Smart Fundraising, Careful Language: Winning Year-End Strategies for 2025

This event has passed, but you can read takeaways here.

As year-end giving season approaches its peak, this session brings together development leaders and newsroom founders to help you make the most of your campaign — and navigate today’s sensitive political environment.

• Participants will hear how peers are fine-tuning their year-end fundraising, from optimizing messages and timing to crafting effective late-season pushes.
• The conversation will also explore the language of fundraising in a polarized climate — how to talk about impact, community, and equity in ways that build trust without triggering political backlash.

Attendees will have a chance to share experiences and ask questions about what’s working, what could be improved, and how to strengthen future campaigns.

Presenters:

• Sarah Westlake, Nonprofit Secure
• Donna Ladd, CEO, Co-founder, and Editor, Mississippi Free Press and Jackson Free Press; Founder and Director, Mississippi Youth Media Project
• Kay Dervishi, Development Manager at Documented

Moderator:

Margaret Coker, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Current