Working With Your Teams On Gift Annuities

The busiest charitable gift annuity season is upon us! It is the ideal time to review what you need to know about charitable gift annuities, the most popular type of life income gift. This webinar will cover proposal elements, review required disclosures, identify typical CGA donors, explain the cycle of a CGA, present difficult donor situations that must be carefully navigated, and suggest how best to train others on charitable gift annuities. This course will give you the tools to create your own training for your fundraising team.

Co-presenters Cathy R. Sheffield, Chief Advancement Officer at Lena Pope, and Renee Kurdzos, Executive Director of Planned Giving at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, will share their experience soliciting gift annuities and training others. Whether your program has been active or dormant recently, this webinar will be ideal for managers who are responsible for training gift officers, new planned giving officers, major gift officers who need to understand CGA basics, and anyone who would like a refresher before end-of-year.

ACGA Members: $50 / ACGA Non-members: $75

Register Now 

About the Speakers

Renee Kurdzos
Executive Director, Planned Giving
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Renee Kurdzos is the Executive Director, Planned Giving at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Prior to working at Fred Hutch, Renee served as the Gift Planning Officer for Washington and Hawaii at American Red Cross, Development & Planned Giving Officer at University of Puget Sound and as the Director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.  Renee is a Board Member of the American Council on Gift Annuities. She is the past Co-Chair of the Planned Giving Affiliation Group for the National Association of Cancer Center Development Officers. She is also a Past President of the Washington Planned Giving Council and past Board Member of Leave 10. She has a Masters of Science in Taxation and a Certificate in Estate Planning from Golden Gate University, and has achieved the designation of Certified Gift Planning Specialist through the Institute for Philanthropic Studies at California State University Long Beach. Renee has worked in development for over 20 years and in planned giving for 16. She lives in West Seattle with her husband Kevan, daughters Zoe and Margaret, and dogs Abbey and Jack.

Cathy R. Sheffield, CAP^®, CFRE, CSPG, FCEP
Chief Advancement Officer
Lena Pope

Cathy’s passion is helping nonprofits raise more mission-critical dollars. Cathy is a nationally recognized charitable giving thought leader with over 25-years experience, primarily in healthcare and higher education. From the moment you meet Cathy, you will recognize her enthusiasm for her work, appreciate her collaborative method for achieving results for both donors and nonprofit organizations alike, and welcome her sense of humor. 

Cathy serves as the Chief Advancement Officer of Lena Pope in Fort Worth, Texas. Cathy is also the founder and CEO of ThinkGiving, a boutique philanthropic advising group working with individuals and nonprofits to maximize charitable gifts.

Cathy serves on the American Council on Gift Annuities Board of Directors, is the current President of the Fort Worth Metro Chapter of AFP and was the 2017 Board Chair of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners. Cathy is a faculty member of the American Institute for Philanthropic Studies which administers the Certified Specialist in Planned Giving designation program. Cathy is the co-host of Charitable Chit Chat with Cathy & Claire, a podcast for philanthropy professionals. In 2015, Cathy was honored by the Fort Worth Metro Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals with the Benjamin Franklin Award for Outstanding Professional Fundraising Executive. Cathy serves on the boards of Jerusalem Institute for Justice, NewDay Services for Children and Families, Camp John Marc, and Cook Children’s Camp Sanguinity. Cathy is also a member of the Rotary Club of Fort Worth.

Cathy received her MBA from Texas Christian University (Go Frogs!) and her undergraduate degree from North Dakota State University (Go Bison!).