The Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship presents
FUNDRAISING BOOTCAMP: GRANTWRITING 101
A dinner, talk, and workshop with Sonya Behnke ’03,
Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Mass General Hospital,
(previously Manager of Institutional Giving for the Greater Boston Food Bank)
Tuesday, February 17
6-7:30 p.m.
Allbritton 311
Dinner will be provided for those who register by February 13.
Registration is now closed. If you wish to attend and have not yet signed up, please email mjkingsley@wesleyan.edu
Have you ever been part of an organization that needs funding? Do you think you’ll work for a non-profit or NGO at some point in your career? Identifying donors and foundations, building relationships with prospects, writing compelling grant applications, and demonstrating program outcomes are key skills for anyone working to have social impact. During this 2-hour bootcamp, participants will hear about careers in fundraising, learn some concrete tools for raising money, and get hands-on grantwriting practice.
Sonya Behnke ’03, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Mass General Hospital
Sonya Behnke has nearly a decade of experience fundraising for diverse nonprofits. Through full-time positions and as a volunteer and consultant, Sonya has effectively built relationships with foundations and corporate partners of all sizes and scope, closing gifts ranging from small seed funding grants for nonprofit start-ups to transformative, multi-million grants to established institutions.
Sonya was first “hooked” on the power and promise of working in the nonprofit sector while completing her Master of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Selected as the Waldemar A. Nielsen Philanthropy Fellow in her second year of study, Sonya worked as a grantwriting intern for the innovative nonprofit, DC Central Kitchen, and published work in The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Quarterly. Following graduation, Sonya became a grant writer for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, supporting the organization’s diverse social and health services for the immigrant and refugee populations of Washington, DC and surrounding counties. After relocating to Boston, Sonya was hired as the manager of institutional giving at The Greater Boston Food Bank. In just over two years, Sonya increased annual foundation revenue by over 70%, working in close concert with a portfolio of roughly 60 foundation and corporate partners. Today, Sonya serves as director of corporate and foundation relations for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), raising over $8 million annually for the hospital’s Cancer Center as well as the Red Sox Foundation and MGH Home Base Program for veterans and military families.
Sonya graduated from Wesleyan University as an English and American Studies major and was a member of the Women’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse teams.