Over the past several months, volunteers on the CGP Conference Committee have worked together to select sessions and topics to provide attendees with the latest professional development and educational opportunities at CGP Conference. Members of the Conference Committee designed specialized tracks to highlight sessions for specialized sectors of the planned giving community. 

Matthew Treadwell, Gift Planning Attorney at the Indiana University Foundation, Chair of the CGP Emerging Professionals Committee and Chair Elect for the CGP Conference Committee, combined sessions from the upcoming conference to create a track specifically for early professionals. 

Whether you are just starting in planned giving or have been doing this for a couple of years, attending CGP Conference is a great way to focus on your needs as an emerging professional and optimize your time. From refreshing technical skills to prospecting and combating our own mental obstacles, this potential track has it all. 

Here is how I would do it:

Imposter Syndrome: Stop Doubting…You DO Know What You’re Doing!
The group of Carli Yoho, Laura Brock, Cristina Miller, and Simon Williams look to lead an interesting discussion on what is an evergreen topic. As someone on the younger side of our profession, it can be intimidating when others look at you as the expert. I find myself giving an answer and almost immediately second-guessing if the information I just provided is accurate, even if it is something I have talked about a hundred times before. I then can lose track of the conversation because I’m worried about the accuracy of the information. Gaining insights into how to combat imposter syndrome will be huge in helping me build more confidence in my career and staying completely present in conversations, both with donors and internal staff.

Transform Your Donors from Friends to Family: Creating a Planned Giving Pipeline
When you are just starting in planned giving, whether from another sector or transitioning from Major to Planned Gifts, it can sometimes feel like the journey to get an individual from prospect to donor can be overwhelming. How do you identify potential donors, and then how do you prioritize the ones you have? Kelsey Tyler and Abigail Bruins pull from their years of experience to help us understand how to identify those hidden donors who do not live loud but will leave a significant gift at their passing and get them to commit or inform you of their plans. You should leave this one with a better understanding of how to go from identification to stewardship.

Navigating the Path Forward: Steps for Charities When a Planned Gift Donor Dies
That first time you get a call that an individual has passed and has named your organization in their estate is one of mixed emotions. Sadness at the loss, gratitude at the act of generosity, and sometimes, excitement at discovering a new gift you did not know of. After you hang up the phone, what comes next? Kinna Clark will draw on her legal experience and work within the University of North Carolina System to help attendees develop the tools and put the processes in place to handle the conversations with families, executors, and institutions with the sensitivity and professionalism required at that moment. She will walk us through what information you need to ensure you have, where to get said information and who you may need to partner with to bring an efficient and respectful closure to your organization’s role in the estate administration process.

The Confident Gift Planner: Solving Donor Problems with Life Income Gifts
When you work at a small or solo shop, sometimes gifts of life income can be “too complicated” for your organization to handle. Even long-term gift planning professionals may not have much experience with them. As a new professional or in the early stages of your career, your exposure to life income gifts could be minimal to nonexistent. You may know about life-income gifts, but like anything, if you have never closed one, you may not know how they actually work. Ngan Raskin and Jessie Pridie will lead a discussion to help make you more comfortable using life income gifts in your everyday fundraising. Best of all, you will walk away with resources and sample language to help build and keep the confidence to speak knowledgeably with donors about this particular set of tools.

What’s Holding You Back? Navigating Roadblocks, Creating a Plan to Get Unstuck and Move Ahead
We often enter into gift planning because an organization is looking for an individual to help start or revitalize a struggling or nonexistent gift planning program. But how do you jump-start a stalled program when you may be new to the profession? At the start of this session with Sally Cross, you will identify the barriers that have stalled your program. After the presentation, you should feel confident about creating a customized plan with actionable steps and resources to channel your inspiration to get your program up and running again.

Save your spot for CGP Conference and register today. 

Meet Matthew Treadwell: 
Matthew Treadwell is a Gift Planning Attorney at the Indiana University Foundation, Chair of the CGP Emerging Professionals Committee and Chair Elect for the CGP Conference Committee. Prior to joining IU Foundation, Matthew was the Planned Giving Officer for the National FFA Foundation. As the Planned Giving Officer for National FFA, Matthew was tasked with restarting a planned giving program that had been dormant. He revitalized the planned giving legacy group, the Forever Blue Circle, implemented a new event during the National FFA Convention for planned giving donors and prospects, and oversaw a transition in marketing vendors. Along with the planned giving responsibilities, Matthew managed the Foundation’s endowment process and donors. Matthew acted as the liaison between the National FFA and each individual State FFA Foundation/Association to organize and coordinate fundraising goals and methods.

Before entering the nonprofit world, Matthew was a Deputy Attorney General in the Office of the Indiana Attorney General. He began his time in the Office working directly for then-Chief Deputy Gary Secrest. Matthew then made the transition to the Transportation Practice Group’s Litigation team handling eminent domain cases.

Matthew graduated from Indiana University with a major in Global Inequality through the Individualized Major Program. His senior thesis focused on Land Rights in Cambodia and the issues villagers and farmers have with proving ownership in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia.