AFP Silicon Valley upcoming events

Turning Donor-Advised Funds Into Your Next Major Gifts (2026-09-16)

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:30:00 GMT

Turning Donor-Advised Funds Into Your Next Major Gifts

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Citizens Business Bank

224 Airport Parkway San Jose, CA 95110

Presenter:

Patrick Schmitt
co-CEO of Free Will

About the Program:

Donors moved $64.89 billion through donor-advised funds (DAFs) to charities in 2024, a 19% increase over the prior year. With more than $326 billion in DAF assets waiting to be granted, many nonprofits may already have significant opportunities within reach.

This session offers a practical playbook for raising more through DAFs without adding headcount. Participants will learn how to identify DAF donors in their database, including anonymous or sponsor-routed gifts and warm prospects already connected to their organization. The program will also cover how to incorporate DAF giving into websites, year-end appeals, recurring giving programs, and one-on-one donor conversations.

The session will conclude with stewardship strategies designed to turn one-time DAF grants into repeat and upgraded giving, along with an overview of current DAF growth and policy trends.

Attendees will leave prepared to:

Identify DAF donors in their CRM and recover gifts that may currently be unattributed
Add effective DAF messaging to their website, appeals, and recurring giving program
Build a stewardship cadence that supports repeat and upgraded gifts
Adjust their strategy based on current DAF growth and policy trends

This program is designed for frontline fundraisers, annual giving and development leaders, and anyone responsible for growing revenue who may be leaving DAF dollars unclaimed.

About the Presenter

Patrick is the co-founder of FreeWill, a social venture that has helped organizations generate more $16 billion in planned gift commitments, stock gifts, crypto donations, donor advised fund grants, and qualified charitable distributions. Patrick and his co-founder Jenny have been named two of the Top 50 Philanthropists in the World by Town & Country. Patrick is recognized as the leading thought leader in the nonprofit fundraising industry, and his weekly talks draw an average of 1,500 industry professionals including representatives from most of the world’s largest organizations

Agenda

12:30 PM: Registration and networking
1:00–2:30 PM: Training session

Pricing

Members - $33

Future Members - $58

* Please note that registration fees include $3 to cover online processing expenses.

Confidence, Courage & Purpose: The Seven Rules of Self-Esteem for Nonprofit Professionals (2026-09-22)

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 18:30:00 GMT

Confidence, Courage & Purpose:
The Seven Rules of Self-Esteem for Nonprofit Professionals

Tuesday, Sept 22, 2026

11:30 A.M. - 2:00 P.M.

Sobrato Center for Nonprofits

350 Twin Dolphin Dr.

Shoreway Room

Redwood City, CA

Presenter:
Ken Miller
President
Denali FSP Fundraising Consultants

About the Program

Build greater confidence, clarity, and courage in your work as a nonprofit professional during this interactive 90-minute workshop, Confidence, Courage & Purpose: The Seven Rules of Self-Esteem for Nonprofit Professionals.

Participants will explore the foundations of self-esteem, including both competence and self-respect, while identifying practical ways to take greater ownership of their choices, communication, priorities, and professional growth. The session will also cover strategies for practicing self-assertiveness, setting purposeful goals, acting with integrity, and recognizing fear without allowing it to prevent meaningful action.

Designed to be practical and engaging, the workshop will include opportunities for discussion and questions throughout, with additional Q&A time at the conclusion.

About the Presenter

Ken Miller, CFRE is a dynamic trainer, speaker, author and consultant. As the president of Denali FSP LLC Consultants, he leads transformative strategies, empowering organizations and associations across sectors. Recognized for his dynamic speaking style, he engages audiences with his deep knowledge of business best practices, leadership, and personal growth ensuring participants leave equipped for impactful outcomes.

As an AFP Faculty Trainer and national conference speaker, he has spent his career helping small to mid-sized nonprofits build sustainable revenue systems instead of chasing trends. His latest book Pragmatic Fundraising is being released in September 2026.

Agenda

11:30am-12:20pm: Check-In and Networking.
Arrive early and get to know our partners, Thrive Alliance and Center for Excellence in Nonprofits!

