2026 Apra-IL Symposium Highlights
Dear Diary,
An exceptional symposium was held on Friday, October 2, 2026 by the Illinois chapter of Apra – The 2026 Apra-IL Fall Symposium at the Art Institute of Chicago. Noted as the largest attendance to date, the full day of learnings and networking was a great event. During each session the room hushed, open ears, wide eyes, and aggressive note takers were eager to grab every word from speakers. There was also an opportunity for a virtual audience to experience the day.
The day started with a fireside chat called Prospect Research and Frontline Fundraising in Conversation: A Fireside Chat with Apra, AFP Chicago, and West Suburban Philanthropy Network with speakers, Catherine Flaatten, BWF Zuri - President-Elect, Apra; Kelsey Nelson, Campbell & Company - President, AFP Chicago; and Kate Bousum, Aspire Chicago - Communications Chair, West Suburban Philanthropy Network. It was moderated by Priya Balachandran, Northern Illinois Food Bank.
Highlight: This chat was a meeting of great minds, a conversation around the current and future opportunities for the prospect research and fundraising fields. There was also an important conversation throughout the chat around shared learnings and attending different and comparable peer associations’ conferences. For example, attending an AFP (Association for Fundraising Professionals) event could be beneficial to learn insights from frontline staff. I noted the phenomenal message directing prospect researchers to not just find information, but to become interpreters of information. We needed to showcase our human value and acknowledge that AI is here to stay. Also, I appreciated the comment, “Fundraisers need to always understand where research ends and self-discovery begins.” I found this to be rich and a great tie-in with all of the previous statements that show our value and collaboration with frontline staff. As prospect researchers, in general, we gather information, lofty and in-depth, however the strategic lens and use for every piece of data is not interpreted or always useful for our readers. I found the fireside chat an invigorating call to action for intention-based-collaborative-work. Additional statements to note were, “There has been an increase in planned giving conversations.” This was very relevant as many of us have been watching the beginnings of “The Great Wealth Transfer,” as numerous sources exclaim that “nearly $124 trillion in assets is set to change hands through 2048, according to estimates by the consulting firm Cerulli Associates.”
Also stated during the fireside chat, “Think of donor journeys, broader awareness that impacts a donor such as the economy.” Donor journeys – Diary readers, this one is cemented in my mind as I can see many opportunities to track a donor’s journey and show how prospect research is integrated in a journey, from prospect acquisition to solicitation. If you were ever wondering how to analyze your work quantitatively, here it is.
One last comment from this session (mic drop), “Organizations are moving away from overflow dump of profiles and moving to more targeted questions and information for impact.” Now, I found this to be an interesting and controversial comment because I know many organizations and teams still have in-depth or “overflow dump of profiles.” I know some fundraisers enjoy this. Is it helpful? I have my thoughts. Could you curate profiles and develop them for more impact, cut them down from 10 pages to 4 pages? I would highly recommend trying it.
The next session, Risky Business: Due Diligence and Gift Acceptance, was led by Catherine Flaatten, BWF Zuri - President-Elect, Apra.
Highlight: It was a thorough analysis and review of how due diligence and gift acceptance should and could be established at an organization. I appreciated Catherine’s grounding work of defining all of these intertwined policies, and how they all work together – “Due Diligence provides evidence and assess risk; Gift Acceptance provides authority and response.” What I found most interesting was her comment, “Organization leadership should be the ones who set risk criteria so that everyone else is meeting those expectations.”
How many of our prospect development teams or Due Diligence researchers are the ones actually setting up the risk criteria along with the legal team (sometimes without the legal team)? Catherine’s statement made me realize the weight and impact these expectations could have if they were being set from the top and flowing down, and in collaboration with those who would be doing the actual work.
Finally, the last session to wrap up the day and keep our minds buzzing – Seeing the Whole Board: Using Portfolio Dashboard and Stoplight Reviews to Drive Better Fundraising Decisions was led by Brandi Hovizi, University of Illinois Chicago.
Highlight: This session was a tale of experience, a show and tell of what Brandi had masterfully created for her team. Brandi described her team’s use of Blackbaud, and the production of building a dashboard with over 50 reports to analyze fundraising actions. This was a complex portfolio health dashboard meant to “guide the work, not grade the work.” There were reports showing prospect engagement and outcomes; portfolio qualification percentage; average portfolio permeation percentage, and many more. Let’s go back to something that Brandi repeated many times, that I have held as a mental note, “Guide the work, not grade the work.”
If there was ever a way to end a full day of learnings and fantastic conversations with colleagues, it would be to remember that we are in this field to guide, provide impactful data, make incremental change where we can, and learn from one another.
Until next time,
November 15th!
