Shore up your funding strategies
January and February sessions free to Northeastern Minnesota nonprofits
It’s tough out there. Securing funds to support nonprofit operations and programming is challenging these days, but we’ve got you! A series of six stand-alone, interactive webinars is being offered FREE of charge to nonprofit organizations in our region, held on consecutive Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. starting January 15 through February 19, 2026.
Whether you’re brand new to nonprofit development or have years of experience wading through those shifting sands, a fantastic line-up of national and regional presenters will help you find firmer ground. Each webinar will include approximately 50 minutes of presentation followed by Q&A.
Nonprofits serving northeastern Minnesota may sign up to attend any or all sessions at https://northlandfdn.org/events. Sponsored by the Northland Foundation to build nonprofit capacity in northeastern Minnesota.
January 15, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM: Everything We Know About Fundraising is (Mostly) Wrong with Steve MacLaughlin, Senior VP, GOBEL
Take away a deeper understanding about:
- How the right metrics make all the difference in measuring performance.
- The real size of the nonprofit sector and sources of fundraising revenue.
- How to evolve thinking around the traditional donor pyramid.
- Register for January 15
Steve MacLaughlin is the Senior Vice President of Product at GOBEL and bestselling author of Data Driven Nonprofits. He has more than 20 years of experience collaborating with nonprofits, government institutions, and technology companies to drive innovation and maximize mission impact. Steve has been featured as a fundraising and nonprofit expert in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and on National Public Radio. He is particularly known for identifying the Nonprofit Data Paradox, which is the observation that the more data nonprofits accumulate, the less valuable it becomes if culture, systems, and leadership fail to leverage it effectively. He is also a nonprofit leadership facilitator with Georgetown University’s New Strategies program.
January 22, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM: Future-proof Your Nonprofit with Sponsorship, Cause Marketing & Audience-Centric Fundraising with Joe Waters, Founder of Selfish Giving
Learn how to win more partners and raise more money by rethinking three essential areas with practical tactics.
- Grow a loyal, fired-up audience that makes fundraising with businesses—as well as foundations and individuals—easier, more effective, and far more lucrative.
- Lead with business value so companies see you as a revenue driver—not another donation request.
- Build fast, friction-less campaigns that tap into where the real money lives with companies.
- Register for January 22
Joe Waters has been working at the intersection of business, philanthropy, and marketing for thirty years. He writes one of the web’s leading fundraising blogs, Selfish Giving, and is the author of a popular bi-monthly newsletter for nonprofits on building win-win corporate partnerships. Joe is the author of two books on corporate partnerships: Fundraising with Businesses: 40 New (and Improved!) Strategies for Nonprofits and Cause Marketing for Dummies. He is an instructor in the New Strategies Program at Georgetown University, which helps nonprofits develop revenue-generation strategies and has written for Huffington Post, Forbes, Mediapost, Fast Company, CMO.com, Nonprofit Quarterly, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Healthcare Philanthropy Journal and others.
January 29, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM: Earned Revenue 101 with Tanya Smith-Evans, Consulting Director, New Strategies Program
This session will combine instruction, dialogue, and hands-on application to help participants explore the potential of earned revenue within their organizations. After establishing a shared understanding of core concepts, participants will walk through a step-by-step process to clarify their organizational goals and assess whether launching or expanding earned revenue aligns with their mission, capacity, and the market. The session will also include time for a guided practice activity, allowing participants to apply key concepts directly to their own organizations. Come away with:
- A stronger grasp of earned revenue and how to identify and assess viable opportunities.
- Clarity on the potential risks, benefits, and considerations associated with earned revenue.
- An initial framework to continue evaluating and advancing earned revenue within your organization.
