Thinking about attending AFP LEAD? Take this quick quiz to see which sessions will provide the most value for your career development.
Question 1 of 50%
Question 1 of 5
Your executive director just asked you to hit a fundraising goal that feels... optimistic. Your first instinct is to:
Question 2 of 5
A talented colleague you work closely with just gave notice. What's your honest gut reaction?
Question 3 of 5
Someone on your board is technically doing everything "right" — attending meetings, giving financially — but the energy they bring is quietly killing the room. You:
Question 4 of 5
You've been asked to run a campaign during a moment of real organizational uncertainty — funding is shaky, morale is low. What's your move?
Question 5 of 5
When you imagine the best version of your leadership two years from now, you're most focused on:
Your Leadership Moment
You're taking the first leap.
You're good at the work — maybe really good. But leading people is a different skill set entirely, and nobody handed you a manual. These sessions will help you grow into the leader you're becoming.
Sessions picked for you
Managing Up, Burning Out, and Figuring It Out: The Emerging Leaders Survival Guide
Ellen Heydon, CFRE, M.A. · JP Paul, CFRE, MMusic · Morgan Smith, M.A. · Morgana Nieves, MBA
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Stepping into leadership for the first time can feel like being thrown into the deep end. Many fundraising professionals are promoted into management roles without training in managing teams, navigating organizational politics, or communicating effectively with senior leadership. This session explores the real challenges emerging leaders face, including managing up, navigating generational workplace dynamics, addressing onboarding gaps, and managing burnout, and provides practical strategies for building credibility, strengthening communication, and leading sustainably in mission-driven organizations.
Stop Being Polite, Start Getting Real: The Real World to Fundraising Management
Benjamin Mohler, ACFRE, CFRE, MA · Lisa Chmiola, CFRE, M.S., CSP
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You're crushing it as a fundraiser. So when the management opportunity comes, you should take it — right? Not so fast. In this session, a fundraising consultant and a successful fundraiser, coached through a real management transition, pull back the curtain on what nobody tells you about leading a team. You'll discover why the skills that made you successful as a fundraiser can actually work against you as a manager, complete a live assessment of your readiness to make the leap, and walk away with a framework for managing up, down, across, and — most importantly — yourself.
Own Your Worth: The Discipline of Self-Esteem
Ken Miller, CFRE
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Confidence isn't a personality trait—it's a discipline. In this high-impact session, participants will explore how self-esteem shapes leadership presence, decision-making, communication, and performance under pressure. Through practical tools and real-world insight, attendees will learn how to silence internal doubt, rebuild identity after setbacks, and lead with grounded self-respect rather than ego. This workshop delivers a clear framework for strengthening confidence intentionally and sustainably.
You're Not Alone: Why Career Grief in Nonprofit Leadership Matters More Than We Think
Career transitions in nonprofit leadership often carry an unspoken weight: career grief. Whether leaders leave, stay, or are unexpectedly forced into change, identity, confidence, and clarity can be disrupted in ways that affect not only personal well-being but organizational stability. In this interactive session, we will explore the research behind career grief, imposter syndrome, and job hugging, and examine how unprocessed transitions impact retention, succession, and development continuity. Through real leadership stories and practical tools, participants will gain language, insight, and strategies to navigate transitions with resilience and strengthen leadership sustainability.
These sessions — and 35+ more — are waiting for you in New Orleans, Oct 22–24.
Want to compare results with a colleague? Click the copy my result button and paste it in an email — or post it to your LinkedIn and see who relates.
Your Leadership Moment
You're navigating the messy middle.
You've got real responsibility and real constraints. You're managing in 360 degrees and building the skills to do it with confidence. These sessions speak directly to that experience.
Sessions picked for you
Managing Up Without Burning Out: Ethical Fundraising Leadership in Real Power Dynamics
Celeste Carlson, MBA
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Have you ever been asked to "just make the goal happen" in ways that don't sit right with your values—or your community's? This session is for fundraisers navigating real-world power dynamics with CEOs, boards, and donors. Together, we'll explore how to manage up without burning out, using an ethics and IDEA/belonging lens to address common tensions in fundraising leadership. You'll leave with a practical framework for reading power, scripts for pushing back on misaligned requests, and a personal leadership boundary plan that helps you stay grounded, effective, and in integrity in the work.
Getting Comfortable: Providing Challenging Feedback & Having Difficult Conversations
Abby Graf
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It's only human to avoid giving difficult feedback. Yet, it is crucial to deliver that feedback to help your staff grow, deliver, and be the best contributors they can be. In this session, we will consider recent research on best practices in giving feedback, and each develop our own style for giving feedback that feels authentic – and do-able.
