Apra-IL upcoming events

Apra-IL Fall Symposium 2026 (Fri, October 02, 2026)

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:30:00 GMT

2026 Apra-IL Fall Symposium

Friday, October 2, 2026

Art Institute of Chicago, Nichols Trustee Suite

159 E. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60603

2026 Symposium Schedule

9:30 AM

Conference registration & refreshments

10:00 AM

Apra-IL President's remarks

10:15 AM

Prospect Research and Frontline Fundraising in Conversation: A Fireside Chat with Apra, AFP Chicago, and West Suburban Philanthropy Network

Catherine Flaatten, BWF Zuri - President-Elect, Apra

Kelsey Nelson, Campbell & Company - President, AFP Chicago

Kate Bousum, Aspire Chicago - Communications Chair, West Suburban Philanthropy Network

11:15 AM

Sponsor Product Demo: Kindsight

11:30 AM

Get-to-Know the Illinois Prospecting Community: An Interactive Audience Activity

12:00 PM

Lunch

1:00 PM

There and Back Again: From Reactive Requests to Strategic Referrals

Pete Kotowski, University of Denver

2:00 PM

Sponsor Product Demo: DonorAtlas

2:15 PM

Small-group breakout discussions

3:15 PM

Seeing the Whole Board: Using Portfolio Dashboards and Stoplight Reviews to Drive Better Fundraising Decisions

Brandi Hovizi, University of Illinois Chicago

4:15 PM

Final remarks

4:30 PM

Post-Symposium Happy Hour

Miller's Pub

134 S Wabash Ave

Chicago, IL 60603

Session Overviews

Prospect Research and Frontline Fundraising in Conversation: A Fireside Chat with Apra, AFP Chicago, and West Suburban Philanthropy Network

Prospect research and frontline fundraising don't always talk to each other as much as they should, even though they're working the same pipeline. In this "fireside chat", local philanthropy leaders representing Apra, AFP Chicago, and West Suburban Philanthropy Network sit down to talk communication, collaboration, and building a mutual understanding between frontline gift officers and back-of-house researchers. The discussion will also turn to the "what's in, and what's out" of fundraising industry trends, both within prospect development specifically and across the field more broadly. Finally, the panelists will speak to how Symposium attendees can best leverage local professional association involvement to support their own personal and professional development. Expect candid perspectives on where research creates the most value, and practical takeaways for teams looking to work as one.

Speaker Bios:

Catherine Flaatten, MPH, CFRE is the Associate Vice President of Prospect Development at BWF Zuri, where she helps clients strengthen their fundraising strategies and results through prospect research, prospect management, and analytics. Her consulting is grounded in past practitioner experience at The George Washington University, Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry, the National Psoriasis Foundation, and the BrightFocus Foundation.

Catherine serves as president-elect on Apra International’s Board of Directors. She has held numerous other volunteer leadership roles with Apra and aasp. Catherine is a frequent presenter and author in the field, and her expertise has been featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Her contributions aim to position prospect development as a strategic driver of fundraising success and strengthen the profession through knowledge-sharing and leadership.

Kelsey Nelson is a Vice President of Fundraising at Campbell & Company. Kelsey’s passion for nonprofits drives her efforts to help them achieve and sustain growth through the power of philanthropy. She enjoys partnering with organizations on strategic goal setting and intentional relationship building, always looking for opportunities to leverage their existing strengths.

Prior to joining Campbell & Company in 2016, Kelsey worked in the University of Michigan’s central development office. As Assistant Director of Annual Giving, she co-created a fiscal year solicitation plan, wrote university-wide direct mail and e-solicitations, and provided ongoing analyses of fundraising efforts to a portfolio of ten schools, colleges, and units. Additionally, she facilitated educational workshops for annual giving officers and helped implement qualification and non-donor acquisition pilot projects. Kelsey began her career in philanthropy at the Adler Planetarium, where she worked closely with the Board of Trustees and oversaw special events, publications, and partnerships designed to advance the Adler’s mission.

Kelsey holds an MA in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in History of Art & Architecture and French from Middlebury College. She serves as President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Chicago's Board of Directors, and she is a member of Girls on the Run Chicago’s Finish Line Council. In her free time, she enjoys running, cross-country skiing, and learning more about construction equipment than she ever thought she would thanks to her 4- and 1.5-year-old boys.

Kate Bousum, CFRE is a seasoned fundraising leader with experience across higher education, social services, and nonprofit sectors. She currently serves as the Vice President for Philanthropy at Aspire, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting people with disabilities to greater possibilities through learning, jobs, and safe places to call home. In this role, Kate leads the dynamic, high-performing philanthropy team, fostering a strong culture of philanthropy and strategic relationships to achieve the organization’s goals and inspire communities where people of all abilities live, learn, and work together.

