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• Research as Organizational Intelligence: Utilizing A Research background to drive Organizational Growth

  • When
    19 Sep 2025
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Virtual

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  Research as Organizational Intelligence: Utilizing A Research background to drive Organizational Growth
  

  presented by 

  
  

  Matthew Pham, MPA, CFRE

  Session Description:

  In the world of nonprofit fundraising, research is more than just data collection—it is organizational intelligence that shapes strategy, sharpens focus, and fuels growth. Research professionals play a critical role in aligning resources with opportunities, ensuring that development efforts are both strategic and scalable.

  In this session, we will explore how a research mindset can help drive disciplined prospect and moves management strategies, enhance team focus, and set achievable fundraising goals. I will share insights from my own transition from research to frontline fundraising and, ultimately, consulting—highlighting how research empowered me to grow new gift commitments at the organizations I have served by up to 400%.

  Attendees will learn practical ways to elevate research from a support function to a strategic driver of organizational success, including:

  • Implementing data-driven prospecting to focus efforts on the most viable opportunities.
  • Using research to guide moves management and deepen donor engagement.
  • Leveraging organizational intelligence to set realistic, scalable fundraising targets.
  • Communicating research insights to leadership and development teams effectively.

  Whether you are a prospect researcher, frontline fundraiser, or executive leader, this session will provide actionable strategies to transform research into a catalyst for growth.

   Meet Our Speaker:

  Matthew is a dynamic nonprofit consultant whose career exemplifies innovation, collaboration and impact. With a passion for advancing mission-driven organizations, Matthew has consistently elevated fundraising outcomes, strengthened teams and inspired community engagement. He has worked across diverse roles, combining strategic vision with hands-on expertise to build sustainable growth and lasting partnerships.

  Throughout his career, Matthew has driven transformational change. At the Battleship Texas Foundation, he played a pivotal role in preserving a national treasure by cultivating a thriving capital campaign and expanding the development team. His leadership at the Christian Outreach Center of Baton Rouge saw the organization’s fundraising efforts soar, while his tenure at the LSU Foundation positioned him as a trusted advisor and key contributor to the university’s advancement initiatives. Whether creating innovative giving societies, leading high-performing teams or representing organizations in the public eye, Matthew has a proven ability to align resources and communities with mission-driven goals.

  Matthew’s approach is grounded in both experience and education, holding a Master of Public Administration from Louisiana State University and the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential. His early background in prospect research sharpened his analytical skills and strategic mindset, which continue to inform his work today. Known for his thoughtful leadership and results-oriented approach, Matthew is committed to empowering organizations to create meaningful, lasting impact.

  When not at his desk, he enjoys watching the Houston Astros and LSU Tigers with his wife and kids and cooking new recipes for his family.

  
  

  We encourage you to bring your questions and your lunch to the session!

  For more information and/or questions please contact aprahouston@gmail.com.

  We encourage you to JOIN or RENEW your membership today to attend future lunch and learns without charge.

  
  

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• Houston Civic Center Walking Tour with Preservation Houston

  • When
    24 Oct 2025
  •  
    3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
  • Location
    Downtown Houston
  • Spaces left
    21

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  Join Apra Greater Houston for a

  Houston Civic Center and Theater District 

  Walking Tour with Preservation Houston

  
  

  Join us for a 90-minute walking tour of of the Houston Civic Center and Theater District. In the late 1920s, landscape architects Hare & Hare imagined a Spanish-inspired civic complex for Houston. The Depression derailed those plans, and over the next five decades the city’s civic and cultural core was built up in an eclectic showcase of styles. This 90-minute, docent-led tour traces that evolution through landmarks such as Ralph Adams Cram’s Julia Ideson Library, Joseph Finger’s Art Deco City Hall, Tranquility Park commemorating the 1969 moon landing, and Ulrich Franzen’s boldly modern Alley Theatre. Along the way, we’ll explore how shifting tastes, ambitions and priorities shaped the Civic Center and Theater District into the layered architectural landscape we see today. 

  Please register so that we can plan accordingly!

  
  

  Date: Friday, October 24, 2025

  Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

  Price: $15 for both members and nonmembers

  Meet at: Barbara Bush Literacy Plaza (between the HPL Central Library and the Julia Ideson Library buildings at 500 McKinney)  

  Questions?: aprahouston@gmail.com

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