Help! My Peanut Butter Is Spread Too Thin: Navigating Caregiving as a Nonprofit Fundraiser
Jennifer Li Dotson, MSC, CAP
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Feeling like the peanut butter in life's sandwich holding everything together but stretched way too thin? This lively, scenario-driven session with Jennifer Li Dotson, MSC, CAP dives into the caregiving realities of fundraisers balancing donors, boards, aging parents, and kids who always seem to need a ride. Through humor, shared wisdom, and collective problem-solving, we'll explore how to redistribute the spread, protect your time, and create more supportive organizational cultures. Come for the laughs, stay for the strategies that will keep your sandwich stacked, but not squished.
From Resilience to Responsibility: Preventing Burnout in Fundraising
Daniel H. Lanteigne, CFRE, MPNL
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Burnout in fundraising is no longer a personal issue—it is a leadership and sustainability challenge. This interactive session invites nonprofit executives and senior leaders to rethink the "culture of sacrifice" that often defines fundraising work. Grounded in research, sector data, and lived leadership experience, the session explores why burnout occurs, who it affects most, and how leadership practices can either mitigate or intensify risk. Participants will leave with practical strategies to foster healthier, more ethical, and more sustainable fundraising cultures.
How to Lead Conversations That Lower Conflict Instead of Escalating It
Ieshia Gray, J.D.
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How leaders handle difficult conversations can shape trust, culture, and outcomes across an entire organization. In this engaging session, Ieshia Gray, J.D. shares a practical framework for leading conversations that lower conflict instead of escalating it. Drawing from restorative practice, judicial leadership, and conflict-resolution training, she offers tools leaders can use with staff, boards, donors, and partners. Attendees will leave with clear strategies to reduce defensiveness, increase clarity, and lead with greater confidence, accountability, and credibility in high-stakes moments.
These sessions — and 35+ more — are waiting for you in New Orleans, Oct 22–24.
Want to compare results with a colleague? Click the copy my result button and paste it in an email — or post it to your LinkedIn and see who relates.
Your Leadership Moment
You're in the eye of the storm.
You've been around long enough to know how fast things can shift. The challenge now isn't learning to lead — it's sustaining it. These sessions are for the people holding organizations together when everything's in motion.
Sessions picked for you
Forged in Fire: Leading Fundraising Teams Through Institutional Crisis
David Hutchison, Ph.D.
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Some leadership challenges unfold slowly. Others arrive overnight. What happens when a decision outside your control suddenly threatens your organization's financial future? Fundraising leaders are often expected to provide clarity, confidence, and direction in precisely these moments. This session explores how development leaders can stabilize teams, maintain ethical fundraising practices, and mobilize donor support during institutional crisis. Drawing on real-world leadership experience during a major funding disruption, participants will learn a practical framework for guiding teams through uncertainty while strengthening donor trust and long-term organizational resilience.
From Overwhelm to Ownership: Leading Fundraising Strategy Without Burning Out Your Team
Marci Bradley, CFRE · Madeleine Briscoe
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Fundraising leaders are often tasked with producing results inside systems that reward urgency, overextension, and constant reaction. In this interactive session, Marci Bradley, CFRE, CFRE, and Madeleine Briscoe, CFRE, explore how nonprofit leaders can reclaim strategic control while protecting staff wellbeing and donor trust. Participants will learn how to lead capacity-aligned planning conversations, make ethical tradeoffs, and create fundraising systems that are sustainable, inclusive, and effective—even in resource-constrained environments.
You Can't Keep 'Em If You Can't Lead 'Em: The Fundraiser Retention Playbook for Leaders
Amy Sexton Stanislavski, CFRE
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Losing a great fundraiser doesn't just hurt your budget — it can take years to rebuild the donor relationships and institutional knowledge they walk out the door with. If you've ever watched a strong Development Director leave for a competitor (or worse, leave the sector entirely), this session is for you. Amy Sexton Stanislavski, CFRE, CFRE, draws on 15+ years leading and coaching development teams to give senior leaders the honest, practical playbook for keeping their best people. No theory. No corporate-speak. Just the stuff that actually works — including the hard conversations most organizations are avoiding.
