NonProfit NewsPod: Philanthropy Summit 2026 - Connect, Communicate and Celebrate With Peers.

Jeff Holden: [00:00:00] Welcome to this Nonprofit Podcast NewsPod, where we amplify the voices of nonprofit leaders making a difference in their communities. I'm joined by Kelly Siefkin, chief philanthropy officer at the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, and she's gonna give us an update on this year's Philanthropy Summit.

Kelly, welcome. 

Kelly Siefkin: Thank you so much for having me, Jeff. 

Jeff Holden: So just as a refresher for those who haven't heard the details, would you go through and let us know what it is that's taking place very, very soon? 

Kelly Siefkin: Absolutely. The third annual Philanthropy Summit is coming our way. Sacramento Region Community Foundation is proud to host this incredible event.

On September 15th, we hope you will join us from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for an incredible conference. We're planning incredible networking sessions, educational breakout rooms. We have an amazing keynote speaker, [00:01:00] opportunity to celebrate. So if you're available on September 15th, we'd love to host you at Cal Expo.

Jeff Holden: And we'll get into just a little bit more about that incredible speaker and some of the sessions in just a second. But the nature of sellout for this event has been the first year, sold out, waiting list. Second year, sold out, waiting list. Third year, bigger venue, it will sell out if, as this releases, it isn't already sold out, to the point where you will be looking to see if there's an opportunity to add.

So if you're hearing this, you have not registered yet, be sure to go to the website to find out what the status is, because we know just from the demand already that it will sell out for the originally intended number of people, which was 500. 

Kelly Siefkin: I can't get over that. It's amazing to me that the community is clamoring to do this.

We were hoping for 150 people the first year. We got a little over 300, and I thought, we thought last year, "Well, maybe we'll do 400, and we'll see," [00:02:00] and it surpassed that number again. So we're trying to find the biggest space that can accommodate the most people, and we would love to accommodate everyone.

So check us out. Come to sacregcf.org for information on how to buy a ticket. 

Jeff Holden: Excellent. So that's, that's the update. Tell us a little bit about the lineup this year. What's it look like? 

Kelly Siefkin: It's great. We have a great lineup. First big draw would be our keynote speaker. Cherian Koshy is coming to really share some incredible information drawn from a book that he has written on Neurogiving.

So what we're doing is making sure that both donors in the audience as well as nonprofit professionals really can understand that psychological science between what motivates people to give. I think it's very, very helpful to understand not only yourself and your giving behaviors, but others around you.

So I think this is really gonna be an exciting, exciting topic. It's something we have never offered before at the summit, so that's really great. And then on the session side, we have nine really diverse topics, which is wonderful. [00:03:00] The one that I wanted to mention was really strengthening your board. I think a lot of times people volunteer to be on a board, they love the mission, but maybe aren't as familiar what those, those expectations are.

So how can the nonprofit better prepare for those individuals coming to serve, and how can the volunteer get the most out of it? Another one I thought is called Buried Treasure, and this is really on more complex gifts. I think a lot of donors are familiar maybe with setting a donor-advised funds through the foundation, or potentially they gave to their favorite nonprofit on Big Day of Giving, and those are wonderful.

So there's an entire world of giving vehicles that exist we want more people to know about. There's a really kind of interesting statistic. When you go and meet with your estate planning attorney to draw up your will or trust or estate plan, often they'll ask you any questions about any gifts you'd like to leave after your lifetime.

And it's really interesting 'cause people really don't [00:04:00] think of bringing that up on their own. But if the person leading the session says something like, "Do you give during your lifetime?" They all say yes, but don't realize they could give later. So there's all kinds of vehicles that we'd love people to learn about.

Jeff Holden: And if I'm not mistaken, there is a celebration at the end of the day as well. 

Kelly Siefkin: Absolutely, and there's definitely a lot to be celebrating this year. The Celebration of Generosity helps cap the end of the day. We'd love to have you join us for appetizers and some beverages, an opportunity to meet Cherian, which is great.

But the reason that we have a celebration is because this community is so generous. This community gives so much on the Big Day of Giving to their favorite organizations through volunteer service. They deserve to be celebrated as well. So we hope that you come and enjoy the music and the fun. We have a lot of activities, an incredibly engaging photo booth experience, and other secrets that we would love, love for you to be part of.

So Celebration of Generosity is open to [00:05:00] anyone who comes. One ticket price this year, join us for any part of the day. 

Jeff Holden: Outstanding. And for those of you who, who think maybe this, this Cherian Koshy or NeuroGiving sounds familiar, it, it should be. We did an episode with Cherian on his book release last year, and the book, again, NeuroGiving.

It is an amazing, amazing conversation, and you'll learn a lot from it. It'd be a good precursor to the event to learn a little bit more about what he's got, and I'm sure he'll be signing books once he's there as well. Excellent. Well, Kelly, any other facts that we should take into event, into account for the, the event that day?

Anything that needs to be addressed, because we're getting pretty close. 

Kelly Siefkin: We are getting very close. For those who have not been to Cal Expo, maybe outside of the state fair, we are gonna be in a bunch of buildings. We're not in a barn. We are, uh, not out in an arena. We - there are a beautiful clusters of air-conditioned buildings, and following the conference model, you go from one plenary session to [00:06:00] multiple breakouts, et cetera.

Parking is included at Cal Expo. You don't have to pay an extra charge, which is wonderful. And anybody with mobility issues, please know we have golf carts at the ready to help get you to the expo center. It's gonna be a great day. I recommend if you are needing to refresh your business card, do that now.

You'll meet a lot of great people. We, we hear every single year that the connections are one of the most valuable things. That's what we're really proud to offer. So bring your best smile, bring an openness to learning, and join us at the Philanthropy Summit. 

Jeff Holden: And you know, Kelly, you just said something too.

It's about the connections, and I think that's what we're seeing. I think we're seeing a community that is starved for that connectivity and the opportunity to collaborate because they realize things have changed. The necessity is there, and if you don't have the communication to the right people, you can't do it.

Kelly Siefkin: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And this is just an outstanding way to meet people, and you'll see them in the same sessions that you're interested in, meaning you have like interests. 

Kelly Siefkin: Come to the [00:07:00] session on building collective action. We actually have a topic on that. So people who want to make change and know they can't do it by themselves, let's take some tips and really put those to work.

Jeff Holden: Well, what a, what a compliment to the Community Foundation and to everybody with the original idea of the Philanthropy Summit because it certainly is something of interest, of need, and, and now of attendance as we see. And we're certainly gonna be doing our best to make sure everyone knows about it.

Thank you. So no FOMO this year, folks. Kelly, thank you for the information. I'm looking forward to September 15th. This is going to be an outstanding convening of all the right people in so many ways. I look forward to 

Kelly Siefkin: seeing you there. See you, Ben. 

Jeff Holden: Thanks for listening. If you like our program, please subscribe, give us a positive review, and share with someone you know.

This Nonprofit Podcast News Pod is a production of Hear Me Now [00:08:00] Studio.