Schedule:
8:15 am - 9:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 am - 10:15 am - Breakout Sessions 1
10:15 am - 10:30 am - Break
10:30 am - 11:45 am - Breakout Sessions 2
11:45 am - 12:30 pm - Lunch
12:30 pm - 1:00 pm - Awards
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Keynote Speaker
2:00 pm - 2:15 pm - Break
2:15 pm - 3:30 pm - Breakout Sessions 3
3:30 pm - 3:45 pm - Break
3:45 pm - 5:00 pm - Breakout Sessions 4

Registration

Registration Fees
Early Bird Rates*: Member $250 /  Non-member $295
Regular Rates: Member $295 / Non-member $395

Scholarship Opportunities

The Chicago Council on Planned Giving is pleased to offer a select number of scholarships to our 2026 Annual Symposium. Anyone who is interested in expanding their professional expertise in the area of planned giving philanthropy is welcome to apply. We especially encourage applicants who are new to the planned giving field or who work for an organization that is looking to launch or has recently launched a planned giving program. You do not need to be a CCPG member to apply. 

Applications are due by Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Applicants will be notified of our decision by April 17, 2026.

Complete the Scholarship Application

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Session Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. 

Beginner Track
Engaging Handraisers: From Seeds of Interest to Lasting Impact
Speaker: Ali Hay, Vice President of Success & Strategy, Giving Docs 

In every planned giving program, handraisers are the seeds of future legacy gifts. The challenge isn’t finding them -- it’s cultivating them. A “handraiser” is a prospect who has signaled interest in supporting a nonprofit’s mission through a proactive inquiry, survey response, or a discovery-type conversation with a gift officer. These individuals represent some of the most promising opportunities for future planned gifts. But how do you nurture that early interest into meaningful legacy support? This session will share practical strategies for cultivating relationships with handraisers, strengthening their connection to your mission, and turning initial interest into lasting impact. Attendees will leave with actionable tactics to help their planned giving programs grow a stronger, more productive pipeline. 

Everyone Track
Intro to Prospect Research: Growing Your Individual Donor Garden
Speaker: Christina Caputo, Forefront Knowledge Services, Librarian, Forefront

Learn how to “sow” new individual donor prospects using the powerful research tools available through the Forefront Library. This workshop shows you how to identify promising donor “seeds” by accessing databases, public records, and philanthropic profiles that reveal capacity, interests, and potential alignment with your mission. You’ll discover how to locate high quality prospects, gather essential background information, and begin building a donor pipeline rooted in solid research. Perfect for anyone looking to grow their donor garden with confidence and clarity.  By the end of this introductory session, attendees will understand how prospect research lays the foundation for a donor garden that grows year after year: identifying potential supporters, placing them in the right conditions, and setting the stage for cultivation and long term growth.

Technical Track
Harvesting Blended Gifts: When Major and Planned Giving Teams Tend the Garden Together
Speakers: Jessie Pridie, Relationship Manager and Katie Pfeiffer, Director, Marketing and Client Communications, TIAA Kaspick

Discover how major gifts and planned giving professionals can unlock hidden capacity in mid-level donors by combining their expertise to create blended gift solutions. Through four real-world case studies—from straightforward bequest and outright gift combinations to sophisticated arrangements involving CRTs, gift annuities, and QCDs—you'll see how cross-team collaboration and truly understanding donor motivations can yield transformational gifts. Whether you work primarily in major gifts or planned giving, you'll leave with actionable approaches to identify blended gift prospects, navigate joint donor conversations, and build the internal partnerships that make these complex gifts possible.
 

Session Time: 10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. 

Beginner Track
Compost the Myths: Weeding Out Donor & Staff Objections to Planned Giving (A Trust-Based Conversation Playbook)
Speaker: Mary Petersen, Founder, Hey Fundraiser!

Planned giving objections usually aren’t “no’s”—they’re protective instincts (for family, independence, privacy, and security). In this practical, major-gifts-style session, attendees will learn a repeatable framework to defuse common donor objections (and internal staff hesitation) without sounding salesy or overly technical. Using real-world scenarios, we’ll “compost” the myths that stall legacy conversations—like “planned giving is only for wealthy donors,” “it’s too personal to bring up,” “I need everything for long-term care,” and “my kids come first.” Participants will leave with plug-and-play language, a next-step menu that preserves donor autonomy, and an easy way to practice these conversations across teams.


Everyone Track
Legacy Giving Marketing: It’s Not Rocket Science (It’s Botany!)
Speakers: Jessica Noe, Senior Director, Development and Planning Giving, Feeding America and Renee Durnin, Senior Strategist, The Stelter Company

Every nonprofit has unique relationships with their donors based on their mission, outcomes, engagement, and fundraising methods. Much like a botanist, you'll learn how to nurture these relationships and develop intentional marketing that can effectively move your donors along in their legacy giving journey. Join Jessica Noe, Feeding America, and Renee Durnin, CFRE, The Stelter Company, as they share key marketing approaches and techniques based on behavioral science principles that have quadrupled results for Feeding America’s legacy marketing program over the last 5 years.

