PASSON FOR THE CAUSE
Igniting the Creative Spark to Fundraising Success.
January 29th, 2027
SFU Harbour Centre Campus
8:00 am to 5:00 pm
AGENDA | SESSIONS | SPEAKERS
Discover the latest, greatest, most reliable, most productive, least costly, highly inventive, tech-driven tools, proven tactics, media channel strategies, agency-aided campaigns, and much more.
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MEET YOUR SPEAKERS
John Lepp, Creative Director, Agents of Good, OPENING KEYNOTE
* * * * * * * * *
Shoni Field, Chief Public Engagement & Advancement Officer, BC SPCA
Jessica Singh, Senior Consultant, Do Good Funding
Keely Rammage-Scott, Manager, Marketing & Communications, ReuseTechBC
Clair Spicer, Director, B2B Marketing, CanadaHelps
Alex Abboud, Principal, Works Progress Strategy
Andrew Procknow, Director of Development, First Nations Health Foundation
Ryan Garnett, Head of Integrated Marketing, Harvey McKinnon Associates
Sandra Baker, Director, Advancement & Admissions, Hamilton District Christian High
Regan Harney, Executive Director, MusiCounts
Amiee Lindenberger, Senior Consultant, Global Philanthropic Inc (Canada)
Bruce MacDonald, CEO, Imagine Canada
Alison Keys, President, Keys Marketing Group
Jennifer Lepper, Principal Consultant & Head of IDG, Good Works Co.
(more to come)
CURRENT FULL SESSION DESCRIPTIONS & SPEAKER DETAILS
Watch for Updates
SESSION: Building a Strong Brand Identity. Having a strong brand identity is critical in supporting an organization’s fundraising goals. This workshop will explore examples of recognizable branding, share case studies where brand identity and development have supported nonprofit growth, and provide key takeaways and questions you can ask yourselves about your own organizational branding. If you have a smaller in-house team and don’t have dedicated marketing staff, or are a fundraiser looking to learn more about brand identity this session is for you.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Keely Rammage-Scott, Manager, Marketing & Communications, ReuseTech BC. A multimedia communicator with a diverse background working in not-for-profit and performing arts spaces. Over the past nine years, she has collected skills in digital strategy, branding, and public relations. In her current position with ReuseTechBC, Keely has developed communication plans that have supported the organization’s donor and client programs, and furthered brand visibility and reach across British Columbia. Keely’s workshops are focused on providing actionable takeaways that can be implemented as soon as you step foot back in the office. Keely has a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and digital and print publishing from Simon Fraser University. In her off time, she can be found making music, skiing, and spending time with her friends and family
SESSION: Top Annual Appeal Tips. In this session, we’ll explore developing a strong and well planned in-house annual appeal. I’ll share ways to create the theme for your appeal and how to build a story around that theme. I will highlight how to create and schedule each appeal element well in advance, and how to systemize your plan for swift implementation. You will love the simplicity of my tried and true 3-step year-end e-appeal. Your campaign will roll out with minimal effort, allowing you time to be personal and intentional with your donors.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Sandra Baker – CFRE. Sandra is the Director of Advancement and Admissions at Hamilton District Christian High. Sandra has expertise in the areas of philanthropic leadership and charitable governance, major, legacy and annual giving, strategic planning and sponsorship. She has served in senior leadership positions for a variety of charitable organizations, both on staff and as a consultant. She’s led and managed telemarketing, e-appeals, countless direct mail campaigns, digital ads and communications, both in house and with external suppliers. Prior to joining HDCH, she served as Chief Executive Office of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton and Hamilton, Director of Development for Toronto’s Yonge Street Mission, and Director of Development at the Burlington Community Foundation. Sandra opened her consulting firm in 1993, supporting marketing, fundraising and communications for arts, health and social services charities. She is a philanthropy coach. Ms. Baker holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University and is one of Canada’s 800 CRFEs. Sandra lives in beautiful Hamilton Ontario, with her husband, two cats, and a turtle named Norman.
SESSION: It’s Not All About You: Breaking Down Silos to Help Your Organization Succeed. Donors today have more choice than ever. From an endless number of choices on Netflix and Amazon, to a seemingly endless number of charities which they could support. Yet, many non-profit organizations still seem intent on flagging donors for certain programs, and putting up silos between different departments/channels. This does not create the ideal donor experience, and can lead to them supporting another cause (or just buying that thing on Amazon they were debating). Join me as I help you break down silos in your organization and grow all areas of your fundraising program. I’ll provide you with specific strategies to improve your fundraising integration through your annual giving, online, monthly, and legacy giving programs.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Ryan Garnett, Head of Integrated Marketing, Harvey McKinnon Associates. Ryan is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) with more than 10 years of experience helping non-profits raise more money for their causes. At Harvey McKinnon Associates, he’s the Head of Integrated Marketing and helps clients develop strategies for integrating their efforts through all channels including direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail, social media, and online. Ryan has been a speaker at a number of fundraising conferences/events including AFP ICON, AFP Toronto Congress, Bridge Integrated Fundraising Conference, AHP International, CAGP, and many others.
