UPCOMING EVENTS & SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

BOOK TANJA

As you can see from this site, I love to connect with nonprofit and fundraising colleagues! 

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Contact me to discuss speaking to your group, conference, or event. 

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Email tanja@synergiesinphilanthropy.com

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SELECTED PAST EVENTS | TRAININGS

Mid-Atlantic Facilitators  Network And Liberating Structures Global Network​

April and May 2021

Road Testing The Butter Meeting And Workshop Platform
 

Two experimental learning sessions cohosted with Laura Holbrook. Butter is one of the new "kids" on the virtual space block. It's an all-in-one tool for workshops, trainings, team, or client meetings. 

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Collaborative Features to check out:
🧈 Google Drive and #miro integration
🧈 Polling with quiz and voting options
🧈 Timer in the main room
🧈 Question and commenting features
🧈 Great chat features
🧈 Queuing breakout rooms, polls, youtube videos
🧈 Reactions with sounds (we had great fun with it)

Technology Of Participation (ToP) Annual Conference

March 2021

An Intro To Spatial Audio Gathering Sites To Boost Facilitating & Gathering Online

I was privileged to lead a deep and fun dive into two spatial audio sites, Wonder and Spatial.chat, for ToP Network members. Spatial audio sites are the newest members on the online "meeting block" putting participants into the driver seat by giving them the ability to move around and speak with other guests. 

AFP NEW JERSEY ​

January 2021

Connecting With Your Donors In Light Of Covid-19

In this virtual session, I tapped with 35+ fundraising colleagues into the potential of connecting and engaging with donors online during a global pandemic. 

Special thanks to the Association of Fundraising Professionals in New Jersey for inviting me to facilitate this interactive training session. 

European Fundraising Association - Annual Skillshare

November 27

Donor Engagement During Covid-19​

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I was honored to co-present with Tomasz Kierul on Virtual Donor Engagement in Time of Covid-19 at "Skillshare"- the European Fundraising Association's Virtual European Fundraising Tour. This morning, fundraisers participated in a quickfire round-up of fifteen mini-presentations featuring fundraising trends and insights across Europe and beyond.

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Learnings from European colleagues from Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia:

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• NGOs in Europe have become pivoting champions during Covid- increasing opportunities for donors to give and to overcome challenges.

• Giving in Europe has been on a rise.

• Transnational Giving has become easier and more convenient thanks to Transnational Giving Europe who helps donors give to countries outside their country of residence.

• Digital opportunities and the use of technology have been increasing - And this trend comes with a lot of possibilities for imagining new ways of connecting with individual donors online.

Polish Fundraising Association - 12th International Conference

November 20, 2020

2.0 Online Experiences For Your Donors

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I was invited to present at the 12th International Fundraising Conference
- 12. Międzynarodowa Konferencja Fundraising. 

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In the center was the big question: how do we engage donors online? How can we create transformational experiences?

Because what do donors want? They want ...​

• To have a good time

• To connect with peers, friends, people served by your organization

• Community

• Meaning

• To learn and explore

... Just like you and me. It is all about the human factor, which is so vital to our work.

AFP SOUTH CAROLINA LOWCOUNTRY 

November 11, 2020

Virtual Donor Engagement 2.0.
 

I was invited to "visit" Charleston SC to have "Virtual Coffee" with colleagues at the Association of Fundraising Professionals. We tested ideas on how to create playful and meaningful moments for donors online.

A few tips to get started:

• Start off with a 60-min experience

• Choose 1-2 interactive techniques for breakout rooms and zoom chat

• Include a mission moment

• Test with your board and team

• Build a community

TEAM RESILIENCE STRATEGIES

Training for Team Leaders and Managers

October 2020

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13 Team Leaders from Berlin, Botswana, Israel, U.S.A., and Canada made the stretch and tested Team Leader Resilience. David Prior, PCC, BCC, and I provided them A-I-R - a new innovative model for team leader resilience:

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A -  Aligned Commitment

I -   Innovative Agility

R -  Relational Team

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What your colleagues across industries experienced in the session:

“So many good ideas about exercises to take back to our team”

“Fast and furious session - thank you”

“Like the tools!”

