There are conferences, and then there are gatherings that change something in you.
Elevate 2026 has changed us for the better.
Over two remarkable days — March 3rd and 4th in Portland, with hundreds more joining us virtually from across the country — something genuinely special unfolded. Not just because of the incredible speakers. But because of you — every single person who cleared your calendar, booked your travel, opened your laptop, and said yes to showing up for this work and for each other.
Before we walk you through the magic of these two days, we want to say something simply and directly: thank you. Thank you for your time, which is precious. Thank you for your travel, which is not nothing. Thank you for your curiosity and your questions and your willingness to be challenged and changed. Thank you for the conversations, the connections made, the notes you scribbled furiously, and the ideas you carried home. This community exists because of your investment in it — and we do not take that lightly, not even for a single moment.
Day One — March 3rd
The Room Comes Alive
By 8:00 AM, the energy was already building. Coffee in hand, name tags on, people finding each other — that particular and irreplaceable electricity of a room full of people who care deeply about the same things. Our sponsors were there from the very first moment, setting up, showing up, making the whole thing possible. We see you, and we are so grateful for you.
At 9:00 AM, our host Kelly Russell welcomed us — in-person and virtually — into what would become two of the most nourishing days many of us have experienced in a long time. Kelly has a gift for making a room feel held, and she used every bit of it.
The Opening Keynote: Connection Design: Gatherings That Transform
Samantha Swaim + Kristin Steele
We opened where it matters most: with the why behind the work.
My Event Story: How to Address a Shortfall
Derria Ford
Here is what we love about Derria Ford: she showed up and told the truth. When her organization’s 50th anniversary gala faced an unexpected financial shortfall just weeks out, she didn’t hide it — she got creative. What unfolded was a masterclass in grace under pressure, in trusting your community, and in the profound power of a well-executed paddle raise. Her story was practical, it was honest, and it was deeply inspiring. The room was riveted. We are so grateful she shared it with us.
The Bar Charts of Belonging: Data-Informed Insights for Events
T. Clay Buck
If you’ve ever wanted someone to make data feel like a love language, Clay Buck is your person. Clay walked us through the research shaping the philanthropic landscape right now — giving patterns, emerging trends, what’s actually working — and did it in a way that felt not like a lecture but like a generous gift. He helped us see our donors not as transactions but as people living out their values, their identities, their sense of belonging. The room leaned in. Notebooks filled up. Minds shifted.
From Save-the-Date to Standing Ovation: Mapping Your Event Timeline
Ryan Goodwin + Mary Elizabeth
Ryan Goodwin and Mary Elizabeth gave us the gift of a framework — and not just any framework, but one built on the radical premise that time is a tool. Mapping backward from your event date, building in buffer, honoring the phases of planning that too often get rushed — this session was a love letter to intentionality and to every event planner who has ever felt the panic of running out of runway. Practical, grounded, and delivered with such care.
The Vibe: Great Event Design
Samantha Swaim with Matthew Kerrigan + The AV Department
And then Samantha took us behind the curtain. With Matthew Kerrigan and The AV Department by her side, she showed us how the feeling of an event — that intangible, ineffable quality that makes people say “I don’t know, it just felt right” — is actually deeply intentional. Lighting. Sound. Spatial flow. The details that seem small but land enormously. This session was part inspiration, part permission slip, and entirely delightful.
Virtual Session: Growing Your Event Income with a Committee-Based Approach
Sarah Andrews
While our in-person attendees broke for lunch, our virtual community gathered with Sarah Andrews for a session that delivered exactly what it promised: a proven, practical path to growing event revenue through the power of well-supported volunteer committees. Sarah brought the goods — strategies, tools, and a clear plan — and our online attendees left with something they could actually use the very next day.
Live Podcast Recording: The Fundraising Elevator
Kristin Steele + Samantha Swaim with T. Clay Buck + Cherian Koshy
Story by Design: The Blueprint for Events That Resonate
Kristin Steele
In a session that many attendees called a personal highlight of the entire conference, Kristin Steele unveiled the emotional architecture of a great event. Not just “tell a good story” — but design the story. Understand the arc. Know where your attendees are emotionally at every moment and meet them there with intention. This was storytelling as a structural practice, and Kristin delivered it with the kind of depth and presence that made you want to go home and rethink everything. In the best possible way.