Leading Without the Mask
Sanjukta Shams, CFRE
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Leading Without the Mask is a powerful, reflective workshop created especially for BIPOC leaders navigating systems that often require assimilation, code-switching, or emotional labor. This session centers authenticity as both a leadership strength and an act of resistance. Through storytelling, guided reflection, and practical tools, participants will explore the visible and invisible masks they are expected to wear—and the personal and professional costs of doing so. The workshop offers strategies for leading with clarity, integrity, and self-trust while building credibility and influence without erasing identity.
Empowering Your Fundraising Team for Maximum Impact: Balancing Accountability, Culture, and Resilience
Jaye Lopez Van Soest, CFRE
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Building a high-performing fundraising team isn't about finding perfect people — it's about leading the team you already have with intention. In this dynamic session, discover practical strategies to boost engagement, address toxic behaviors early, balance metrics with morale, and sustain resilience in anxious times. Grounded in current workforce research and nearly 30 years of fundraising leadership experience, this interactive session will equip you with actionable tools to clarify expectations, strengthen culture, and unlock extraordinary results through empowered, motivated teams.
These sessions — and 35+ more — are waiting for you in New Orleans, Oct 22–24.
Want to compare results with a colleague? Click the copy my result button and paste it in an email — or post it to your LinkedIn and see who relates.
Your Leadership Moment
You're playing the long game.
You think in systems, not just situations. You're not just running a fundraising operation — you're shaping what this sector looks like in five years. These sessions match the altitude you're working at.
Sessions picked for you
Power Partners: Building a High-Impact CEO–Development Director Relationship
Amy O’Sullivan, CFRE · Tami Bohannon, CFRE
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An important and often overlooked driver of fundraising success is the relationship between the CEO and the Director of Development. When aligned, organizations raise more money, engage boards effectively, and build stronger relationships. In this candid session, a CEO and Director of Development will share how they built a leadership partnership that strengthens fundraising, clarifies roles, and creates shared accountability for philanthropy. Through real examples and practical tools, participants will learn how CEOs and development leaders can align expectations, communicate effectively, and work to advance a culture of philanthropy.
Why Every Nonprofit Needs Couples Therapy: Inside the ED–Chair Relationship
Ann-Marie Meacham, CFRE
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Most nonprofit crises don't start with bad strategy. They start with a leadership relationship no one wants to talk about. This session puts the Board Chair–Executive Director partnership on the couch, using couples therapy as a practical framework for diagnosing dysfunction, naming tension, and fixing what's quietly breaking organizations. Through real nonprofit scenarios, participants will learn how avoidance, micromanagement, and blurred boundaries undermine trust—and how to repair them before burnout, exits, or organizational collapse. Expect candor, humor, and tools leaders can use immediately.
The Nonprofit Leader as Translator: Bridging Culture, Generations, and Power in Philanthropy
Naquana Borrero, CFRE, CCLA
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Nonprofit leaders often operate between communities, donors, boards, and institutions that see the world differently. Cultural, political, and generational differences can create barriers to trust, understanding, and alignment. In this session, longtime nonprofit practitioner and fundraising leader Naquana Borrero, CFRE, CCLA introduces a practical framework for translating mission-driven work across these divides. Drawing on more than fifteen years of leadership and fundraising experience, participants will learn how to translate community needs into narratives that resonate with diverse stakeholders while maintaining integrity and equity. Attendees will leave with tools to strengthen communication, build trust across difference, and align stakeholders around shared mission.
At the Heart of Healthy Organizations: High-Performing Leadership Teams
Shaun Lee, MBA
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At the heart of every thriving organization is a cohesive, high-performing leadership team, yet only 20% of senior executives believe their team operates at this level. The impact is undeniable: high-performing leadership teams are three times more likely to achieve financial goals, while ineffective teams drain morale, stifle innovation, and slow strategic progress. Great leadership teams aren't born – they're built through connection, accountability, and the operating rhythms that sustain performance over time. This interactive workshop is a call to action for CEOs, COOs, and executive teams to embrace their role as the core drivers of organizational health and performance.
Built To Outlast Us: Turning Succession Planning into a Culture Strategy
Jennifer Bushinger-Ortiz, CFRE, ACNP · Kristy Ryan, MA, SHRMSCP
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Ready to make succession planning actually fun? This session flips the script on a topic most fear, turning it into a hands-on, collaborative strategy lab. Through Group Conversations, Breakout Groups, and our Red Flag Assessment, you'll uncover hidden fragility points in your fundraising operations while laughing, reflecting, and sharing insights with peers. Leave with actionable tools, practical strategies, and the confidence to lead succession conversations that build trust and resilience—not anxiety.
These sessions — and 35+ more — are waiting for you in New Orleans, Oct 22–24.
