Past programs

September 18, 2026
Advanced Charitable Planning: Tax-Efficient Strategies for Sophisticated Donors

Presented by Jeremie Patrick, CFP®, CRPC®, Lead Financial Adviser, Rodgers & Associates

This session explored advanced charitable planning strategies, including current planning opportunities, complex gift structures, and techniques for integrating charitable giving with broader wealth transfer and legacy planning objectives.

July 17, 2026
Refreshing Your Planned Giving Marketing

Presented by: Adreinne Webb Schulman MPA,CAP®, Center for Investigative Reporting and Kersten Appler, Natural Lands

May 15, 2026
Strategies for Engaging Planned Giving Prospects

Presented by: Maribeth Przywara, Director of Advancement, the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF)

The session highlighted key indicators of strong planned giving prospects, such as donor loyalty, long-term giving, and alignment with the organization’s mission, and offered strategies for prioritizing outreach and initiating trust-based, values-focused conversations.

March 20, 2026
Demonstrating Impact that Leads to Sustainable Philanthropy and Expands People’s Capacity to Love – A Discussion of Meaningful Philanthropy

Presented by Jon Eisenberg, President of National Christian Foundation’s Lancaster office

Jon shared a brief overview of the book, followed by a discussion on how these insights might reshape our understanding of impact and help our givers expand and sustain their capacity to love the world around them.

January 16,2026
How to Ask (Really ASK) for Big Gifts

Presented by Zane Gizzi and Ted Reese, Major Gift Officers for the Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health

Two seasoned pros with LOTS of face-to-face experience with donors helped us figure it out and shared their best practices for securing major and planned gifts. We discussed being able to navigate everything from the first conversation with your prospect to closing the gift.

November 14, 2025
Building a Legacy: Integrating Planned Giving into Campaign Strategy

Presented by Dani Beam, Beam Consulting

We discussed how to design a Legacy Challenge aligned with CASE standards, create inclusive pathways for donors of color, and build the systems and recognition structures that make legacy giving a natural extension of fundraising work.

September 19, 2025
Telling Your Financial Story

Victoria Douglas, Nonprofit Strategist for PNC Institutional Asset Management®, presented innovative tools and tips to help leaders learn how to successfully share the fiscal vision and value of supporting your organization.

July 18, 2025
Raising Money in Uncertain Times

Moderator: Jessica Ritchie, President and Chief Development Officer for the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation
Panel: Jeanne Troy, Consultant, DAZA Development; Kristi L. Brant, CFRE, Executive Director of Major and Planned Giving, Dickinson College; Ron Hetrick, President & CEO, Pennon Organization

As funding sources change for non-profits around the country, attendees learned what local organizations are doing to diversify revenue, adapt to the new grant cycles, instill confidence in their donors and stay optimistic and mission focused.

May 16, 2025
Unlock the Power of Appreciated Asset Gifts: A Game-Changer for Fundraisers!

Presented by: Elyse M. Kauffman, Charitable Consultant, The Everence Foundation

In this comprehensive and interactive session, we delved into the world of appreciated asset gifts—one of the most effective and often overlooked ways for donors to support our organizations. This educational workshop equipped fundraisers with the knowledge, strategies, and tools they need to successfully accept and manage gifts of real estate, securities, and special collections.

March 21, 2025
Things I Wish I Knew When I Started In Planned Giving

Moderator: Jennifer Groff, Vice President, LG Health Foundation
Panelists: Joe Martellaro,Director of Gift Planning, Lebanon Valley College and Jessica Ritchie, President, UPMC Pinnacle Foundation

We’ve all had a moment that we wished we knew then what we know now. This was a perfect opportunity to learn from seasoned development leaders the wisdom they share with their teams and donors. This session was recommended for all experience levels.

January 31, 2025
Trauma of Money™ Method

Presented by Brenda J Riehl, Founder, Thrive Fundraising

The session offered an overview of the Trauma of Money™ approach for decreasing shame and increasing discernment around finances.

November 15, 2024
Charitable Giving, Taxes and the 2025 TCJA Sunset

Presented by: Kimberly Pennell, J.D., Vice President, Senior Wealth Strategist & Private Business Strategist, PNC Private Bank®

We discussed charitable giving related taxes and strategies that leverage today’s tax landscape.

September 20, 2024
Maximizing Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)

Presented by: Elyse M. Kauffman, Charitable Consultant with the Everence Foundation

This program focused on easy steps to launch or deepen planned giving strategies, specifically Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). We also gained understanding and comfort for identifying your donors’ passions and discovering planned giving tools that meet donor needs and advance our missions. This session included best practices of planned giving used by industry leaders to increase both revenue and donor engagement.

