Building Your Competency Toolbox: Curiosity

Our webinars provide you and your team the support, theory, and practical tools you need to excel, especially in uncertain times.
About this Event

As fundraising professionals, we have an incredible diversity of personalities, styles and values. Many of us are attracted to advancement work because we can deploy our unique style in our work. However, the most successful fundraisers share a set of core competencies that are must-haves. While we all have innately different strengths, each of us can build these essential core competencies with focused attention.

KDD Philanthropy continues to bring practicality to these essential competencies and we are excited to share a series of three upcoming webinars focused on three of them: Curiosity, Ownership and Judgment.

Each webinar will focus on one KDD Philanthropy Core Competency: Why it matters, how it strengthens gift officers’ success rates and practical approaches to building each competency – no matter what your starting point.

Join us for this series that will inspire you to reflect on your own natural starting point and opportunities for growth, and provide clear tools and next steps for that growth. You will leave each webinar with an exercise that will support your personal development, no matter where you are in your journey.

While the KDD Philanthropy Core Competencies are primarily focused on frontline fundraising roles, we welcome all advancement and strategic talent management professionals!

Competency: Curiosity
Fundraisers must be knowledgeable. And so many are – about the institution and specific program/initiative(s) represented. But we also must be knowledgeable about each prospect (their motivation, passions, preferences), the larger causes we represent, and the world at large. Curiosity is the best path toward building this knowledge and, luckily, curiosity can be cultivated!

Once activated, curiosity reaps rewards for both internal relationships and throughout the donor cycle.

In this webinar, we will begin with reflection opportunities that allow you to assess your starting point in demonstrating curiosity. Then we’ll provide clear actions you can take to strengthen this competency – from setting aside ego to assessing conversational ratios with donors and more. Finally, we’ll discuss how these actions will help you develop stronger internal and external relationships and improve your fundraising results.

You may register as many members of your team as you like for one cost (instructions for how to invite team members will be included automatically at the bottom of your AnyMeeting webinar confirmation email).

Looking for CFRE credit? Full participation in any KDDPhilanthropy webinar is applicable for 1.0 points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

Webinars are 60 minutes at 10am PST/11am MST/12noon CST/1pm EST. Participate live or purchase the recordings.

Speaker Background:

Kathy Drucquer Duff is an expert in advancement and leadership development with clients around the world. She's worked in and with institutions across the nonprofit spectrum, including education, the environment, healthcare, and social services. Her work spans training, coaching, and strategy, and is informed by a strong belief that the best investment a leader can make is in the people who carry out the work of inspiring and securing philanthropy every day.

Kathy founded KDD Philanthropy ten years ago after honing her approaching in a career that included serving as Associate Vice Chancellor of University Development at University of California, San Diego, Vice President of Philanthropy at Sharp HealthCare Foundation, and Associate Vice President of University Relations and Development at San Diego State University.

Kathy is a regular speaker for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP), and authored "Productive Conversations with Donors: A Handbook for Frontline Fundraisers."

Carol Spychalski is a returning presenter to KDD Philanthropy webinars, Carol Spychalski’s approach is informed by the work she does every day to secure greater generosity for a cause she believes in.

As Vice President of Philanthropy for San Diego Humane Society, Carol leads the organization’s major, planned, and foundation giving efforts. She and her team regularly put to use the skills, strategies, and approaches needed to be successful in today’s fundraising environment, and Carol uses that knowledge to inform KDD Philanthropy webinars and other offerings.

In addition to serving as a part of the leadership and philanthropy teams at San Diego Humane Society, Carol is an affiliate at KDD Philanthropy. She has a background in fundraising in higher education, healthcare, and nonprofits.