Page 11 - Winter 2024 Digital inLEAGUE Volume 47 Number 01 with Economic Impact Study

and The winner is... How letting a SuPer SuPPorter take tHe reinS HelPed

a College raiSe Money, reaCH new donorS

We are now accepting nominations for the 2024 Awards for Outstanding Historic Theatre and
Outstanding Individual Contribution. The donor organized an interactive mystery play to teach people about public health —
and she invited people in her network to take part.
Submission deadline is April 23rd.
NOTE FROM LHAT: We know this article by Rasheeda
The winners will be announced during the 48th National Conference in Childress isn’t about a historic theatre, but we found the
Milwaukee, WI, July 7-10, 2024*. concept of creating a play interesting enough to include
it in hopes that members are inspired to think outside the
box for fundraising ideas. This article first appeared in the
February edition of Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Fundraisers have long sought to cultivate longtime donors
to become active volunteers and introduce the people
in their networks to the organization. The University
of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health’s example of a super supporter boosting its
reach is dramatic — literally. A donor helped create a mystery play to engage new audiences, help
the community understand the importance of the college’s work, and bring in new donors from her
network.

Supporter and local philanthropist Katie Weitz remembers being introduced to the college around
2010. She didn’t think a lot about the college initially. But the more she focused on other causes dear
to her heart, the more she saw public health at the center of social change.
Left to right: LHAT Board Chair, Becky Hancock; 2023 Outstanding Individual
Contribution Award winner, George Levesque; Rick Truman, Executive Director of the “The College of Public Health just kept coming up,” Weitz says. The college was helping with “equity
2023 Outstanding Historic Theatre Award recipient, Folly Theater, Kansas City, MO; issues and health disparities, preventing diseases, screenings, cancer, vaping, sexually transmitted
and LHAT President & CEO, Ken Stein. diseases, reproductive justice, gun violence.”
Visit www.LHAT.org for more information on last year’s winners.
How to Nurture Top Supporters

If you are interested in nominating a theatre or individual this year, please click here to first Finding a champion like Katie Weitz is every fundraiser’s dream. While some super supporters will
complete a brief Intent to Nominate Form online (required to declare your intent to submit a simply emerge on their own, fundraisers say there are steps you can take to help cultivate them —
2024 nomination). and keep excited volunteers coming back for more.

Click the appropriate button below to review the 2024 nomination process, including eligibility Listen to and learn from donors. While nonprofits spend a lot of time explaining their mission to the
requirements, judging criteria and submission package requirements. public, it’s also important for fundraisers to “get to know their donors to learn more about what excites
them and what interests them,” says Carla Willis, a managing principal at the fundraising consultancy
Washburn & McGoldrick. “That will help provide a road map as to how to engage those donors further
and in more meaningful ways.”
OUTSTANDING HISTORIC THEATRE
Follow their lead. Jessica Janssen Wolford, at the
University of Nebraska Foundation, says the university has
OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION more than 300 dedicated volunteers on various fundraising
committees. The goal, she says, is to let their creativity
shine. “This was a really creative, out-of-the box idea on
Questions? Contact us at info@lhat.org. how to engage people, get out the message of the College
of Public Health, and raise money,” she says. “It would
have been easy to say, ‘Oh, that’s too complicated,’ or
*Check website for specific date, time, and location. ‘Oh, that’s not what we do.’ Instead, our leadership and
our team got on board, got excited, and worked with our
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