Report from the 2022 CAGP National Conference

Our chapter Education Co-Chair Crystal Schmalle and Treasurer Trina Owens recently attended the 2022 CAGP National Conference in Halifax.

What an amazing adventure to Halifax, Nova Scotia! The theme Rise Again was perfect as Gift planners, allied professionals and the CAGP staff were all beaming in delight to be together to be inspired and learn from one another. This has been long time awaiting and it felt so good.

Halifax is a beautiful city to continue learning about legacy giving. The conference rooms were fabulous, as many of the sessions were held in rooms that have a view of the harbor. The views were not the only great things about this conference.

The sessions were full of great tips and room for growth. In particular, one session, titled The Elephant in the Room: A Masterclass in Death and Dying, was enlightening. This session was delivered by Janice St-Denis, CFRE and Liz Finney, and it allowed a safe place to talk about the journey to death, as well as our comfort level about talking about death to our donors. The personal accounts of those who shared had the room grabbing for the tissues because we have all felt uncomfortable at some point talking about dying in our lives.

We learned things to say, things not to say, and we discussed the stages of grief. The biggest takeaway from this session is that grief comes and goes. There are moments when donors are doing well and then a memory will pop into their mind. We as fundraisers need to be there for them and help them connect their grief and passion into something great.

The plenary speakers were outstanding this year! We were inspired and learnt much from Mohamad Fakih about the importance of community, from David Chilton about the impact of storytelling, and from Tareq Hadhad on resiliency through adversity.

There was a variety of education sessions to choose from, all tailored to different levels of experience in gift planning. Many of the sessions were on complex giving such as flow-through shares, securities, crypto, endowments and the MFA-P certification. This helped us gain knowledge of these different types of giving and were a reminder of the importance of having a network of allied professionals in each of these areas to help our donors if they have any specific questions.

Also, we were reminded of the donor pyramid and how all fundraisers need to work together and plant seeds of leaving a gift in will. This inspires donors to create the ultimate and possibly largest gift they may ever make:

If you have been thinking about signing up for the conference next year, do it! You will not be sorry.

Crystal Schmalle, CFRE Crystal.Schmalle@hrf.sk.ca

Trina Owens Trina_Owens@worldvision.ca