Story Stewardship: A Panel on Honoring People in the Narratives We Share
Jenna Watanabe with Kristin Steele, Frank Velásquez Jr. + Derria Ford
If Story by Design was about craft, Story Stewardship was about conscience. Jenna Watanabe facilitated a panel conversation with Kristin, Frank Velásquez Jr., and Derria Ford that was thoughtful, nuanced, and necessary. How do we tell the stories we’re entrusted with in ways that honor the full humanity of the people at the center of them? This panel didn’t offer easy answers — it offered something better: a framework for asking better questions. The room was quiet in that particular way that means people are genuinely thinking.
Bid Wars: The Psychology and Strategy Behind Auction Success
Michelle Holman with Siri Lippy, Kim Bauman + Beth Sandefur
Sponsored by our friends at Greater Giving, this panel brought the energy of a great auction into the room. Michelle Holman moderated a dynamic conversation with Siri Lippy, Kim Bauman, and Beth Sandefur — three people who have collectively forgotten more about auctions than most of us will ever know — and the result was a masterclass in the psychology and strategy behind competitive giving. Why do some items ignite bidding wars? What are auctioneers actually doing when they’re “reading the room”? What are the details that most people miss? All of it, answered, generously.
The Quick Fix Exchange
A Series of Roundtable Discussions
For our in-person attendees, Day One closed with something irresistible: direct access to vendor partners and event experts at rotating roundtable discussions. Twenty minutes per table. Real questions. Real answers. Real connections. The hum in that room was something — that particular buzz of people getting exactly what they needed from people who genuinely wanted to give it.
The Greater Giving Reception
And then — because the best conferences don’t end when the sessions do — Greater Giving hosted an evening reception that was, by all accounts, an absolute joy. Light bites. Good drinks. Live demos. Giveaways. And most importantly: conversations that continued long past when they “needed” to. To our friends at Greater Giving — thank you for creating that space. It mattered more than you know.
Day Two — March 4th
Finding Your Flow: Building Authentic Connection in the Midst of Uncertainty
Mallory Erickson
Day Two opened with something we didn’t know we needed until we had it. Mallory Erickson, joining us live on Zoom, led us through a 30-minute experience grounded in neuroscience, executive coaching, and behavior design — and aimed directly at the humans doing this work. Because here’s the truth she named so clearly: you cannot create authentic connection for your donors if you are running on fumes. She gave us tools. She gave us permission. She gave us a moment to actually breathe. The interactive elements landed even virtually, and the room — physical and digital alike — started the day more centered than it began.
My Event Story: How I Transformed My Fundraising Capacity
Beth McGorry
Beth McGorry is a force of nature wrapped in warmth and laughter, and her My Event Story was everything. A veteran fundraiser who reframed her events around joy and relationships, Beth had the room laughing and nodding and maybe getting a little misty — sometimes all at once. She reminded us why we got into this work in the first place. We are so glad she’s in this community.
Clicks to Seats: Digital Marketing for Your Fundraising Events
Bradley Martin (Sponsored by Feathr)
Sponsored by Feathr, Bradley Martin bridged the gap between digital strategy and human connection in a way that felt genuinely fresh. Cart abandonment recovery, retargeting, geofencing — but never in isolation from the phone call, the personal invitation, the direct conversation that still closes the deal. This session honored both the science and the soul of event marketing, and Bradley delivered it with the kind of clarity that makes complex things feel suddenly, blessedly simple.
Building Sponsor Relationships Before You Need Them
Mariah Monique
Joining us on Zoom, Mariah Monique gave every organization in the room — regardless of size or experience — a path forward on sponsorships. Her core message was quietly revolutionary: start the conversation before you’re in fundraising mode. Build the relationship before you need the check. It sounds obvious when she says it. It changes everything when you actually do it.
Both Sides of the Table: Panel Discussion on Sponsorship
Sama Shagaga with Beth McGorry, Erica Soto + Brittini Lasseigne
Sama Shagaga moderated a panel that gave us something rare: the actual, unfiltered perspective from both sides of the sponsorship equation. Beth McGorry, Erica Soto, and Brittini Lasseigne shared what’s worked, what hasn’t, what corporate partners really want to see, and how to build the kind of relationships that become multi-year partnerships. Real stories. Real mistakes. Real wisdom. The kind of session you reference for years.
