Course in Exponential Fundraising
at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
at Harvard University
The course begins with a 3-day intensive at Harvard University exploring the fundamentals of Exponential Fundraising, a collaborative, partnershipbased approach to fundraising and philanthropy. The course is highly experiential and interactive and features nonprofit leaders and philanthropists as guest speakers. At the conclusion of the 3-day intensive, participants will be given a customized "road map" that outlines a one-year plan to be implemented at their organization. For the duration of that year, one-on-one and group coaching consultations and updates will be provided, including an additional in-person, day-long meeting.
Data on the progress of the group will be collected throughout the year with reporting made available for use as a management tool. Participants will receive tailored strategies and support to set the conditions to serve their organization’s mission and achieve higher fundraising goals. Simply put, those who participate in the course will be equipped to run more effective and sustainable organizations.
Who is right for this course?
This course is designed for a select group of nonprofit leaders who want to improve their organization’s results and reshape the field of fundraising. CEOs, executive directors, chief development officers, chief operating officers and chief marketing officers—senior leaders who are involved in creating and shaping external partnerships at their organizations—are encouraged to apply.
Applicants should be:
Fundraising through a new lens: Exponential Fundraising
Too often, fundraising is seen strictly as a way of raising money. It is transactional and based on a consumer model designed around a buyer (the donor) and a seller (the organization). As a result, relationships are money-centered and asymmetrical, built on expectations, needs and external circumstances, not on mutual accountability, collaboration and internal growth. The buyer/seller dynamic leaves philanthropists feeling controlled and discouraged by the lack of genuine partnership and organizations feeling over-dependent and frustrated by perceived donor meddling.
Exponential Fundraising reconceptualizes fundraising as something that is not only mission critical, but a vehicle to fundamentally transform organizations and the people who are involved with them. Partnerships are designed from the start to be co-creative and generative – and strategy is built on a growing and continuous resource flow that is designed to break down walls, not create them.
This course offers a new way to approach fundraising that is transformational for leaders, their partners and their organizations.
2012 CEF Participants
David Angel
President, Clark University
Chris Balme
Co-Founder and CEO, Spark
Adam Braun
Founder/Executive Director, Pencils of Promise
Barbara Bush
CEO and Co-Founder, Global Health Corps
Esther Cohen
Chief Operating Officer, Episcopal Relief & Development
Erica Di Bona
Board Member and Trustee, Rhode Island School of Design
Ingeborg Haavardsson
Executive Director, PRE, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Lars Jahns
Senior Vice President, Advancement, Robin Hood
Jordan Kassalow
Founder and CEO, VisionSpring
Spencer Kympton
Chief Operating Officer, The Mission Continues
Geoffrey MacDougall
Head of Development, Mozilla Foundation
Sydney Morris
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Educators for Excellence
Reid Saaris
Executive Director, Equal Opportunity Schools
Michael Schreiber
Managing Director, GBCHealth
Laura Segura-Mueller
Director, Alliances, X Prize Foundation
Lawson Shadburn
Chief Operating Officer, Turnaround for Children, Inc.
Lorna Solis
Founder and CEO, Blue Rose Compass
William Spear
President and Founder, Fortunate Blessings Foundation, Inc.
Louise Walsh
Director, Artsupport Australia
Christina Williams
Director of Development and Finance, MIT Media Lab
Patrick Willingham
Executive Director, The Public Theater
2011 CEF Participants
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm
Executive Director, WITNESS
Aviva Argote
Executive Director,
Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Harvard
Jeremy Barnicle
Chief Development Officer/Chief Communications Officer, Mercy Corps
Charles Best
CEO, DonorsChoose.org
Valerie Broadie
Director of Development, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Roger Brown
President, Berklee College of Music
Richard Buery
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Children’s Aid Society
Alexander Chanoff
Founder and Executive Director, RefugePoint
Nick Ehrmann
CEO and Founder, Blue Engine
Sylvia Ferrell-Jones
President and CEO, YWCA Boston
Matt Goldman
Co-Founder, Blue Man Group and Blue School
Suzanne Helm
Vice President, Development, Council on Foreign Relations
Sarah Holewinski
Executive Director, CIVIC
Joichi Ito
Executive Director, MIT Media Lab
Audrey Levitin
Director of Development, Innocence Project
John Maeda
President, Rhode Island School of Design
Alexander McLean
Director General, African Prisons Project
Kate Roberts
Founder and Vice President, YouthAIDS/PSI
Kenneth Watkins
Director of Philanthropy, The Australian Ballet
Robert Weiss
Vice Chairman and President, X PRIZE Foundation
David Wish
Executive Director, Founder, Little Kids Rock
The course is led by veteran fundraiser and Hauser Center Senior Research Fellow Jennifer McCrea.
A fundraiser for more than 20 years, Jennifer has worked with executive directors, fundraisers, philanthropists and board members from a wide variety of nonprofits, including Millennium Promise, Witness, Acumen Fund, VH1 Save The Music Foundation, Comic Relief, Donorschoose.org, Columbia University, Creative Commons, Grameen America and many others. Jennifer is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and co-founder of the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium. Previously, she held key leadership positions at Case Western Reserve University and then at Washington University in St. Louis during their multi-billion dollar capital campaign. She was also vice president for development at Dickinson College.
Format
3-day intensive followed by three formal check-in periods over the course of the year.
The next intensive is June 4-7, 2013 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A welcome dinner is held the evening of June 4 and classes begin June 5.
The curriculum has been developed by a team of nonprofit leaders and is built around a case study approach that includes real-life experiential learning. The cohort is determined via a competitive admissions process consisting of:
Applications are due
April 15, 2013.
Please see the application form on the website for more detailed information.
Program Cost:
$9,900 (excludes housing)
For more information: cefinfo@hausercenter.org
Course in Exponential Fundraising at The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
79 John F. Kennedy Street Cambridge, MA 02138 | http://www.hausercenter.harvard.edu/cef | cefinfo@hausercenter.org