Five veteran fundraisers and academics with decades of international experience have formed Philanthropy and Fundraising of North America (PFNA), a program designed for nonprofit executives.
Founded by Adrian Sargeant, Ph.D., Kyla Shawyer, Alan Clayton, Tina Hudgins and Geoff Peters, PFNA will be focused on creating donor/supporter-centric philanthropic cultures. PFNA is supported by research to identify key behaviors nonprofits can adopt to dramatically increase fundraising income and supporter engagement.
“As we work to identify and bring together the world’s leading nonprofits and changemakers to share and learn from each other, I see this as one of the important steps in helping to affect a much-needed mindset shift that will ignite transformational change across the social good ecosystem,” said Shawyer.
The launch of PFNA is supported by six years of worldwide research conducted by Sargeant and Clayton to identify key behaviors nonprofits can adopt to dramatically increase fundraising income and supporter engagement to multiply societal impact.
“We found the missions of our principal directors were uniquely aligned. We all want to change the way that philanthropy is experienced around the world and to make that experience more personally meaningful and fulfilling for the donors who offer it,” Sargeant said. “PFNA gives us the opportunity to take new science findings and plug them directly into the cutting-edge of professional practice to make that change a reality.”
According to Peters: “Having worked with a few leading nonprofit organizations to achieve transformative growth (e.g., doubling net revenue five years in a row), I was fascinated by Professor Sargeant’s ability to provide a construct for others to follow if they wanted to experience similar growth.”
One of the key elements is a Neuro-Fundraising Lab to test creative appeals with prospective donors to guide campaign decisions and predict successful results, the organizers said.
PFNA will be based in Washington, D.C., where it will hold its inaugural two-day fundraising masterclass seminar on Jan. 27-28. The organization’s website is www.philanthropyfundraising.com
