Advanced Execs: Activating Board Engagement (In-Person)

Please join us on Tuesday May 2nd for Activating Board Engagement. Come learn and be a part of the discussion!

The most successful non-profits have boards that embrace the power of a philanthropic culture. Engaged leadership is an essential pillar of any successful fundraising effort. In the case of campaigns, Trustees not only provide about 30 to 40 percent of fundraising totals, but they also inspire and influence others to donate, ultimately resulting in almost 75 to 80 percent of total fundraising in a campaign coming from, or being influenced by, Trustees.

Inova Health System (Inova) has been a multi-year journey to enhance the engagement of Trustees. Inova, Northern Virginia’s leading nonprofit healthcare provider, facilitates more than 2,000,000 health care visits each year across the region and invests more than $370,000,000 back into the community. In addition to the Inova Health System Board of Trustees, Inova has three philanthropy boards with over 60 Trustees, each with unique histories, experiences, and community relationships that made addressing board engagement prior to the launch of the campaign essential.

In 2021, CCS partnered with Inova to accelerate the work necessary to prepare for the largest campaign in the organization’s history. A comprehensive engagement assessment of the philanthropy boards revealed that Trustees were ready and willing to engage in a range of activities including, but not limited to, hosting events, making connections, participating in acts of gratitude, and requesting gifts. Trustees gave firsthand accounts of the types of information they would find most helpful in fulfilling their job descriptions and provided helpful guidance on how to make their engagement more meaningful in meetings, events, and other activities.
This session will highlight the years of work Inova has invested, while also highlighting essential findings from a CCS-led Assessment that began a year-long partnership to create, deploy, and refine essential content, materials, and processes that directly addressed Trustees feedback.

The implementation of the recommendations from the assessment were wide ranging, and included both quick wins and mid- to long-term initiatives such as:

• Adding Trustee names to the website
• Making quarterly meetings more engaging
• Developing personal Board Engagement plans
• Redesigning Board Meeting materials and reporting
• Developing and deploying materials to support Trustees participating in acts of gratitude and hosting events

This panel brings together insights and lessons learned from the leaders of three unique philanthropy Boards active at Inova Health System, facilitated by one of the CCS Directors who partnered on this essential work. Examples of the content developed with be available (either in print or digital form) and preliminary insights on the impact of Inova’s Board Engagement implementation will be available in the session.  

While this session is set in the background of preparing for a campaign, the lessons learned, and recommendations implemented, are relevant for leaders who are working to engage their Trustees at any stage of development and planning and calls on industry best practices.

Nonmembers - $45.00

SPEAKERS
Melissa McCracken, Assistant Vice President, Donor Relations and Communication; Inova Health System
Melissa McCracken joined the Inova Health Foundation in July 2019 as Assistant Vice President for Donor Relations and Communication. In this role, she is a critical member of the Foundation's leadership team, overseeing donor communication, special events, annual fund, stewardship efforts, team member giving, as well as supporting Board engagement. The department of Donor Relations and Communication creates strategies to maximize the Foundation's impact with a variety of stakeholder audiences — to raise community awareness, strengthen volunteer and donor engagement, and grow philanthropic support for the Inova Health System.

Melissa came to Inova from The Pew Charitable Trusts where she was Director of Donor Relations, providing sophisticated outreach and engagement strategies for the board, individual donors, and other stakeholders, including marketing and communications, travel, and highly customized events. These efforts helped to advance Pew’s mission to enhance environmental protections, improve public policy, inform the public, and invigorate civic life.

Prior to Pew, Melissa was Assistant Director of Programming and Stewardship for the Smithsonian Institution where she was responsible for planning and designing scalable strategies for 19 museums and nine research centers. As a senior member of the team launching the Smithsonian’s first capital campaign (which exceeded its $1.5 billion goal), she directed special events ranging from day-long “fly-in” programs to an annual Smithsonian-wide donor recognition celebration, as well as endowment reporting, the Secretary’s donor-facing correspondence, and stewardship efforts for advancement colleagues across the Smithsonian.

Melisa has enjoyed a seasoned career in philanthropy, including consulting work with a number of nonprofits in metropolitan Washington, as well as 10 years at the National Gallery of Art — managing a portfolio of foundation and corporate donors.
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Trinity University and a Master of Arts from Northwestern University. 

