Qualifying Planned and Major Gift Donors in One Easy Visit

Do you want to quickly get to know the capacity and interests of your prospective donors? This presentation focuses on employing the structured interview process to efficiently determine who may be a major gift prospect for your organization. Learn how to use this intentional question format to get your foot in the door with a new prospect, capture information about what prospects like or dislike about your organization, uncover issues that may affect giving decisions and identify the pertinent donor information fundraisers need to know.

Meet the Presenter

Melanie J. Norton is the founder and lead consultant for Norton Philanthropic Counsel (NPC), a full-service philanthropic consulting firm in Indianapolis, Indiana dedicated to highly-customized and relationship-focused strategies that blend the art and science of philanthropy to promote client success.

Prior to the launch of NPC, Melanie was most recently the vice president for development and alumni engagement at DePauw University where she led a team of 40 full-time professionals to a successful $320 million comprehensive campaign nearly two years in advance of the targeted campaign end. Melanie was previously a consultant with Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates, consulting on all phases of philanthropic work, and also spent eleven years in leadership roles in gift planning and major gifts for DePauw and Franklin College. Melanie’s first career was at Fifth Third Bank where she served as an AVP in the Retail and Trust & Investment Advisors divisions for seven years.

Melanie is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) and holds an M.B.A. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a B.A. in business from Franklin College. She was the 2016 national chairman of the board for the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and is also a past president and former board member for the Planned Giving Group of Indiana as well as the Rotary Club of Indianapolis–Sunrise. Melanie also served on the board of the Independent College Advancement Associates as well as several other volunteer and social service organizations.