Giving USA & Stock Gifts by Melissa S. Brown

Giving USA & Stock Gifts by Melissa S. Brown

Melissa Brown has been helping charities and nonprofits for over 30 years and brings with her a wealth of knowledge. She uses research about giving trends and donor motivations to help clients plan effective fundraising. Services include presentations, training, surveys, and program evaluation. She was rated as one of the country’s top philanthropy speakers in 2016.

She is excited to share her expertise with us in this powerful presentation on Giving USA and Stock Gifts and how you can turn this knowledge into action. Her extensive research about giving trends and donor motivations help nonprofits plan effective fundraising. Here you can explore her insight on how assets held in securities drive giving.

These inviting graphs will show how individual giving and market changes at year-end are strongly associated with donations. A hot topic in fundraising is bequests. Did you know that estate value can be linked to stock values if the deceased held stocks? Melissa addresses DAF distribution and its strong correlation with the stock market. In this presentation, you will also learn about donors and their many “pockets” of assets to choose from. Melissa drives home the importance of ease when soliciting a donation. Make it easy for someone to initiate and complete a gift! And she recognizes DonateStock as a way to help millions who hold stock and want to support a charity.

Correlations, caveats, and takeaways! Oh my!

About the Presenter:

Melissa S. Brown helps charities turn knowledge into action. Drawing on more than 30 years in the nonprofit sector, Melissa knows what drives charities to deliver on their mission. She uses research about giving trends and donor motivations to help clients plan effective fundraising. Services include presentations, training, surveys, and program evaluation. She was rated as one of the country’s top philanthropy speakers in 2016. Melissa began work as a fundraiser in 1989. Since 2011, her firm Melissa S. Brown & Associates has served clients throughout North America. Projects include instruction for The Fund Raising School, presentations with The Yunker Group, data analysis for the Association of Fundraising Professionals and National Philanthropic Trust, and project management for Carter, a global consulting firm based in Florida. She volunteers on the AFP Research Council and is immediate past chair of the Association of Philanthropic Counsel. She holds degrees from Reed College in Portland, Oregon and the University of Pennsylvania. Melissa & her historian husband live in southern Washington state, where they are reveling in the mild climate and being nearer to family. She enjoys kayaking, bird watching, and spending time with family and friends. Her own giving focuses on climate change mitigation, the arts, and social justice.