A passionate advocate for the nonprofit sector, Kate has presented at conferences and education sessions on a variety of fundraising topics. She is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals Chicago Chapter, where she serves on the Continuous Learning Council and as a faculty member and coordinator for the Fundamentals of Fundraising. She is also engaged with the West Suburban Philanthropic Network and the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to her leadership roles, Kate provides fundraising consulting for small and mid-sized nonprofits, helping to increase their philanthropic impact and improve donor engagement. She holds a degree in Communications/Public Relations from Purdue University and the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential. Kate’s contributions to the field have been recognized with several honors, including the President’s Award from the West Suburban Philanthropic Network, the Benjamin Franklin Award from AFP Chicago, and the Under 40 Leadership Award from the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce.

There and Back Again: From Reactive Requests to Strategic Referrals

What happens when you ask fundraisers what they "really" want in a prospect and then build a system around it? In this session, participants will learn how the University of Denver's Prospect Development Team, in close partnership with Business Intelligence, shifted from reactive requests to a proactive prospect referral system powered by its CRM. Attendees will learn how DU's prospect development team collaborated with fundraisers to define meaningful prospect criteria, created accountability for both Fundraisers and PD through a CRM-integrated referral system, and developed reporting solutions enabling teams to measure outcomes and demonstrate the impact of referrals on fundraising success.

Speaker Bio:

Pete Kotowski is the Director of Prospect Development at the University of Denver, where he has worked remotely from the Chicago suburbs since February 2023. Prior to this, Pete spent over five years on the Prospect Management & Research team at Loyola University Chicago, most recently serving as Associate Director of Prospect Management & Research. He remains a part-time faculty member in Loyola’s Department of History, where he teaches core courses in American History and Western Civilizations. Pete began his career in prospect development at Loyola Academy.

Pete is a member of the Apra International Board of Directors and previously spent eight years as a member of the Apra-IL board. He graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a PhD in Early American History and earned a BA in History and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. In his free time, you can find him reading everything from J.R.R. Tolkien to Colson Whitehead, training his English Springer Spaniel, Bertie, or participating in his son’s latest hijinks.

Seeing the Whole Board: Using Portfolio Dashboards and Stoplight Reviews to Drive Better Fundraising Decisions

This session shares how the University of Illinois Chicago shifted their Fundraising Portfolio Reviews from simple line-by-line reviews of individual prospects — which made it difficult to see overall portfolio health, patterns, or priorities — to a more effective approach by pairing a Portfolio Review Dashboard with a Stoplight Workbook.

Using a real-world case study from a large, decentralized organization, this session shows how key portfolio metrics such as balance, activity, and pipeline movement are brought together in a dashboard to provide a high-level view. The Stoplight Workbook, using green, yellow, and red, is then used to guide discussion, identify challenges, and support annual goal setting. Together, these tools help teams move beyond list reviews to clearer decisions and more focused support without adding extra work.

Speaker Bio:

Brandi Hovizi leads prospect management, portfolio strategy, and data analytics for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Advancement at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her work supports the institution's shift from activity-based to outcome-based fundraising performance, with a data-driven approach to portfolio reviews, pipeline forecasting, and the development of systems that let fundraisers spend less time searching for data and more time with donors.

She started in fundraising at her alma mater's phonathon in 2010 and has worked in the field ever since, with previous roles at Chicago Foundation for Women, Blackbaud, Inc, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, and Feeding America.

Brandi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication and Nonprofit Leadership from Western Michigan University, a Master of Communication in Digital Media and Storytelling from Loyola University Chicago, and a National Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. This fall, she's beginning her Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management at UIC.

When she's not at her desk, Brandi is an avid reader who has hit 100 books in a year more than once, follows hockey closely (both women's and men's, and she's the reigning champion of her fantasy league), and crafts with a "how hard can it be" attitude that has yet to steer her wrong. She lives with her two cats, Jameson, a big, friendly orange tabby who will probably make an appearance on Zoom calls, and Mabel, a small, shy black cat who will not.

Apra-IL Symposium: Frequently-Asked Questions

Do I have to be an Apra-IL member to attend the Symposium?

You don't have to be a member to attend! In-person and virtual registration is open to both Apra-IL members and non-members alike, and this is a great opportunity to see what joining Apra-IL is all about if you haven't been involved before.

For non-members attending in-person, your registration purchase includes not only admission to the event, but also one-year of membership dues through the next 12 months - a fantastic deal and introduction to our community!