July 19, 2024
Legacy Giving, Matching, and What a Combo Could Look Like

Moderator:
Dr. Ivy Buchan, President and Founder of Helix Strategies
Panelists:
Heather Morris, Interim Director of Philanthropic Giving, Millersville University
Mary Ann Cooke, Senior Director of Trusts, Estates and Gift Planning, Franklin & Marshall College
Renee P. Atkinson, CAP, Associate Vice President for Advancement, Swarthmore College

Combining planned giving and matching opportunities. Panelists shared their experiences organizing various sizes of these two fundraising efforts and overlapping these options to strengthen their asks. Panelists discussed their lessons learned and other considerations with this creative approach.

May 10, 2024
Planned Giving in Practice: From Concept to Reality

Presented by Lise Detwiler, MBA, CFRE, CAP

This interactive session moved beyond a basic overview and focused on putting a planned giving program into action. Attendees were encouraged to bring an overview of their current planned giving program and examples of current planned gift opportunities they were working on.

March 15, 2024
Planned Giving: More Than A Gift

Presented by Lise Detwiler, MBA, CFRE, CAP

Attendees learned the language and tools of planned giving, how to identify potential planned giving donors, what motivates a planned gift, and practical applications they can employ immediately.

November 10, 2023
Creating Trust And Empowering Donors To Give Through Life Income Gifts

Moderator: Ashlinn Masland-Sarani
Panelists: Renée Atkinson, Andrew Rusniak, Chip Giese

This session aimed to inform those involved with major gifts and planned giving with an understanding of life income gifts, how to effectively market these giving options, and strategies for supporting both the donor and fundraiser while driving impact at your nonprofit organization.

September 15, 2023
How To Ask For An Estate Gift Without Fear Or Anxiety: The science and the sentences

Presented by Russell James III, Ph.D., J.D., CFP®

In this session Professor James reviewed, step-by-step, the most effective ways to ask for an estate gift for your nonprofit. Connecting experimental research and academic theory with dozens of simple, practical examples, this presentation gave us both the “Why” and the “How” of the words and phrases we will want to use.

July 21, 2023
Philanthropic Trends That Can Imporove Your Planned Giving Program

Presented by Dena Lowy Markowitz, CPA

Dena discussed current trends, policies, and best practices that can benefit our work in Planned Giving.

May 19, 2023
Estate Planning for Young Philanthropists

Presented by Suzanne Graney, CFRE, Executive Director, Four Diamonds

Suzanne discussed philanthropic messaging by generation from Gen Xers on down and engaging young volunteers and converting them to young donors and ultimately planting the seed for estate giving.

March 17, 2023
Business Succession With A Higher Purpose: An Innovative Approach To Building Legacy

Presented by: Stephen D. Nieli, CFA, Associate Director, High Family Office

Steve serves as the Associate Director of the High Family Office. The High Family Office provides services to High company shareholders, including the High Foundation and High Holdings Corporation, tending to ownership structures and governance of the High companies and managing capital requirements.

January 20, 2023
Workshop: Setting your New Year’s Resolution for Planned Giving: Generate more PG Conversations with an Actionable Plan

Presented by: Joseph Tumolo, CAP®, CEO, Major & Planned Giving Development

Joe guided participants through the critical components of a planned giving plan including, infrastructure, board strategy, donor strategy, messaging, donor work and stewardship. Participants left with an outline that they could put into action immediately.

November 18, 2022
Complex Gifts: Know Enough To Be Dangerous

Presented by Mark Vergenes, President, Mirus Financial Partners

Fundraisers are often intimidated about discussing complex giving mechanisms. The common misconception is they need to know every detail. Guest presenter Mark Vergenes discussed how to talk about complex gifts in a way the fundraiser and the donor can understand.

September 16, 2022
Strengthening Your Relationships With Estate Planning Professionals

Panel Moderator: Jennifer Groff, Vice President Lancaster General Health Foundation

We had a moderated conversation with a financial planner, accounting professional and an estate planning attorney as they guided us through tactics to better engage estate planning professionals to assist in our efforts of funding our mission through planned giving.

July 15, 2022
Planned Giving In A Capital Campaign

Panel Discussion with:
Nicole Hackmann, Director of Communications and Advancement, The Fulton Theatre and
Joe Martellaro, Director of Gift Planning, Lebanon Valley College
Panel Moderator: Ted Reese

June 3, 2022
Developing A Volunteer Handbook For Legacy Giving – From Identification To Solicitation

Presented by: James E. Connell FAHP, CSA

James E. Connell FAHP, CSA has been involved in fund raising and charitable estate planning for almost 40 years. He currently assists charities throughout the U. S. and Canada grow their future endowment funds while helping donors increase their income and decrease taxes.