SESSION: From Transactional to Transformational: Bridging Nonprofits and Corporate Ecosystems. Traditional donor models are shifting. Nonprofits in youth development, arts, and education frequently compete for a shrinking pool of standard grants, even as commercial industries actively search for authentic, high-impact social strategies. In this interactive breakout session, we will bridge that gap. Using the dynamic synergy between music education organizations, the commercial music industry, and philanthropic funding as a roadmap, we will explore how community-based programs can move beyond traditional sponsorships and tap directly into commercial corporate ecosystems. As your facilitator, I will guide you through a practical framework designed to transform one-off transactional donations into scalable, multi-revenue partnerships that deliver both brand alignment and deep community impact.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Regan Harney, Executive Director, MusiCounts. Regan Harney is a passionate advocate for the arts and a leader in music education, partnerships, and philanthropy. As Executive Director at MusiCounts, Regan leads initiatives that increase access to music education for young people nationwide. At her core, Regan is a connector—someone who helps others feel welcomed, supported, and empowered. Whether collaborating with artists, community organizations, or corporate partners, she is driven by the belief that access to music can change lives and strengthen communities. She is particularly inspired by the evolving Canadian music industry and the growing sense of equity, innovation, and collective responsibility shaping its future. Regan was named one of the 2025 Billboard Canada’s 40 under 40 and The Peak’s Emerging Leaders.
SESSION: Engaging Six Generations of Supporters by Building a Fundraising Program That Spans All Ages. Fundraisers have six unique generations of donors to work with. From the oldest teenage Gen Alphas organizing fundraisers to Silent Generation seniors finalizing legacy gifts, each generation has unique life experiences, values, and ways to contribute as donors and supporters. Based on experience working with donors from their teenage years through their 90s, this session will cover each generation using research and industry data, what motivates them, and—using the persona method of design thinking—guide you through developing a unique strategy to engage each generation in your own work.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Alex Abboud, Principal, Works Progress Strategy. Alex is the Principal of Works Progress Strategy, a firm that helps purpose-driven organizations advance their mission through effective fundraising, marketing, and strategic positioning. His experience in the non-profit sector includes leadership roles at Homeward Trust Edmonton and the Canadian Mental Health Association – Edmonton Region, where he led the fundraising and communications teams for both organizations. Alex holds a master’s degree with a specialization in marketing from the University of Glasgow, where his dissertation focused on cause marketing and corporate social responsibility’s impact on consumer behaviour amongst Millennials. For more than 15 years, Alex has been a leader in the fields of communications, fundraising, and strategy. Alex is also an experience board member, having served as Chair of the Edmonton Heritage Council, Vice-President of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and on the boards of charities including Health Nexus and the Friends of Jasper National Park.
SESSION: Planned Giving–The Vital Period. We will cover the key two to three year period it takes people who say they would consider a gift to actually do it. Why do people who have good intentions sometimes just get stalled? What can organizations do to keep donors moving forward with their decision making? Attendees will leave with a framework for how to cultivate interested donors over time.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Aimee Lindenberger, Senior Consultant, Global Philanthropic Inc (Canada). Aimée joined Global in 2024. A gifted writer and speaker, Aimée authored How to Talk About Legacy Giving and brings over 20 years of marketing and communications experience, a tender heart, an insightful mind, and a drive to make meaningful connections with supporters in every organization she collaborates with. As one of the first in the world to complete a certificate in Philanthropic Psychology, she shares new approaches with charities across Canada — from the largest national organizations to local non-profits — helping them engage their supporters more deeply, particularly in legacy giving, which is her passion. She has assisted many organizations across Canada to raise funds including United Way British Columbia, Plan International Canada, VGH + UBC Hospital Foundation, Heart & Stroke Foundation Canada, WWF-Canada and The Salvation Army. Aimée has held leadership roles on the Greater Vancouver Chapters of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Lucy Isham-Turner, CFRE, Director of Development, Family Services of the North Shore; President, AFP Greater Vancouver. Lucy is our Host and Conference Emcee. Strategic fundraising and development leader with 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector in Vancouver. I excel in strategic planning, corporate and donor relations, event planning, and nonprofit marketing and management. My passion for community drives me to cultivate meaningful donor relationships and foster corporate partnerships that generate impactful results. I thrive on designing strategic initiatives that align with organizational goals and enhance community engagement, ultimately contributing to the growth and sustainability of both the organizations I serve and the communities I care about.