FundRaising Success Virtual Conference Speakers: Shawn Bakker and Carol Leister

(On May 19, FundRaising Success will host its second annual virtual conference and expo: Engaging, Enlightening, Empowering Donors. Did we mention it's FREE? Each week until then, we'll be publishing bios of our featured speakers.)

Session: LIVE AUDIOCHAT: Mind Your Messaging Mix
11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Speakers: Shawn Bakker and Carol Leister

There are lots of ways to communicate with your donors — too many, it might seem. In this session, Carol Leister, fundraising director at McPherson Associates, chats with Shawn Bakker, an associate general secretary at the General Board of Global Ministries.

Shawn is the director of The Advance and development. The Advance is the designated giving channel of the United Methodist Church, which raises an average of $40 million annually. Prior to her involvement with Global Ministries, she was the founder and director of Project Transformation, a not-for-profit organization in Dallas that connected young adults seeking leadership opportunities to urban communities. She graduated from Perkins School of Theology with a masters of theological studies and from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., with an education/psychology degree.

Carol is the fundraising director at McPherson Associates, where she is responsible for overseeing fundraising strategy, implementation and analysis. Carol ensures both clients and staff stay up-to-date on the latest fundraising trends, and leads the development of processes and systems to make the company’s services and projects flow smoothly.

She has more than 25 years of experience working for nonprofits in every aspect of development with an expertise in integrated fundraising. She has managed direct mail, telemarketing, online and on-air fundraising initiatives that have raised millions of dollars for the institutions where she has worked. Carol also has overseen development operations including donor database and online fundraising software selection, gift and acknowledgment processing, premium fulfillment and customer services.

(Click here for information on the FREE conference, here for the agenda and here to register.)