- Register for January 29
Tanya Smith-Evans is the Consulting Director of the New Strategies Program at Georgetown University. Tanya has been with the program since 2014 when she started teaching, facilitating, and sharing her 20+ year career experience as a social impact strategist and expert in social enterprise and earned-revenue generation with program attendees. She spent 17 years with Community Wealth Partners working with nonprofit clients and boards to build capacity and drive strategic decision making in industries such as employment, education, housing, human services, and community development. She collaborated with nationwide funding entities to implement executive-level leadership initiatives across groups of grantees and guided numerous nonprofit organizations through sustainable income strategy planning and implementation. Tanya also served as an executive coach to an array of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, focusing on both personal and organizational leadership challenges.
February 5, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM: Incorporating Foundation and Corporate Support Into Your Revenue Strategy with Bernard Boudreaux, Founder, Be Beneficent Consulting
You will take away:
- How to be findable and fundable for Foundation support.
- What is a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), why YOU should care, and how to best be in a position for your nonprofit to receive DAF grants.
- How to best approach a business/corporation for support.
- When is the most lucrative time to approach corporations and foundations.
- Register for February 5
Bernard Boudreaux is the Co-Director of Georgetown University’s New Strategies Program, as well as the founder and principal of Be Beneficent Consulting, a boutique consulting firm that assists individuals, nonprofits and businesses in addressing social issues within their local communities through action that achieves measurable results. Prior to joining Georgetown University, Bernard was with Target Corporation for over 30 years, where he held various leadership positions in Corporate Responsibility (CR) as well as in their Merchandising/Buying division. He has served on the boards of numerous nonprofits and currently serves as an advisor for the Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals (ACCP) and BoardSource. Known for his candid “tell it like it is” approach, he is a frequent presenter at conferences on the importance of public/private partnerships, and how businesses and nonprofits can work together to improve local communities.
February 12, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM: Legacy Giving for Nonprofits with Jessica Peterson, Development Director, Boreal Waters Community Foundation
This session will help you to:
- Learn practical strategies to include legacy giving in your donor communications, appeals, and stewardship, turning planned giving into a regular part of your development efforts.
- Understand and debunk misconceptions about endowments—such as the idea that they’re only for large organizations or that funds can’t be accessed—so your nonprofit can confidently explore long-term giving options.
- Explore different charitable giving vehicles, from bequests and donor-advised funds to gifts of stock or life insurance, and learn how they can provide lasting impact for your organization.
- Register for February 12
Jessica Peterson joined Boreal Waters Community Foundation in 2023 and brings more than fifteen years of nonprofit leadership experience. At Boreal Waters, she leads development efforts that strengthen donor engagement, grow charitable resources, and expand the Foundation’s long-term impact across the region, with a special focus on legacy giving and endowment growth. Previously, she served as Development Director at the Depot Foundation in Duluth and held multiple leadership roles in the nonprofit arts sector, including founding and guiding a Twin Cities theater company for more than a decade. A versatile writer and experienced fundraising professional, Jessica is passionate about connecting generous individuals and nonprofits with opportunities to build meaningful, lasting impact in the communities they love.
February 19, 2026 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM: Approaches to Federal Funding in 2026 with Brent Merchant, Principal and Co-founder, Merchant McIntyre Associates
This session will cover:
- Building and articulating political support for federal funding applications.
- The current realities of federal funding.
- Principles and approaches to forecasting federal funding.
- Federal funding program and application design.
- Register for February 19
Named as a Top Lobbyist (nonprofit category) by the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics, Brent Merchant has helped secure nearly $100 million in federal support for nonprofit institutions and organizations. Prior to co-creating Merchant McIntyre Associates, Brent secured grant funding for nonprofit clients in the Washington office of Russ Reid, then the largest marketing and communications agency in the world serving exclusively nonprofits. Beginning in 2009, he established the federal government presence for LPB Energy Management, advising the company on policy and legislative matters and overseeing the development and execution of government contracts and partnerships. From 2001 to 2008, Brent served as senior staff at the Department of Energy, where he was named Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Energy. Brent also served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Energy, focusing on policy, project management, and operational issues throughout the Department and its National Laboratory complex.