Sage Nonprofit Solutions Marketing Executive Heather Burton Co-Presenting Education Session on Donor Loyalty at 2009 AHP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference

Richmond , VA - Jun 01, 2009 - Sage North America announced today that Heather Burton, senior product marketing manager for its Nonprofit Solutions business, is co-presenting an education session, titled “The Art of Donor Loyalty,” at this week’s 2009 Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. Burton will present the session along with Heather Wilson, MSW, CFRE, director of major gifts and planned giving for Lancaster, Penn.-based Lancaster General Health Foundation (LGHF), which acts as the centralized collection point for all contributions and funding requests for the Lancaster General Health regional healthcare system and its affiliates

During their session, Burton and Wilson will show AHP conference attendees how they can keep their new donors from becoming one-hit wonders, and their repeat donors from fading to black. Session attendees will take away best practices and sure-fire tips for transforming current donors into loyal fans.

Burton has been involved in the nonprofit sector for more than a decade. Prior to joining Sage Software in 2005, she worked in several development roles, including as a development manager for a 40-year old social service agency and as a loan executive for United Way. She also led volunteer fundraising teams for a hospice, and sat on corporate giving and workplace campaign committees.

Burton regularly contributes articles on fundraising topics to such nonprofit magazines as Advancing Philanthropy, FundRaising Success, Religious Product News, The NonProfit Times, and The Promise. She is a member of AHP, as well as the greater Austin Chapter of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals), and is currently president-elect for the board of BookSpring in Austin, Texas.

Wilson, MSW, CFRE has worked in the education and social services arena for 20 years. For the last 10 years, she has organized and implemented successful development programs for the entire Lancaster General Health System, including the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic, Women & Babies Hospital, Visiting Nurse Association, the Lancaster General College, and the Lancaster General Hospital. In addition to leading the major and planned gifts efforts, Wilson oversees all grant-writing for the health enterprise. Prior to joining Lancaster General, she served as social service director for The Salvation Army in Lancaster, Penn., coordinating all social service programs, including school age care, HIV/AIDS, housing for individuals with addictions, and emergency community services.

Wilson is a member of AFP, AHP, and the National Planned Giving Council (NPGC). As a volunteer, she serves as vice-chair of the Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment, and is an advisory group member for the Millersville University Nonprofit Resource Network and Aaron’s Acres. Wilson is a graduate of Temple University, with a master’s degree in Social Work and a bachelor’s degree in Elementary/Early Childhood Education.

The AHP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference enables health care philanthropy professionals to hear from innovators in current and emerging best practices, plus connect with others in positions similar to theirs to exchange experiences and explore ways to tackle common challenges. This year’s conference, being held through June 2 at the Omni Richmond Hotel in Richmond, Va., will provide attendees with the opportunity to learn new and better ways of leading and managing their development office to meet mission-critical needs.

For more than 30 years, Sage North America has been helping nonprofit organizations further their missions and better serve constituents through the use of technology. Thousands of nonprofits manage their operations – from fund accounting, fundraising, and donor management, to payment processing, human resources, health care, and payroll – using easy-to-use, scalable, and customizable software and services from Sage North America, including ACT! by Sage, Millennium, Peachtree by Sage, Sage Fundraising 50, Sage MIP Fund Accounting, and Sage Timberline Office.

For more information about the 2009 AHP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, please visit http://www.ahp.org/regions/mid-atlantic/conference/index.php. For details about the D.C. Fundraising Summit, visit http://www.cfnps.org/dc2009.aspx. For more information about Sage North America’s Nonprofit Solutions, please visit http://www.sagenonprofit.com or call 800–647–3863.