Developing an Early-Stage Fundraising Program & Integrating Workplace Giving

Thank you so much, Kathleen.

Happy to be here.

Looking forward to it.

Love that.

But before we begin, I know that you've been in this space for quite a long time, but I'm very curious, how did you get started? Was fundraising a path you knew you wanted to explore right from the very start, right from the very beginning?

Well, I was fortunate to find this as a career path pretty early on after graduating from college.

And the short story is that after serving as a Jesuit volunteer at a nonprofit food bank in Southern California, They hired their first development professional.

And I was fascinated by her role and what she was going to set out to do.

I found that her focus on setting up an annual giving program and running a capital campaign to establish a new freezer was really inspirational.

And I wanted to learn everything that I could about it.

But the real fact of the matter is she asked me to help at the first golf outing that the organization held.

And I was, yes, the beer cart girl.

And I saw how popular I could be by driving around the golf course and helping people slake their thirst on the golf course, but also saw it as a great opportunity to engage with donors and volunteers helping that nonprofit food bank.

I love that, Bridget.

It's such a unique origin story.

And you really have an incredible background.

So we'll for sure learn great things from you today.

So let's just get right to it.