12:20pm-12:30pm: Opening Remarks

12:30pm-2pm Presentation and Q & A

Pricing

AFPSV Members - $43 *

Future Members - $68 *

* Please note that registration fees include $3 to cover online processing expenses.

Philanthropy Leadership Lab (2026-10-02)

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Philanthropy Leadership Lab

Friday, October 2, 2026

9:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M.

First 5 Santa Clara County

4000 Moorpark Ave

Suite #200

San Jose, CA 95117

Lead Facilitator:
Roger D. Ali, CFRE, Chair of AFP Global

Co-Facilitator:
Illyasha Peete, MBA, President of AFP Silicon Valley

About the Program

The Philanthropy Leadership Lab is a four-hour, immersive tabletop exercise for fundraising leaders. You will work through a single unfolding revenue crisis in role, as part of a small team, across three rounds, with a facilitator at your table throughout the experience.

The situation: MindWorks Youth Mental Health is a fictional Santa Clara County behavioral health provider serving approximately 4,000 young people each year with a $4.9 million annual budget and only two and a half months of operating coverage.

In eleven days, MindWorks loses roughly 15% of its annual revenue.

You are part of the development leadership team. The board meets in 21 days. Your table has four hours to produce a stabilization plan.

MindWorks is fictional, but its financial structure is based on Form 990 filings from comparable Santa Clara County organizations. The funder policies, contract terms, and regulatory constraints included in the exercise are real.

What You Will Practice

Build a stabilization plan that identifies what gets protected, what gets reduced, and what stops, with reasoning you can defend to a finance committee.
Judge which bridge-funding options are realistic and when the money will actually arrive, rather than when it is promised.
Sequence difficult communication to staff, program partners, families, and funders under time pressure.
Hold your position, or change it, while working with colleagues who have different information and different incentives.

How the Lab Works

You will be assigned a role on the development leadership team. Information arrives on a clock rather than all at once, and different people at your table know different things. That is deliberate.

The exercise unfolds across three rounds, with conditions changing between them. Your table will produce one stabilization plan on one page, present it to a two-person board panel seated at your table, and hear one other table's plan.

Tables present simultaneously throughout the room, so no one is asked to perform for the full group. The day concludes with a facilitated debrief and a written commitment for you to take with you.

Every table works through the same crisis and arrives somewhere different. The learning comes from comparing those decisions during the debrief.

Who Should Attend

This Lab is designed for development directors, chief development officers, executive directors, and senior gift officers who carry responsibility for revenue and participate in the rooms where difficult funding decisions get made. Board members responsible for finance or development are also welcome.

You do not need to have lived through a funding cut. You do need to be willing to make a call with incomplete information alongside people you have just met.

Who Is Leading the Lab

Roger D. Ali, CFRE
Chair of AFP Global
Lead Facilitator

Illyasha Peete, MBA
President of AFP Silicon Valley
Co-Facilitator

Roger and Illyasha will coach participants in the room while the exercise is underway, so feedback arrives while the decisions are still fresh.

The 2026 AFP Silicon Valley IDEA Fellowship cohort designed the case and will facilitate every table. Nine practitioners built the exercise around the constraints they work within themselves.

Agenda

9:00 A.M. | Doors Open
Coffee available

9:45 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. | Philanthropy Leadership Lab
Working lunch included

New to the case? Arrive at 9:00 A.M. to read the brief and get settled.

Already prepared? Come early to network with fellow participants.

CFRE Continuing Education

The Philanthropy Leadership Lab includes CFRE continuing education points.

What to Bring

Nothing is required. All Lab materials will be provided.
Bring a device if you prefer to take notes digitally.

Registration

Early Bird Pricing | Through September 7
$99 AFP Silicon Valley Members
$149 Future Members
$75 IDEA Fellowship Alumni

Standard Pricing | Beginning September 8
$129 AFP Silicon Valley Members
$179 Future Members
$75 IDEA Fellowship Alumni

Attendance is limited to 50 participants.
Every table has a dedicated facilitator, and that is what sets the capacity.

Registration closes October 2 or when the Lab reaches capacity, whichever comes first.

Bringing Your Team?

Teams of three or more participants from the same organization may register at the AFP Silicon Valley member rate, whether or not each participant is an AFP member.