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Sarah Bollozos, Chief Development Officer (CDO), United Way British Columbia. (to be confirmed) Sarah bringing expertise in fostering healthy and inclusive communities. Their background reflects a strong focus on fundraising and donor relations, cultivated through a series of impactful roles. Prior to their current position, Sarah served as Director, Planned Giving at Heart & Stroke, where they focused on planned giving strategies. At the Canadian Red Cross, they held the role of Senior Director, Campaigns, Major Gifts & Planned Giving, and previously served as Campaigns, Western Director, Major Gifts (Canada). Within the humanitarian aid sector, they contributed to campaign development and major gift initiatives. During their tenure at Simon Fraser University, Sarah held several acting director positions, including Director, International Community Engagement, and Director, International Strategic Initiatives, SFU International. Their work history includes serving as Director, Major Gifts, Faculty of Education, demonstrating applied knowledge of donor relations within academic settings. Earlier in their career, Sarah was the Development & Donor Relations Head at the University of Central Asia, contributing to resource mobilization and stakeholder engagement. Their diverse background also includes experience as Manager, Marketing Strategy & Operations at TDCA, Programme Grants Officer at E3 Collaborative, and Marketing Associate at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Shoni Field, Chief Public Engagement & Advancement Officer, BC SPCA. Shoni s a strategic fundraising leader with nearly 30 years of experience, specializing in direct response, digital transformation, public engagement and strategic growth planning. She leads a team of 60+ fundraising, communications and community engagement professionals who inspire kind and caring British Columbians to work for a future where animals and humans thrive together. Shoni is the founder of For the Paws Summit, the first global conference for animal welfare fundraisers and marketers drawing attendees from six countries, and speaks at fundraising conferences nationally and internationally. She is also a long-time advocate for voting reform and citizen engagement. Shoni lives, and continues to learn and unlearn, in the unceded, ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, currently known as Vancouver.
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Alison Keys is the Founder, President & CEO of Keys Marketing Group. Alison has spent three decades helping nonprofits and professional associations unlock transformational growth. With over 30 years of experience, Alison and her team have designed and delivered thousands of successful fundraising campaigns across North America, recently surpassing the $2.5 billion milestone raised on behalf of their clients. Driven by a passion for connecting people, purpose, and impact, Alison believes that effective fundraising does more than generate revenue—it inspires movements, strengthens communities, and empowers organizations to fulfill their missions. Her strategic insights and innovative approaches have positioned her as a trusted advisor to leaders seeking to elevate their fundraising outcomes. Alison brings clarity, energy, and a deep commitment to helping organizations thrive.
MEET YOUR OPENING KEYNOTER: John Lepp, Partner & Creative Director, Agents of Good. John is a direct response, marketing and graphic design expert with over 25 years of experience working with charities around the world to help them tell better stories and to inspire donors to give, both online and offline. He is a respected and coveted international speaker who has traveled the world helping fundraisers be more “human” and “vulnerable” to these other amazing humans we call donors. He is known for redefining what modern fundraising can be. For almost three decades, he has combined direct response strategy, donor psychology, decision science, and bold visual storytelling to help organizations around the world raise more money and build fiercely loyal donor communities. Often called the “Ted Lasso of fundraising” for his disarming warmth and relentlessly optimistic approach, John pushes fundraisers to leave passive communications behind and embrace brave, emotional storytelling rooted in what donors actually care about: meaning, connection, and impact. A renowned international speaker and co-founder of Agents of Good, John has trained thousands of fundraisers globally, inspiring them to be more human, more vulnerable, and more creatively courageous in everything they do..
MEET YOUR SPEAKER: Melanie Lepper, Principal Consultant & Head of IDG, Good Works Co. Melanie helps fundraisers write direct mail that actually gets read—and acted on. With 15 years of hands-on experience across political and charitable fundraising, Melanie brings a practical, no-fluff approach to direct mail training. Since joining Good Works in 2018, Melanie has partnered with dozens of charities of all sizes, helping teams navigate flat response rates, shrinking files, and the pressure to “do more with less.” She’s tested ideas that didn’t work, learned the hard lessons, and refined what does—and she’s generous about sharing those insights so others can avoid the same costly missteps. Melanie holds a Bachelor in Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University (2008), a Certificate in Philanthropic Psychology with distinction (2024), a Certificate in Fundraising Copywriting (2024), and the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation (2022). Beyond fundraising, she lives in Ottawa with her 9-year-old twin boys and fits in running and Hyrox training between spirited debates about Fortnite and hockey rink schedules.
