent and influential seat at the planning table.

Who Should Participate: Executive directors and development staff 

About the Presenter: Doug Diefenbach, Principal, Diefenbach Communications Strategies is an accomplished marketing and communications professional with special expertise in the area of nonprofit and philanthropic communications.  For more than 30 years he has helped a wide range of organizations to develop, meet and exceed their goals for brand visibility, constituent engagement and philanthropic revenue.

Doug formerly served with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, a national network of more than 450 community-based human service organizations.  As Senior Vice President of Marketing and Philanthropy he led the intersection of all external affairs and institutional advancement functions, including individual and planned giving, grant writing and stewardship, corporate sponsorships, business development, marketing, public and media relations, government relations communications, content development and graphic design.

Prior to that assignment, Doug was Vice President of Campaign Strategy and Communications for Advocate Charitable Foundation, the fundraising arm of Advocate Health Care, one of the nation’s top healthcare systems.  He directed the foundation’s strategic planning, campaign development and message alignment for its capital campaigns on behalf of Advocate’s 12 hospitals. Prior to joining Advocate, Doug served as Associate Vice President at Lipman Hearne Inc., where he consulted with a wide array of local and national non-profits on marketing communications assignments including case statements, campaign themelines and brochures, communications audits, marketing plans and institutional positioning initiatives. Doug began volunteer service to the Chicago Chapter of Association of Fundraising Professionals in 1998.  In 2001 he wrote the chapter’s case for philanthropic support, and was subsequently invited to present this case to the delegates of the AFP International Conference.  In 2007, he received the Presidents Award at the chapter’s Annual Philanthropy Awards Luncheon.

Doug is a graduate of Miami University.  He founded and led (and until all too recently performed at) The Playground Improv Comedy Theater in Chicago, the nation’s only not-for-profit improv co-op theater, which will celebrate its 20^th anniversary in 2017.