What if I want to attend the event but can't make it in-person?

Join us virtually! Purchase one of the "Virtual" event registration options to watch and participate in the event throughout the day via Zoom. The Zoom link for virtual attendees will be shared with those registered closer to the event date.

What is the cost of the event?

For in-person attendees, cost of registration is $75 for current Apra-IL members and $110 for non-members (which includes admission to the event, as well as new member dues for the next 12 months).

For virtual attendees, cost of registration is $35 for current Apra-IL members and $45 for non-members.

I want to bring my whole team of employees to the event with me. Is there an easy way to register everyone all at once?

Yes! We'd love for you to bring the whole team. Send us an email and we can organize a group invoice for you.

Will lunch be provided?

Yes, lunch will be provided on-site at the Art Institute for in-person attendees.

What if I have special dietary restrictions?

In-person attendees will have the opportunity to indicate any special dietary restrictions for accommodation when you register for the event online.

Is there a happy hour after the Symposium?

Yes, immediately following the Symposium's conclusion we will convene at Miller's Pub, just a five-minute walk away from the Art Institute's Modern Wing. Drink tickets will be provided by the Apra-IL Board.

I'm looking to get more involved with Apra-IL. Are there volunteer opportunities at the Symposium?

Yes, we'd love to have you involved as a volunteer! Send us an email and we'll be in touch.

Apra-IL Webinar: From Profiles to Predictions - Practical Neuroscience for Prospect Development (Mon, October 05, 2026)

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Apra-IL Webinar:

From Profiles to Predictions - Practical Neuroscience for Prospect Development

Prospect development already does an excellent job identifying who can give. But frontline fundraisers don’t just need information, they need insight they can act on.

This session introduces a practical, immediately applicable layer to traditional prospect development using principles from neuroscience and behavioral science. Without changing tools, systems, or workflows, participants will learn how to enhance existing profiles with simple behavioral cues that help fundraisers understand why a donor might give, what will resonate, and how to approach them more effectively.

Grounded in Neurogiving, this session translates research-backed concepts like identity, reward, attention, and memory into clear, usable additions to prospect profiles, briefings, and ratings.

Participants will leave with specific language, templates, and “plug-in” enhancements they can start using immediately to make their research more predictive, more strategic, and more valuable to their teams.

Speaker Bio:

Cherian Koshy is a globally recognized speaker and strategist who for 30 years has been working on areas like behavioral science, leadership, innovation. He's raised hundreds of millions of dollars for charitable causes. He's built high performing teams. He has driven growth across sectors from healthcare to higher education to the arts and human services as well as finance and technology. He's trained thousands of leaders on five continents.

Cherian has founded an AI platform for strategic content creation, which was acquired and rebranded as Engage. He now serves as vice president at Kindsight, which helps mission-driven organizations use technology to create ethical human centered engagement. He's a LinkedIn Top Voice and regular Forbes contributor. His insights have been featured on the front page of Fast Company, numerous times in CEO World, and on Yahoo Finance. He holds the CFRE and CAP credentials and is the 118th person in the world to earn the ACFRE credential, with certifications in behavioral science from Harvard Business School and AI ethics from the London School of Economics.

Neurogiving, his debut book, remained on the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks reaching #11 and is an essential guide to designing experiences grounded in science shaped by empathy and built for the future.

Apra-IL Webinar: Decision Intelligence - Designing Analytics That Drive Action (Thu, October 22, 2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Apra-IL Webinar:

Decision Intelligence - Designing Analytics That Drive Action

Organizations today are richer in data and more advanced in analytics than ever before, yet many of the most important decisions still stall or fail to translate into action. The challenge is rarely a lack of insight. It is the gap between insight and decision-making.

This session introduces a decision-centered framework for analytics that integrates game theory, human-centered design, behavioral science, and prescriptive analytics to better understand how decisions are actually made within organizations. Rather than treating analytics as a purely technical function, we explore it as a system shaped by incentives, trust, interpretation, and organizational behavior.

Attendees will learn how to move beyond descriptive and predictive analytics toward a more complete decision-support model that addresses not only what is likely to happen, but how stakeholders will respond and what should be done next. We will examine how incentives and competing priorities influence behavior (game theory), how design thinking improves trust and usability of insights (human-centered analytics), and how prescriptive analytics and scenario modeling can translate analysis into clear, actionable recommendations.

The session also introduces the concept of a “decision-making stack,” a layered framework that connects data, prediction, behavior, recommendation, and action. Using real-world examples from advancement analytics, we will explore why organizations often fail to act on good ideas and how analytics teams can design systems that reduce friction, clarify choices, and improve decision velocity.

