Association of Fundraising Professionals Wine Country Chapter's Monthly Luncheon Program

This popular luncheon program speaker takes this speaking opportunity to shed light on the human side of fundraising. Johnson draws from her career in non-profit leadership to claim that fundraising is far more than structure and science. Fundraising is increasingly successful when it also involves all things subjective. Johnson will share her ingredients for good fundraising: intuition, friendship, food, fun, vision, laughter, mistakes, risks, traditions, authenticity, sincerity, competence and off the wall marketing.

Karen Johnson has been involved in the non-profit sector since 1987, when she became the Executive Director of the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. The organization grew from $520,000 to 3.4 million dollars under Johnson’s leadership, and its most visible event, the Human Race, grew from $62,000 to a million-dollar day in 2002. Johnson served as the first non-profit executive on the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce and the Business Education Roundtable. She received her MPA from a joint program of the Harvard Business School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. While living in New York City, she served as the Executive Director of Gilda’s Club of Hackensack, New Jersey. She retuned to Sonoma County in October 2004 to become the Director of the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Karen has taught fundraising, board development and creating corporate partnerships throughout the country.