Social Donation Matching: The Next Era of Generosity
Pooya Pourak
Pooya Pourak, CEO of MatchNice, brought a genuinely forward-looking vision to a topic that too many organizations treat as an afterthought. Donation matching, reimagined — not just as a corporate employer benefit, but as a community-driven, transparency-forward force for collective generosity. Pooya unpacked what makes a match truly motivating, where the pitfalls hide, and how to activate matchers with clarity. It was one of those sessions that makes you rethink a tool you thought you understood.
Lunch Keynote: How Curiosity Saves the Cat and Herds Them to Create Incredible, Inclusive Events
Frank Velásquez Jr.
Let the record show: Frank Velásquez Jr. did not let us sit and listen. He never does, and that is exactly the point. Drawing on his profound work with 4 Da Hood, Frank created an experience — interactive, truth-telling, occasionally surprising — that got us talking about the things we usually don’t say out loud. The moments that felt “icky.” The conversations we wished we’d had sooner. The voices missing from the planning table. He gave us tools for the hardest part of event planning: getting everyone genuinely aligned before anything else begins. The room was transformed. We will be thinking about this keynote for a long time.
Our Collective Capacity with Paddle Raise Strategy
Samantha Swaim
Samantha Swaim took the paddle raise — a moment that can so easily become transactional — and revealed it as something far more beautiful: a gathering of individual generosity into collective power. She gave us the strategy, yes. The levels, the case, the facilitation. But more than that, she gave us a philosophy of the moment. When every person in the room feels that their gift matters, regardless of the amount — that’s not just good fundraising. That’s community-building at its finest.
Funding the Future: A Paddle Raise Demo
Kelly Russell
And then Kelly Russell showed us exactly what it looks like when it all comes together. A live demo of a paddle raise, executed in real time — the language choices, the pacing, the energy management, the art of reading a room and responding to what’s actually happening in it. Kelly made it look effortless. It is absolutely not effortless. That’s what mastery looks like.
Your Event + The Mail + Email
Steven Screen
Steven Screen arrived with data, warmth, and a suitcase full of things that are actually working for organizations right now. Pre-event mail. Post-event email. Raising money from non-attendees. Cultivating major donor relationships through events. Fitting it all into an annual plan that holds together. Steven is one of those presenters who makes you feel like you got a private consultation — generous, specific, and deeply practical.
Closing Keynote: Neurogiving: Your Brain on Events and Generosity
Cherian Koshy
We saved something extraordinary for last. Cherian Koshy, drawing from his USA Today Bestselling book Neurogiving, took us inside the donor brain during a live event — how attention is captured or lost, how belonging drives behavior, how emotion becomes memory, and why what happens after an event often determines whether a gift becomes a relationship. Cherian is one of those thinkers who makes the complex feel accessible and the accessible feel profound. This closing keynote didn’t just wrap up the conference — it reframed everything we’d learned over two days through the lens of neuroscience. We left not just inspired but equipped.
Mic Drop Moments: The Auctioneer Showdown
Kelly Russell
Because Kelly Russell is Kelly Russell, and because we couldn’t let her leave without one more moment — this was exactly what it sounds like, and it was exactly as fun as you’re imagining.
A Final Word of Gratitude
To every speaker who prepared, who traveled, who stayed up late crafting the exact right words, who showed up fully and gave generously — thank you. You are the heartbeat of this gathering, and your wisdom will ripple outward in ways you’ll never fully see.
To Artisan Auctions, The AV Department, AVENUE, Feathr, Greater Giving, OnPoint Community Credit Union, NW Natural, Arpeggio Digital, The Fundraising Event Co, The Cause Catalyst, Next Day Animation, Sojourn Ventures, Stephen Kilbreath Events, OneCause, Better Unite, Life Event Staffing, Streamline, Bloomerang, Amico Pr, Auction Packages, Gala Toolbox, GISI, Devil’s Food Catering, Arden, Balloon Gam, Andie Petkus Photography, Tom Cook Photo and DJ Avelanche you made Elevate possible — your investment in this community is not taken for granted. You make the room possible. You make the learning possible. We are genuinely grateful.
To our in-person attendees who booked flights and hotels, rearranged schedules, and walked through those doors — thank you. The energy you brought into that room was palpable from the very first cup of coffee.
To our virtual attendees who joined from home offices and kitchen tables and conference rooms across the country — thank you. You showed up fully, engaged deeply, and reminded us that community doesn’t require proximity.
And to all of you — every single person who chose to invest two days in learning, in connection, in this work — you are why we do this.
With so much gratitude, The Elevate Team
Were you at Elevate? We’d love to hear your story.