March 18, 2022
2022 Fundraising Regulation for Charities and Charitable Gift Planners

Presented by:
Sharon Cody, J.D., Nonprofit Market Manager at Labyrinth, Inc. and Harbor Compliance

Sharon’s more than 30 years of experience as an attorney, charitable fundraiser, foundation executive, donor, and nonprofit board member give her unique insight on the use of fundraising compliance as a strategic tool to build trust, enhance reputation, and increase revenue.

January 21, 2022
How to Evaluate the Success of your Legacy Program

Presented by:
Dr. Ivy R. Buchan, President and Founder, Helix Strategies

Ever wonder if your legacy program is as strong as it could be? Are you on the most efficient track to meet your goals? We learned from Dr. Buchan quick tips to decide what to assess and how to build evaluation into our legacy programs.

November 19, 2021
Is your Legacy Marketing Working?​

Presented by:
Brett Marcy, President, Apollo Communications
Sarah Barr, Owner & CEO of Konhaus Print and Marketing

​​Ever wonder if your marketing efforts are really working? Are they truly showcasing your brand and inspiring a legacy gift? We had the opportunity to ask our experts!

September 17, 2021
Addressing the Elephant in the Room

​On September 17th we discussed the ongoing pandemic, its impact on our work, and how we are working through the new challenges and opportunities it brings.

July 16, 2021
Planned Giving through the Donor’s Eyes

Ever wonder what the donor sitting across from you might be thinking? We joined a panel of experts in data analytics and donor behavior. They gave us insight on donors and their legacy giving.
​
The conversation was moderated by Dr. Ivy Buchan, Fundraising Strategist for Helix Strategies, LLC.

May 21, 2021
One Fine Day: Turning One Day Giving Opportunities into Legacy Gifts

​Presented by:
Meagan Given, White Rose Leadership Institute
Jessica Mailhot, Director of Forever Lancaster, Lancaster Community Foundation

We heard how donors from one day giving campaigns have turned into loyal legacy donors. Meghan and Jessica talked about how their legacy donors became engaged and committed to their mission after they launched their one day campaigns.

March 19, 2021
Legacy Giving Stewardship: Real Life Creative Examples that Worked

Presented by:
Ligia Peña, CFRE, MInstF, President of GlobetrottingFundraiser
Chad Barger, CFRE, Chief Strategist and Owner, Productive Fundraising

Chad kicked things off with a quick review of the importance of donor stewardship and some tips for making it more of a priority at your nonprofit organization (with specific examples). Chad then passed the baton to Ligia, a legacy giving expert, who shared even more great examples of legacy stewardship pieces from around the world.

January 15, 2021
Public Policy and the Impact on Gift Planning and Fundraising

Presented by Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Professor of Public Affairs and Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College

One of Susquehanna Valley Council of Charitable Gift Planner’s annual traditions is to discuss public policy and how it may impact investments, gift planning and fundraising. We heard the nationally renowned Dr. Terry Madonna discuss the impact the incoming presidential administration may have on our work.

November 20, 2020 Annual Meeting
Cash Is Not Always King

Presented by Dan Greenspon, CEO and Founder of DG Capital Insights (DGCI)

September 18, 2020
Top 10 Legacy Fundraising Strategies From Scientific Research

Presented by Russell James III, Ph.D., J.D., CFP®., Professor, The CH Foundation Chair of Personal Financial Planning, Texas Tech University

We were joined at our September Program by renowned and engaging national speaker Dr. Russell James! If ever there was a Rock Star in our profession…Dr. Russell James is it! This was a special opportunity to hear from THE cutting-edge planned giving researcher!

July 17, 2020
SECURE Act and the CARES Act: All that is New in 2020

Presented by
Jeremie Patrick, CFP®, CRPC®, Rodgers and Associates
Greg Pierce,MBA, MHA, Mennonite Home

May 22, 2020
Building or Rebuilding a Planned Giving Program from the Ground Up

​Presented by Nicole Engdahl, Senior Vice President, Planned & Annual Giving, National Parks Foundation

January 17, 2020
George W. Nichols on What you need to know about investing to improve donor conversations

Presented by George W. Nichols, Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Fulton Financial Advisors

At this program, we sought to understand how investments are stewarded by our organizations from stocks and bonds to asset allocations. George went through the basics of how non-profits invest their endowment and legacy funds. This information gave fundraisers insights that may be helpful with donor conversations.