BONUS SPECIAL PRESENTATION
SUPER SESSION (One Hour): Cultural Safety & Humility: A Foundational Learning Session. This super session will introduce core concepts of Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility to establish shared understanding and language to nonprofits, charities, and foundations passionate about incorporating CS&H into their fundraising work. It will also deepen understanding of First Nations in BC, including historical and ongoing experiences that shape health, healthcare and relationships with health systems today and encourage continued reflection, learning and action as part of an ongoing journey of cultural humility.
Key Framing:
• Participants do not need to know everything about every First Nation to practice cultural humility. We need enough knowledge to understand the context, enough humility to recognize what we don’t know, and enough curiosity and respect to ask rather than assume.
• Cultural humility is not a destination or a competency we complete. It is an ongoing journey of learning, unlearning, self-reflection and accountability.
Welcome from First Nations Health Foundation; territorial acknowledgement; FNHF introductions; why we are here. Recognize and establish cultural humility as an ongoing journey rather than a destination.
Part A–Truth: Understanding First Nations in BC
• Who are First Nations in BC?
• Diversity of Nations, languages, cultures and territories
• Distinction between First Nations, Inuit and Métis
• Ancestral and unceded territories and the treaty context in BC
• First Nations societies, governance, family systems, knowledge and approaches to health and wellness prior to colonization
• Colonization and the Indian Act
• Indian Residential Schools and Indian Day Schools
• Disruption of families, communities, culture and traditional healing
• Indian hospitals and experiences of racism and discrimination within healthcare
Part B–From Cultural Awareness to Cultural Safety & Humility
• Cultural awareness → sensitivity → competence → safety
• Define cultural safety and cultural humility
• Power and power imbalances
• Assumptions and unconscious bias
• Intent vs Impact
• Humility as ongoing self-reflection, learning, and accountability
Part C–What Does This Mean as Fundraisers? Bring the concepts into practical donor-facing and workplace interactions:
• How we enter and work within communities and territories
• Professional authority and the power that can accompany it
• Communication and listening, particularly in high-pressure situations
• Trust and experiences with nonprofit organizations
• Bringing cultural humility into interactions with donors, colleagues, and community members
Discussion: What Would You Do? Short realistic situation, followed by reflection as a group: You are meeting with a prospective donor who has expressed interest in supporting your organization. He is highly philanthropic, well-intentioned, and clearly motivated by a desire to improve access to healthcare. As you present a case for support focused specifically on improving health outcomes for First Nations people, the donor responds: “I really believe in what you’re doing, but isn’t this something that should be for everyone? Everyone deserves access to healthcare, and everyone deserves a hand up.” The donor is not being intentionally dismissive. However, his comment reflects a misunderstanding of the difference between equality and equity, and why targeted investment in First Nations health is necessary.
Reflection Questions: What do you notice? How could you bring cultural safety and humility into this conversation? How might power dynamics show up here? What could the fundraiser say or do differently to turn this into an opportunity for learning and relationship-building? Practical Tools: Putting Cultural Humility Into Practice
Debrief the case and turn responses into practical behaviours. Provide resources/learning opportunities and close. Thank attendees for joining our breakout session. Close.
MEET YOUR SPEAKERS:
Andrew Procknow is the Director of Development at First Nations Health Foundation. Andrew began his career in fundraising in 2018 and has worked closely with corporate partners, community organizations, and individual donors to help bring their philanthropic aspirations to life and create meaningful community impact. Andrew is a proud member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Vancouver Chapter, having recently taken on a Mentor role as part of the AFP Mentorship Program. Andrew is of mixed heritage, including and Western European, Greek, and Penelakut First Nation ancestry on his mother’s side, and Eastern European ancestry on his father’s side. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys being outdoors with his favourite people, golfing, pop culture, and cooking up some fun and fresh meals!
Nathania Fung is the inaugural CEO of the First Nations Health Foundation. A seasoned philanthropy and social sector leader with over 20 years of experience, she has advanced health equity through leadership roles across healthcare, social services, and community-based organizations. Nathania is a second-generation settler and immigrant of Chinese descent, is grateful to have grown up on the lands of the Coast Salish peoples and now working with First Nations across BC, and approaches this work with humility and a deep sense of responsibility. She is committed to culturally safe, equitable, and self-determined approaches to health and wellness for First Nations people and communities in BC. She recognizes the privilege of this role and looks forward to meeting partners, donors, and communities wherever they may be on their journeys of healing and reconciliation. Outside of work, you may find her browsing local markets, spending time at dog parks or on a mountain, or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