Technical Track
Cultivating Variegated Future Leaders--Designing and Administering Scholarship Programs
Speaker: Kirk Hoopingarner, Partner, Quarles

This session offers a comprehensive overview of the tax rules and regulatory considerations that impact the design and administration of scholarship programs. Attendees will gain clarity on the foundational legal requirements for private foundation scholarship programs and explore how donor‑advised funds may administer scholarships within the boundaries of Internal Revenue Code Section 4966. The session will also address current developments affecting scholarship criteria, including considerations arising from the Trump administration’s positions toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

In addition, participants will learn best practices for drafting gift agreements and will/trust provisions that establish and govern scholarship endowments. The program will highlight key issues unique to endowment‑style scholarship funds, such as long‑term donor intent, spending policies, and compliance obligations. Finally, the session will examine practical and legal implications for the disposition of scholarship funds administered by educational institutions that undergo closure, ensuring that charitable purposes and donor expectations remain protected.

12:30 - 1:00 pm - Awards 



1:00 - 2:00 pm - Keynote Speaker 

Speaker: James H. Moore, Jr., President/CEO, University of Illinois Foundation
Session Time: 2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Beginner Track
From Awkward to Authentic: Building Confidence in Planned Giving Conversations
Speaker: Ron Krit, President and Founder, Krit Consulting

Planned giving doesn’t have to be intimidating. This interactive session uses simple techniques to help participants build confidence and comfort in planned giving conversations. You’ll learn how to spot natural openings in donor discussions, respond authentically, and guide conversations toward impactful gifts. Expect practical takeaways, real-world examples, and a session that’s both useful and fun.


Everyone Track
Rooted in Purpose: Growing the Next Generation of Philanthropic Leaders
Speakers: Rhonda Abrams, Founder & Principal and A.J. Price, Senior Wealth Advisor, Legacy Impact Group & Focus Partners Wealth

There's a lot of talk about the "next generation" in the cultural zeitgeist, but who is this group and how will their behaviors shape the philanthropic sector? What can we do to nurture this next generation of philanthropic leaders so that we are well-positioned for their partnership? Join two next-gens and advisors - Rhonda Abrams, Founder of Legacy Impact Group, and AJ Price, Senior Wealth Advisor at Focus Partners - for a conversation about the intersection of wealth, values and leadership.

Technical Track
Session Title
Speaker: Joseph Calvanico

Session Time: 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Beginner Track
Little Shop of Legacies (Feed Me… Bequests!)
Speakers: Julie Buck, CEO, Community Foundation of Grundy County, Laura Ruiz, Director of Development, Catholic Theological Union, and Christy Smith-Hall, Development Director, Deborah's Place

Planned giving doesn’t have to be scary, even in a small shop. Little Shop of Legacies: No Horror Required is a panel discussion designed specifically for lean fundraising teams ready to plant, tend, or revive a planned giving program of their own. Together, we’ll dig into practical, actionable strategies for identifying the right prospects, planting the seeds for legacy conversations, marketing planned gifts without a greenhouse-sized budget, and building sustainable systems that can grow over time. No mysterious, murderous plants, no dramatic plot twists – just real-world examples, honest lessons learned, and a collaborative discussion. You’ll leave with tools to cultivate a thriving legacy program at whatever shop size, and the confidence to grow something lasting.

Everyone Track
Funny Money: Improv Skills for Serious Planned Gifts. How “Yes, And…” Conversations Help Donors Actually Make the Gift
Speakers: Kelly Anne Keeler Calvanico, Founder & President, Kelly Calvanico Creative LLC and Kate O'Malley, Founder & CEO, K.O. Strategies

Planned giving conversations aren’t really about tax law—they’re about humans, legacy, and the courage to say the words out loud. Yet even seasoned fundraisers and gift planners can freeze when the conversation veers off script, gets technical, or feels emotionally loaded. In this highly interactive session, communications strategist and former planned giving director Kelly Calvanico and public affairs consultant and improv producer Kate O’Malley bring together improv tools and real-world donor scenarios to help you get unstuck. Using simple improv principles like “Yes, and…”, deep listening, and “fail forward” practice, participants will watch (and optionally try) unscripted donor dialogues that go off the rails in all the usual ways—then see how to recover with clarity, empathy, and confidence. We’ll focus less on complex vehicles and more on what actually moves a donor from “I should think about that someday” to “Let’s talk about how to do this.” You’ll leave with concrete language, exercises you can bring back to your shop, and a different mindset: less fear of saying it wrong, more comfort starting the conversation.

Technical Track
From Seed to Success: Gift Documentation Practices to Grow Good Gifts
Speaker: Jenny Carroll, Senior Director of Gift Planning Operations, University of Illinois Foundation

Regardless of the size of the institution, good documentation is critical to avoiding gift administration headaches in the future. During this session, we will explore the various goals an organization might have in documenting gifts and ways to refine gift acceptance procedures to align with those goals. We will focus on ways to both deferred gift commitments and gift purpose restrictions (for any type of gift - whether outright, pledge, or deferred) to ensure all of your gifts will stand the test of time and that your donor has a positive giving experience.

View Speaker Bios