August 20–21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20: 8:30am – 4:00pm
Thursday, August 21: 8:30am – 4:00pm
(concurrent with APRA's 21st Annual International Conference)
Hyatt Regency Denver
Denver, Colorado
The APRA New Researchers Symposium is an intensive two-day seminar and focused learning opportunity led by veteran faculty that addresses fundamental, yet essential elements of prospect research. Newly updated and expanded curriculum ensures that participants have the latest and most relevant information from which to launch an exciting new career in prospect research or hone existing skills and knowledge.
This highly rated program encourages interaction and networking while delivering the highest quality, most in-depth and respected educational content of its kind. The APRA New Researchers Symposium is especially suited for new researchers with less than one year of experience or fundraisers and other development professionals who are interested in learning about research methods and technologies, and development managers new to supervising researchers. This comprehensive symposium provides participants with the knowledge, tools and analytical techniques necessary to develop and sustain a high quality prospect research effort.
Program Highlights
- The role of research in development
- Ethics, confidentiality and donor privacy considerations
- Best practices for organizing and managing the research operation
- Essential Web-searching tools and techniques
- Resources, services and publications
- Researching individuals and evaluating wealth indicators
- Researching corporations and foundations and evaluating grant opportunities Organizing and presenting information
- Proactive research and an introduction to prospect identification
- An open forum dialogue with faculty will end each day to provide attendees with an opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas and share experiences
Who Should Attend
- New researchers with less than three years of experience
- Researchers who want a refresher course on fundamental research skills and concepts
- Development professionals with research as one of many responsibilities
- Fundraisers who want to learn how to approach and conduct basic research functions on their own
- Directors and managers of advancement services who want to understand how to effectively train and support prospect research staff
About the Faculty
Helen E. Brown
Helen Brown, a development professional since 1987, is president of The Helen Brown Group, a full-service prospect research consulting firm working with clients internationally. Helen is also president of ShareTraining, a web-based training company specializing in prospect research. Before founding HBG in 2002, Helen established and directed advancement research departments at Northeastern University and the Harvard School of Public Health.
Helen serves as special advisor on fundraising for the Board of the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester, England, is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and a member of the board of directors of Factary Ltd. Helen is past president of the New England Development Research Association and was the 2006 recipient of the NEDRA Ann Castle Award for service to the prospect research community. She is currently an APRA board member.
Valerie Anastasio
Valerie Anastasio has spent 17 in development research, operations and prospect management, and frontline fundraising roles at educational and cultural institutions. Since 1999, Valerie has served as the Director of Research and Prospect Development at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, working on strategic, feasibility and donor prospecting for its $500 million campaign — currently the largest fundraising effort for a cultural institution outside of New York — with more than $360 million raised to date.
Previously, Anastasio was the Director of Development Research in the Harvard University Development office, managing a staff of 14 in the context of Harvard’s comprehensive $2 billion campaign. Previously, she worked in frontline annual fundraising at Boston Lyric Opera, Brandeis University, and WGBH Television and Radio.
David Eberly
David Eberly is Director of Prospect Research and Management at Children’s Hospital Trust, Boston. During his more than 25 years in the fundraising field, Eberly has divided his time between higher education and health care. He served as Director of Research at Tufts University, Director of Development Services at the Harvard Medical School, and Director of Resource Development at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government before returning to the research field in 2003 at Children’s Hospital. In addition to his staff time, Eberly has consulted for institutions in higher education, health care, and other member organizations.
Eberly currently sits on the HIPAA Steering Committee of Children’s Hospital. He is a past president of the New England Development Research Association and the recipient of its Ann Castle Award.