2025 Community Foundations Family Philanthropy Network Workshop

About the Workshop

The Community Foundations Family Philanthropy Network Workshop is an opportunity to learn from your peers and build professional skills. The workshop will include both skill-building sessions on topics top of mind for community foundation staff who work with philanthropic families, and time for networking with peers from community foundations across the country.

Note: The deadline to register for the workshop is Tuesday, September 2.

Where

The workshop will take place at the The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

When

This will be a 1.5-day workshop taking place on September 16–17, 2025.

Who

The workshop is exclusively available for members of NCFP’s Community Foundations Family Philanthropy Network. Space is limited—network members may register up to two staff member attendees at no cost.

Cost

The workshop is free to attend. Attendees will make their own arrangements and will pay for their travel, hotel, and meals are not provided during the workshop.

Accommodations

A list of hotels near the workshop location can be found here.

Draft Agenda

This is a draft agenda; additional details will be added as they become available. The exact times of sessions are subject to change.

Day 1

8:00 AM – Breakfast and Check-In

9:00 AM – Welcome

9:30 AM – Trends in Family Philanthropy 2025

• What does the family philanthropy landscape look like? How has it changed across the last decade, and what do those changes mean for community foundations? In this session we’ll explore the main findings of the Trends 2025 report and highlight those that are particularly relevant to community foundation staff.
• Speaker: Miki Akimoto (NCFP)

10:30 AM – Break

10:45 AM – Peer Networking

• Connect and reconnect with peers and unpack the Trends 2025 report and its implications for your work as a donor advisor.

12:00 PM – Break

12:30 PM – Lunch and Presentation from The Minneapolis Foundation—Igniting a Movement: Redefining Donor Engagement to Fuel Community Impact

• Across the country, community foundations are reimagining how to deepen relationships with fundholders—building trust and activating meaningful community investment. Together with our partners and fundholders, the Minneapolis Foundation is working toward a bold goal: to more than double the philanthropic resources flowing into communities over the next decade. This session will share how rethinking donor engagement is central to that effort. During the session we will discuss:

-Activating families through tools and conversations that clarify shared values and promote collaborative giving.

-Activating the next generation by offering inclusive, participatory opportunities that meet emerging donors where they are.

-Activating professional advisors as critical partners who can spark values-based conversations and guide multigenerational engagement.

• Speakers: Christine Barrett, Chris Beach, Andrea Cummings, Maggie McCracken, and Amy Pfarr Walker (The Minneapolis Foundation)

1:30 PM – Break

1:45 PM – Overcoming Psychological Barriers to Giving

• At a time when funders are being called upon to give more to address gaps left by funding cuts, we will reexamine the 10 most common barriers to giving and focus our discussion on the solutions and actionable strategies you can use to help donors overcome them.
• Speaker: Sokol Shtylla (NCFP)

3:00 PM – Break

3:15 PM – Peer Learning Breakout

• Reflect and identify what barriers you encounter most with your donors. Share your challenges and strategies for effective advising and learn from peers about what solutions they deploy.  During this time, we will also explore solutions through case studies and breakouts.

4:45 PM – Closing Remarks and Next Steps

5:00 PM – Workshop Ends

6:00 PM – Local Dine-Arounds

Day 2

8:30 AM – Breakfast and Check-In

9:00 AM – Philanthropic Advising Competency Model Project

• As the field of philanthropic advising continues to evolve, it is vital that practitioners and hiring managers understand the soft and hard skills required for effective donor advising. Daylight and LaCire are releasing a new, shared competency model for success in the modern philanthropic advising and planning environment. Edward Wang, VP of The Family Office of Philanthropy at Marin Community Foundation, will facilitate a conversation about using the model, built by practitioners for practitioners, to assess and build your team’s knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Speakers: Edward Wang (Marin Community Foundation), and Jennifer Touchet (Greater Houston Community Foundation)

10:15 AM – Break

10:30 AM – What Motivated Me! A panel of fund holders shares what activates their giving

• As advisors at community foundations across the country work to activate donors to give more, it can be challenging to understand what really motivates and compels donors to act. During this session we will hear from a panel of DAF holders about the pivotal conversations and moments that inspired them and moved them from intention to action.

11:30 AM – Peer Networking: Action Planning

• Reflect on the workshop’s highlights and discuss the insights and actions you can take back to your community foundation and apply in your work with fund holders.

12:30 PM – Closing Reflections & Lunch

1:00 PM – Departure