Power of Good

S PowerofGood.com | Elevate Alabama 7 It's all about relationships STORy By THERESA HELMS Retired yWCA executive director shares three decades of fundraising success with Elevate attendees. suzAnnE durhAM knOws A thIng Or twO about fundraising. Before retiring last year as executive direc- tor and CEO of the YWCA of Central Alabama, she led two capital campaigns that each raised more than $15 million, and the organization grew exponentially under her leadership. In 2010, she received the Fundraising Executive of the Year award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Her expertise made Durham the perfect candidate to present the fundraising session at the second annual Elevate conference. She shared her "mantras" and passed along nuggets of wisdom she learned over more than three decades at the YWCA. "It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes capital to raise that village," Durham told the attendees. She said the best type of fundraising is volunteer to volunteer, which starts with leadership. "I would tell board members that I appreciated their time, talents and treasure, and tell staff that board members needed to give, get or get off. "If you don't set an expectation for your board to give, then you have really set yourself up for a disappointment," Durham said. "Relationships, relationships, relationships ... that's the key to fundraising," Durham explained. "It's the right person asking the right person at the right time for the right amount." Attendee Christienne Gibson-Barraza, administrator of Leadership Mobile, said Durham's breadth of experi- ence and creative ideas were "not only timely, but also incredibly useful." "She sparked some great ideas that we are excited to implement as we seek to elevate our individual programs and our organization as a whole," Gibson-Barraza said. Some of the other key elements Durham shared: • Get to know your public officials since they have ac- cess to government funds and often have their own discretionary funds. "I like to tell them - we'll make you look good, deliver a good product and give you a clean audit." RELATIONSHIPS continued on page 8 Suzanne Durham, former executive director of the YWCA of Central Alabama, shares her knowledge of fundraising.

• Cover