:00-2:00 PM Eastern | Presenters: Jack Alotto, CFRE and Muhi Khwaja
Understanding what motivates a donor to make a gift to your organization is key to successfully closing a gift. Are your donors motivated by self-interest, are they empathetic or sympathetic to your clients are they motivated by emotion or logic, altruism, access to services, a better seat at the ballet? Once you understand donor motivations what CAN you do to move them to make a decision to give your nonprofit? And is there a way YOU can create motivations in donors?
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will understand the donor decision process.
- Participants will create their own questioning strategy to discover donor motivations.
- The role that donor motivations play in building a long-term relationship with your organization.
- How fundraisers can elicit donor motivations to secure donor gifts.
Presenters:
Jack Alotto, CFRE has held fundraising positions in hospital, social service and the arts as executive director, development director, legacy giving, and manager.
Jack was an Instructor in the Fundraising Academy at JFK University, serving on panels in Ethics in Fundraising, and Donor Centered Fundraising; he moderated panels on Strategies for Building a Strong Major Gifts Program, Trends and Strategies for Nonprofit Fundraising, and Stewardship and Cultivation.
Jack is a CFRE Ambassador and hosts CFRE Study Groups.
Muhi Khwaja
Earning a Bachelor’s in History and Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2009, Muhi Khwaja didn’t know what to do until the summer before graduating. The Development Summer Internship Program at the University of Michigan sparked an interest in fundraising (development) as a career. After working with several nonprofit organizations, he earned his Master’s in Public Administration in 2013, from U-M, specializing in nonprofit management. Muhi has over 15 years of nonprofit work and fundraising experience as a one-person development team to a Chief Development Officer.
In 2016 he became a Certified Fund Raising Executive from the Association of Fundraising Professionals and in 2017 earned a Certificate of Fund Raising Management from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy where he is also Adjunct Faculty and a recipient of the Zakat Foundation Institute Scholarship. In 2021 he earned a Nonprofit Executive Certificate from Georgetown University. In 2024 he earned his Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising from IU LFSOP.
Muhi serves as the Co-Founder & Chief Development Officer of the American Muslim Community Foundation helping families distribute more than $20 million since 2017. AMCF serves as a the only national nonprofit organization focused on creating Donor Advised Funds, Giving Circles, distributing grants, & building endowments for the American Muslim community.
Muhi joined the Fundraising Academy staff in 2022 as a Trainer at National University.
Muhi enjoys traveling, photography, riding his motorcycle, and hiking.