Shannon Hiskey, Executive Director, Philanthropy East Region, Inova Health Foundation; Inova Health System
Shannon Hiskey has served as Executive Director of Philanthropy for Inova Health Foundation since January 2020. In her role, Shannon oversees fundraising activities and programs for Inova Health System with emphasis on raising support for Alexandria and Mount Vernon Hospitals as well as Inova’s Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Surgery, and Behavioral Health Service Lines.

Working closely with Inova leadership and the Inova Alexandria Hospital Foundation Board, Shannon is part of a team preparing for the launch of a major campaign to support Inova’s investment in our communities across Northern Virginia.
Prior to Inova, Shannon’s work included her role as Chief of Staff and Vice President of Operations at World Food Program USA, where her responsibilities included management of the organization’s board of directors, as well as oversight of its staff, strategic plans, and financial and operational processes.

Residing in Arlington, VA for nearly 40 years, Shannon received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from George Mason University and earned a certificate of Nonprofit Executive Management from Georgetown University. 

Suzy Quinn, CFRE, Assistant Vice President, Philanthropy, Inova Health Foundation; Inova Health System
Suzy Quinn has proudly served as a member of the Inova Health Foundation team since 2015, where she is working closely with Inova leadership and Inova Health Foundation colleagues to prepare for the launch of a major campaign to support Inova’s investment in our communities across Northern Virginia. She also oversees fundraising for Inova’s Community Health and Health Equity programs, as well as Inova Loudoun Hospital, where she partnered with Foundation colleagues, leadership, and the Inova Loudoun Hospital Foundation Board to successfully complete a five-year, $21M Loudon Rising campaign--the hospital’s largest fundraising effort yet.

Prior to Inova, Suzy served as Director of Major Gifts & Strategic Engagement at Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry Campaign, where she worked closely with the Board and Leadership Council, composed of high-profile and celebrity leaders from the business, philanthropic, culinary and policy sectors to support a rapid period of organizational growth from $13M to $50M+ in annual revenues.  In addition, she served as Director of Investor Relations for Venture Philanthropy Partners, an innovative philanthropic investment organization where she served on the founding team.  Suzy’s development career was launched through her experience as a grateful patient at Georgetown University Medical Center, where she served as Development Manager, Gifts & Stewardship during the organization’s $400M Georgetown Forever campaign.

Residing in the DC area for 35 years, Suzy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and French & Western European Studies from American University’s School of International Service and earned a certificate of Medical Philanthropy from Johns Hopkins’ Medical Philanthropy Institute. 

Kris Kuhns, Vice President, CCS Fundraising
Money follows mission and fundraising is an essential part of elevating mission for all nonprofits. With experience in strategic fundraising across all sectors, Kris expertly works with staff and volunteers to support their impactful missions. Kris thrives in volunteer engagement, partnership development, data-driven fundraising, and creating successful strategies to achieve stated objectives. Her analytical and organizational skills, coupled with her personability and passion for philanthropy, make her a favorite among CCS client partners, executives, staff, and volunteers. Throughout her career, Kris has led campaigns that have raised well over one hundred million dollars.

Most recently, Kris completed strategic benchmarking projects for the University of Miami and Loyola University of Maryland. She has served as Executive Counsel on the campaign for KIPP: Baltimore. She also served as Chief of Staff for Inova Health Foundation, helping establish protocols and procedures for their fundraising function. She has worked with numerous clients to create and deploy strategic planning efforts through analytics, research, and fundraising.

Previously, Kris led highly successful campaigns for clients throughout The Episcopal Church. She was Campaign Director at Seminary of the Southwest for over three years where she worked in partnership with a six-member staff and 115 volunteers to help fulfill the ambitious national campaign. The effort brought in numerous new donors, some of whom provided significant leadership gifts, and several seven-figure donors doubled their commitments. Kris also conducted a successful Annual Fund Assessment and assisted with the implementation, resulting in an unprecedented 34% year-on-year increase in funds raised.

Prior to CCS, Kris engaged in consultancies working with an array of nonprofit clients on strategic major gifts fundraising and partnership development across the full continuum of donors. In that capacity, Kris led a team that facilitated high-level public-private-partnerships that led to significant grants and public health interventions.

Kris serves on the Board of Directors for the Union Meeting Hall (Ferrisburgh, VT) and the Association of Fundraising Professionals – DC Chapter (Washington, DC) where she is Vice Chair of the Education Committee.   

*Full participation in Activating Board Engagement is applicable for 1.5 points in Category 1.B -Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.