Attendees will leave with practical strategies for building analytics systems that do more than inform. They enable better, faster, and more aligned decisions across their fundraising function.

Speaker Bios:

Palak Vora is the Senior Associate Director of Financial Analytics at the University of Chicago, where she leads the development of forecasting models, performance analytics, and decision-support systems for Advancement. Her work focuses on transforming complex data into actionable insights that help leaders make faster, more informed strategic decisions.

Drawing on expertise in business intelligence and data analytics, Palak develops analytical solutions that enable leaders to make more confident and effective decisions. Her work extends beyond measurement and reporting to creating models and frameworks that clarify trade-offs, anticipate outcomes, and help organizations translate analysis into strategy. Her interests lie in advancing decision support through thoughtful design, practical modeling, and a deep understanding of organizational behavior.

Palak holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Mumbai and both an MBA and an MS in Business Analytics from the University of Illinois Chicago. She is a frequent speaker on advancement analytics and decision intelligence.

Apra-IL Webinar: Stories from "People in Fundraising" (Thu, November 05, 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Apra-IL Webinar:

Lessons Learned, Mistakes Overturned -

Insights from the 'People in Fundraising' Podcast, Volunteer Pathways, and Dreaming It Up Again

In this webinar, Tim will share several key and consistent take-aways from among the nearly 200+ nonprofit leaders who have been guests on his podcast since 2022. He will also briefly share his volunteer leadership pathway at the Apra chapter level, leading to him now serving on the Apra International Board. This segment will focus on common themes such as imposter syndrome, burnout, and balancing those sentiments with a growing desire to give back to our Apra community - all with a goal of helping to demystify what volunteer leadership paths can look like. People with a love of music may notice that Tim's presentation title draws from an Alicia Keys song and a U2 quote at a pivotal time in their band's history, and Tim will explain how those musical influences shape his career outlook.

Speaker Bio:

Tim Wilson leverages his 25 years of prospect development experience as the inaugural prospect management & research manager at Weber State University. He also taps into his broad network as the host of the weekly podcast "People in Fundraising." Tim has worked in large shops (Harvard Business School), mid-sized (Utah-based Intermountain Health Foundation), and tiny shops (team-of-1 and now a team of 1.5 at Weber State.) A longtime volunteer with NEDRA and Apra Utah, he currently serves on the Apra International board, and has presented to many Apra chapters as well at CASE Utah and the 2024 CASE District VII and District VIII Conference. Tim loves connecting with our awesome Apra community at the chapter level!

Apra-IL: Tour of Southern Illinois University Tedrick Welcome Center (Fri, June 11, 2027)

Fri, 11 Jun 2027 18:00:00 GMT

Apra-Illinois Tour of

Southern Illinois University Tedrick Welcome Center

Join us for our 2027 regional meet up!

On Friday, June 11, 2027, from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m., Apra-IL invites you for a tour of the new Southern Illinois University Tedrick Welcome Center at 1264 Lincoln Drive Carbondale, IL 62901.

Our itinerary includes a tour of the new building at 1 p.m.. followed by a coffee meet-and-greet with staff and peers from the Southern Illinois University Foundation, Apra-IL, and other visiting guests.

Please RSVP before the end of day Friday, June 4, 2027 to help us reserve enough space and coffee.

We hope to see you there!

---------------

9:30 AM	Conference registration & refreshments
10:00 AM	Apra-IL President's remarks
10:15 AM	Prospect Research and Frontline Fundraising in Conversation: A Fireside Chat with Apra, AFP Chicago, and West Suburban Philanthropy Network Catherine Flaatten, BWF Zuri - President-Elect, Apra Kelsey Nelson, Campbell & Company - President, AFP Chicago Kate Bousum, Aspire Chicago - Communications Chair, West Suburban Philanthropy Network
11:15 AM	Sponsor Product Demo: Kindsight
11:30 AM	Get-to-Know the Illinois Prospecting Community: An Interactive Audience Activity
12:00 PM	Lunch
1:00 PM	There and Back Again: From Reactive Requests to Strategic Referrals Pete Kotowski, University of Denver
2:00 PM	Sponsor Product Demo: DonorAtlas
2:15 PM	Small-group breakout discussions
3:15 PM	Seeing the Whole Board: Using Portfolio Dashboards and Stoplight Reviews to Drive Better Fundraising Decisions Brandi Hovizi, University of Illinois Chicago
4:15 PM	Final remarks
4:30 PM	Post-Symposium Happy Hour Miller's Pub 134 S Wabash Ave Chicago, IL 60603