Fundraising 2.0: Diving Deeper into Major Gifts & Planned Giving

As Co-Founder and Partner at Due East Partners, Lauren Maddox is a seasoned strategist, facilitator, and fundraiser with over 30 years of experience guiding 100+ strategic growth processes for public, private, and nonprofit organizations—many of them focused on education, community development, and public service. Lauren led Investor Relations as a senior consultant and member of the leadership team for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, working with Annie E. Casey Foundation and 14 other national funders, 250+ state and local funders, and 300+ communities in 42 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to raise nearly $100 million. Lauren also led multiple successful $5 million-$10 million fundraising campaigns for homeless and domestic violence shelters, Boys & Girl Clubs, conservation groups and community foundations. Before launching her consulting practice, Lauren was the Vice President of Development for Community Foundation Sonoma County. There, Lauren transformed the Community Foundation’s development strategy and function—raising nearly $40 million in three years and enhancing the foundation’s visibility among donors, nonprofit partners, and changemakers. 

Bess Langbein has over 20 years of experience helping mission-driven organizations—including nonprofits, public agencies, coalitions and community collaboratives—achieve lasting and inclusive change. As Co-Founder and Partner at Due East Partners, Bess leads strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and collective impact initiatives across sectors. She specializes in business and strategic planning, constituent engagement, capacity building, organizational development, and fundraising. Bess has led multimillion-dollar fundraising campaigns for clients such as a library foundation, Boys & Girls Club, and a new center for active-duty service members and their families. Previously, she served as Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC), transforming the organization from a fledgling nonprofit to an established and recognized community leader. She led the effort to design and build organizational capacity and raised more than $17 million in new assets, unrestricted and legacy funds, as well as grantmaking, capacity building, and program dollars for the foundation.

Adrianna Weissburg is a seasoned strategic facilitator and planner with over a decade of experience in strategic and community planning, grant program design, and philanthropic advising. As a Senior Advisor at Due East Partners, she leads data-driven planning, stakeholder engagement, and meeting design for nonprofit, public agency, and corporate clients which leads to stronger partnerships, authentic community relationships, capacity-building and tangible action. In addition to being an experienced meeting facilitator, Adrianna’s “secret sauce” is constantly innovating Due East’s processes, tools, and approaches to meet the evolving needs of organizational leaders and teams to be more effective and efficient. Before joining Due East Partners, Adrianna served as the Philanthropic Services Coordinator at the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC) where she worked with CFAAC stakeholders to maximize and meet their philanthropic goals.