Prasad Consulting & Research

Prior Workshops & Events

Prior Topics & Engagements

Check out our posts below to read detailed descriptions of past workshops, conferences, presentations, and events.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like additional information regarding a particular topic.

Workshops & Events 2020

Speaker
AFP-NYC Watch Party Wednesdays
September 23, 2020
As part of Virtual FRDNY 2020, each Wednesday from September 9 to early December 2020, the Association of Fundraising Professionals organized 90-minute watch parties hosted by Gregory Boroff, Chief External Relations Officer at City Harvest. Attendees had the opportunity to watch sessions from FRDNY 2020 and participate in live post-session discussions with speakers.

The Research & Prospect Development track had its watch party on Wednesday, September 23 from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm:
From Surviving to Thriving: How a Bold Growth Strategy Project Strengthened Blanton-Peale
Through facilitation of Poonam Prasad, President of Prasad Consulting & Research, attendees learned how a growing mental health agency implemented a forward looking major gift campaign to move it from survival mode into a bolder and brighter future, using research-based fundraising strategy.
Speakers:
Shari Brink, President and CEO, Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center.
Poonam Prasad, President, Prasad Consulting & Research

Speaker
Virtual Fundraising Day in New York 2020
June 2020
Originally scheduled for June 5, 2020 at the New York Marriott Marquis, Fundraising Day New York was converted into a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pre-recorded event consisted of 50 educational sessions across 12 fundraising disciplines.

In addition to co-chairing FRDNY's Research & Prospect Development track, Poonam Prasad co-presented Surviving to Thriving: How a Bold Growth Strategy Project Strengthened Blanton-Peale with Dr. Shari Brink, President and CEO of Blanton Peale Institute & Counseling Center. Their session discussed how a growing mental health agency implemented a proactive major gift campaign to move it from survival mode into a bolder and brighter future. Attendees will learn the value of prospect research even at small shops, how to access their potential for Individual Giving, and when & how to launch a Major Gifts campaign.

The 2020 Research & Prospect Development track also included:

The Ultimate Partnership: Prospect Development & Fundraisers
Speakers: Roshma Azeem, Deputy Chief Development Officer, Mount Sinai Health System; Erynn Sarno, Senior Director of Prospect Research, Mount Sinai Health System; and Stephanie Rigione, Senior Director of Prospect Strategy & Management, Mount Sinai Health System.
Creating and implementing effective donor strategies starts with a collaborative partnership among the fundraiser and his/her Prospect Development team. When the Prospect Development team is empowered to proactively drive names to a portfolio and is positioned as strategic partners, your development team will yield positive and revenue-generating results.

Partnering with Gift Officers: Forecasting, Moves Management and Establishing a Policy
Speaker: Stacy Pagano, Prospect Management and Research Analyst, Saint Joseph's University
Working directly with Gift Officers and taking a proactive approach to forecasting their current pools can lead to better moves management and create a pipeline for the fiscal year. Establishing these approaches under a Prospect Management Policy can create a framework that utilizes best practices and a more efficient shop.

Maximizing Prospect Management with Data
Speaker: Elizabeth de Velasco, Director of Prospect Development, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Through your CRM (constituent relationship management) database design, clear roles and responsibilities with data, and reporting from the database that allows senior leaders to make decisions, you can maximize prospect management. When the CRM and prospect management work for development officers, development officers can focus on what they do best: creating relationships with prospects.

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Panelist
Consulting in the Nonprofit Sector
Friday, April 3rd, 2020
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
On April 3, 2020, the Nonprofit Management Student Association at Columbia University held an online panel discussion on consulting in the nonprofit sector. Moderated by Delbert Warkentin, the panel of Columbia faculty members included PCR President Poonam Prasad and other industry leaders with several decades of combined experience in nonprofit consulting: Marcia Stepanek, CEO of Brand Stories; Odell Mays, Principal of Mays2 Consulting LLC; and Sharmila Thakkar, Consultant at SRT Advising & Consulting. In the hour-long webinar, the panelists touched on many topics including the skills every consultant needs, how to get started in nonprofit consulting, the importance of networking, and what makes a good client. They also provided useful advice to people considering a career in nonprofit consulting:

  • Consulting is a very diverse field, and as such there are many skill sets that can translate well to it.

  • Just as it is important to tell the story of your nonprofit, it is equally important to listen to your donor’s story. What are they interested in? Why are they giving to you? What will make them give again?

  • Consulting relationships work best when there is a high level of mutual trust between the client and the consultant.

  • Nonprofit consulting, like many professions, is a constantly-changing field. Keep in mind: markets change, needs change, and as a result, expertise must change.

Click here to watch a recording of the panel discussion.

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
On Thursday, March 26, 2020, the Senate passed the coronavirus stimulus package in a 96-0 vote. The House voted to pass it as well and it is expected that President Trump will sign it into law. Below are highlights of the bill's provisions for nonprofits: 

Creates a temporary universal charitable deduction for non-itemizers, for cash only, capped at $300. This provisions excludes gifts into donor-advised funds (but gifts to sponsoring organizations benefit) and 509(a)(3) supporting organizations. Congress clearly still believes that a gift into a DAF is not the same as a gift directly to a charity.

Temporarily suspends current AGI limits for charitable deductions for cash gifts made by individuals and businesses. This provision excludes gifts into donor-advised funds and 509(a)(3) supporting organizations.

  • Individuals: total charitable contributions can be deducted up to 100% of a donor's adjusted gross income (had been up to 60%). 

  • Corporations: charitable contributions can be deducted up to 25 percent of taxable income (had been up to 10%).

Allows nonprofit organizations (including foundations) with less than 500 employees to access $350B in loans from the Small Business Administration Provides.

  • If conditions are met, these loans can be forgiven. 

  • Secretary Mnuchin said these loans will begin becoming available within a week. 

Provides fully refundable tax credits to nonprofits  (including foundations): 

  • If a nonprofit is subject to a shut-down order and has lost 50% of revenue compared with last year.

  • They can receive up to a $5,000 per employee tax credit.

  • Tax credits could be applied against payroll taxes so it's an immediate benefit.

  • Employers CANNOT take both the tax credit and SBA loans.

Checks and debit cards offering $1,200/taxpayer plus $500/child will begin going out shortly. But only for individuals making less than $75K/year and couples at $150K/year. (Lesser amounts to those making slightly more). 

  • Payments will automatically arrive within 3 weeks.  No forms to fill out.

  • Only for taxpayers, not dependents. So no students or some elderly. 

Additionally, there are other provisions that could help you and your grantees: 

  • Allows employers to stretch out payments of their share of the Social Security payroll tax owed, with half the amount due by December 31, 2021 and the other half by December 31, 2022. 

  • Provides $150 billion to states, territories and tribal governments to use for expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency. Some of these expenditures could be grants or direct spending through grantees providing relief services. 

  • Provides $100 billion in grants to health care providers to help fight the coronavirus. This could go to grantees like heath care centers who are responding to the virus. 

  • Provides $30 billion in emergency education funding for colleges and universities, states and school districts. This could go to grantees in the education space. 

  • Provides $45 billion to FEMA's response and recovery activities, with $400 million for grants that can be disbursed for firefighters, emergency managers and providers of emergency food and shelter. This could help emergency aid grantees, like the American Red Cross, respond to the crisis in a timely manner. 

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Poonam Prasad