THE VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

A PROJECT BY 70 FACES MEDIA/THE JEWISH WEEK ​

July and October 2020, April 2021

Facilitating three meaningful evenings for 70+ participants on "Racial Justice and the Jewish Community" and "Imaging a Jewish Community post-Covid-19" was a rewarding experience. Special thanks to Gary Rosenblatt and the Conversation-team for embracing the virtual space and inviting me to design the programs. It was great to see everyone conversing and connecting online. 

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Read more about the October program in Gary Rosenblatt's article published on October 28, 2020. 

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VIRTUAL DONOR CULTIVATION EVENTS
How to design meaningful  ​experiences on Zoom with Liberating Structures. 

June, July, August, September, November 2020 and Bootcamp in Spring 2021

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• 6 trainings

• 150+ senior fundraisers and professional leaders from

• 90+ organizations

I designed the training to share live and interactive virtual alternatives to in-person donor cultivation events where personal connections can be made and future giving decisions formed. ​

Instead of the "TV-like-experience" (aka donors watching somebody else speak online), it is now time to design interactive and engaging events online - events that don't require a considerable budget, production team, or a big bang. Intimate and personable events that everyone can create to connect with partners and funders. A lot is possible with the right facilitation tools and techniques - and breakout rooms on Zoom.

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What Participants have been saying:

"It was a groundbreaking event. Learned so much."

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"Thank you, Tanja, for a very useful and informative - and fun - training session. I look forward to trying out some of the tools and tips you provided!"

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"Tanja - thank you for the informative and engaging webinar! I took away a lot of useful tips and met some wonderful development colleagues. I look forward to future programs!"

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"The discussions inspired a virtual event we're now planning for this Fall. Thanks all!"

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DISTRIBUTION OF TEAMS IN THE ERA OF COVID ​

An interactive and imaginatively session for team leaders 

July 2020

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Team leaders across industries were invited to an interactive and imaginatively virtual session to respond to the new remote work environment. Team leaders connected with peers and sourced collective strategies. At the end of the session, the team leaders left with greater resourcefulness and increased confidence to innovate in the ever-expanding and contracting ‘normal’. 

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Team leaders learned and experienced:

❏ A variety of hands-on and engaging virtual facilitation tools for remote teams

❏ Design alternatives to typical online meetings to increase collaboration

❏ Ideas on making your online workspace visual, inviting and playful

I was thankful to develop this session in partnership with a distinguished coaching colleague, David Matthew Prior, PCC, BCC. 

VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES - A 2-PART LIBERATING STRUCTURES SERIES ​

April 2020

Enlightening, Inspiring, Enriching, Amazing, Energizing, Informative, Interesting, Illuminating, Involving, Practical, Invigorating, Refreshing, Appreciative.

These were reactions from 30 professionals who participated in the interactive virtual Liberating Structures experience. 

The 2-part series invited everyone to reimagine virtual experiences and meetings. It was fun and fabulous to see everyone's enthusiasm and the connections made.

LIBERATING STRUCTURES WORKSHOP

December 2019, Center for Nonprofits NJ, Annual Conference

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Impressions from facilitating a Liberating Structures Workshop with Julia (Julie) Erickson, MBA at the NJ Nonprofit Council conference. Collaborations made fun and easy - the key to success in philanthropy and fundraising. 

We experienced four LS methods (1-2-4 All, TRIZ, 15 % Solutions and Impromptu Networking) with 50 nonprofit leaders and professionals. 

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PROSPECT RESEARCH

Making Friends in the U.S.
May 2019, Deutscher Fundraising Kongress
(German Fundraising Conference)

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It was a privilege to speak at the National German Fundraising Conference (Deutscher Fundraising Kongress) in May 2019!

My session about prospect research - how to identify individual donors and foundations in the United States - was timely: the global fundraising market is expanding!  Many major donors are global citizens and cross-border philanthropy is on the rise. 

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LIBERATING STRUCTURES IMMERSION 

February 2019, NY City Parks & Recreation Program Summit

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I had that most amazing Liberating Structures experience with LS facilitator Nancy White from Seattle and my colleague Dana Pylayeva.

Being able to co-facilitate along Nancy was energizing – but most energizing was to see how the Liberating Structures techniques brought a diverse staff from the NY Parks & Recreation department together. LS unleashed their passion and brought everyone together.