Fundraising - What's the Board's Role?

Learn how to engage your board in fundraising.

Join presenters as they discuss the board's critical role in fundraising. What's the role of your board in creating the context for fundraising success? What specific expectations do you have for your board members? What are the structures and training that empower board members in fundraising? What strategies are there for overcoming board members' fears of fundraising? These questions and more will be answered during this one-hour webinar.

Meet the presenters.

Rebekah Burch Basinger
Director of Program Development, In Trust
In Trust Governance Mentor

Rebekah Burch Basinger is an independent consultant for board development and fundraising. Her consulting practice and work as a Governance Mentor for In Trust have been enriched by her experiences on the boards of numerous organizations over 30 years, beginning with her children's daycare center and extending to MAP International (Medical Assistance Programs) and ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). Today she serves on the boards of MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers) and the U.S. Foundation of the Theological College of Zimbabwe.

A regular contributor to In Trust magazine, Basinger has written numerous articles on fundraising and board life. In addition, she is the coauthor (with Thomas Jeavons) of Growing Givers' Hearts: Treating Fundraising as Ministry (Jossey-Bass, 2001) and the lead author of "The President's Role in Institutional Advancement" in the Handbook for Seminary Presidents published by the Association of Theological Schools.

Basinger received a B.A. in English from Trinity College (Deerfield, Illinois), a master's in English from Wichita State University, a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Temple University. She is currently lending her expertise to Messiah College (Grantham, Pennsylvania), which is developing a master's degree program in higher education administration with an emphasis on institutional advancement.

Kathy Hansen
Vice-President for Development
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota

As Vice-President for Development, Kathy leads a team of development professionals responsible for growing philanthropic support through annual giving and special campaigns for statewide services, new initiatives and the organization's endowment.

Prior to joining LSS, Hansen served as a Senior Associate with Bentz Whaley Flessner, consulting with educational and nonprofit organizations in campaign marketing and management, board development, major gifts and annual giving. 

For 17 years, Hansen served as Vice President for Seminary Relations for Luther Seminary and Executive Director of the Luther Seminary Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. She led highly successful annual giving programs and three major fundraising campaigns to advance the goals, educational initiatives and endowment at the seminary. Early in her career, she served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska.

In 2007, Hansen was the recipient of the Association of Lutheran Development Executive's Virgil Anderson Award in recognition of her career achievements as a fundraiser. She is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and attended graduate school at the University of Iowa.