Your team members will be seated at different tables. That is intentional. Each person will work through the same crisis with a different group and facilitator, producing different approaches to the same challenge. Your organization comes away with several perspectives rather than one.

Every registered team will also receive a short debrief guide before the Lab to help structure your follow-up conversation.

Up to four team-rate seats per organization are available while general registration remains open.

To arrange team registration or ask questions, contact:

Andrea Tsang, VP IDEA
vpidea@afpsv.org

V. Grijalva, VP-Elect IDEA
vpeidea@afpsv.org

Decolonizing Philanthropy: Facing the Challenges of Fundraising When You ALSO Have to Pay the Bills (2026-10-22)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Decolonizing Philanthropy:

Facing the Challenges of Fundraising When You ALSO Have to Pay the Bills

Thursday, October 22, 2026

8:30 AM - 11:00 AM

1100 Shasta Ave, San Jose

Presenter:

Josh Selo
Chief Executive Officer, Bill Wilson Center

About the Program:

Join us for an eye-opening session designed for nonprofit professionals ready to ask deep questions about the systems we work within and explore transformative alternatives to traditional fundraising. Traditional philanthropy is often rooted in preserving wealth—wealth that Edgar Villanueva argues is frequently "twice stolen" through colonial exploitation and tax evasion. This session will help you identify how modern nonprofit practices may still be complicit in these systems through board culture, wealth worship, donor-centricity, and poverty porn. Participants will pinpoint the hurdles of traditional philanthropy and the nonprofit business model, explore powerful alternatives, and make a plan to operationalize change within your board, fundraising practices, and organizational culture.

About the Presenter

Josh Selo is the Chief Executive Officer of Bill Wilson Center, a nonprofit committed to eradicating intergenerational homelessness and poverty through comprehensive housing, mental health and supportive services. Previously Josh held leadership positions at West Valley Community Services, the Palo Alto Family YMCA, the JCC of Rockland County and the JCC in Manhattan. Josh is the Board Chair for the San Jose Evergreen Community College Foundation Board and serves on the Board of California Coalition for Youth. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara (BFA in Theater) and Washington State University (MBA), Josh is deeply committed to housing justice and providing greater accessibility to services for children, youth and families facing housing insecurity and homelessness

Agenda

8:30 AM: Registration
9:00–10:30 AM: Training session
10:30–11:00AM: Networking

Pricing

Members - $33

Future Members - $58

* Please note that registration fees include $3 to cover online processing expenses.

39th Annual Silicon Valley Philanthropy Day (2026-11-06)

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 22:00:00 GMT

39th Annual Silicon Valley

Philanthropy Day

Bridging the Gap. Together. With Purpose.

Friday, November 6, 2026

2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

San Jose Scottish Rite Center

2455 Masonic Dr.

San Jose, CA

- Sponsorship Opportunities Open Now -
Ticket sales open on September 1, 2026

AFPSV Holiday Party 2026 (2026-12-08)

Wed, 09 Dec 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Association of Fundraising Professionals

Holiday Party 2026

Tuesday, December 8, 2026

5:30 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.

Tessora's Wine Bar

234 E Campbell Ave Campbell, CA 95008

Join AFP for our annual holiday party at the adorable Tessora's Wine Bar. Catch up, mingle, and network over wine and appetizers while celebrating the holiday season!

Agenda

Pricing

AFPSV Members - $43*

Future Members - $68*

* Please note that registration fees include $3 to cover online processing expenses.

AFP Silicon Valley upcoming events

Turning Donor-Advised Funds Into Your Next Major Gifts (2026-09-16)

Confidence, Courage & Purpose: The Seven Rules of Self-Esteem for Nonprofit Professionals (2026-09-22)

Philanthropy Leadership Lab (2026-10-02)

Decolonizing Philanthropy: Facing the Challenges of Fundraising When You ALSO Have to Pay the Bills (2026-10-22)

39th Annual Silicon Valley Philanthropy Day (2026-11-06)

- Sponsorship Opportunities Open Now - Ticket sales open on September 1, 2026

AFPSV Holiday Party 2026 (2026-12-08)

- Sponsorship Opportunities Open Now -
Ticket sales open on September 1, 2026