Fundraising should never feel transactional. Building sincere relationships and focusing on relationship-driven fundraising strategies are key to sustaining long-term donors and attracting potential donors. Explore the relationship between mission-driven connections and strategic data utilization, and how to leverage both to deepen your connections with your donors. In this session, Alejandra Sotelo-Solis will discuss how to begin building strong, sincere, and long-term giving relationships with prospective donors, not organizational transactional efforts, from a community of color perspective.
Key Takeaways:
- Learn strategies for initiating enduring relationships with prospective donors, emphasizing authenticity over transactional approaches.
- Gain insights into leveraging community-specific perspectives, particularly from communities of color, to foster meaningful donor connections.
- Develop skills to qualify potential donors and deepen existing relationships through stewardship.
Presenter:
Alejandra Sotelo-Solis
President & CEO, La Pluma Strategies
Professionally, Alejandra Sotelo-Solis is the CEO of her consulting company La Pluma Strategies. She has a strong background in public service, having served ten years as a council member and four years as Mayor of National City. As Mayor, she focused on improving the quality of life in the city, supporting small businesses, and securing critical pandemic relief for the community. Alejandra also made significant progress in housing and initiated project labor agreement processes.
Before starting La Pluma, Alejandra was the Age Friendly Communities Manager at The San Diego Foundation where she was responsible for the development and execution of efforts to promote livable communities for all ages and managed convenings, service organization relationships, and programming related to the San Diego region’s older adult population. Alejandra’s work portfolio includes MANA de San Diego as the organization’s inaugural Development Director, UC San Diego Student Affairs, and the Chancellor’s office as well as working with two CA State Assembly Members as a field representative and District Director, respectively.
A third-generation National City resident and graduate of Sweetwater High School and UC San Diego, she is a board member of the SUHi Foundation which provides college scholarships to graduates of her alma mater, and currently serves as the Chair of the NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected Officials) Educational Fund. She is also a past Board Member of Run Women Run.
Alejandra is married to her college sweetheart, Arturo Solis who serves as a Trustee of the Sweetwater Union High School District. They bought their first home in National City, where they live, and are raising their daughters.