Before the pandemic, the fundraising staff at The Seattle Public Library Foundation and King County Library System Foundation collaborated to host in-person estate planning seminars twice a year with good results. Making the switch to quarterly webinars took engagement to new heights! Join us to learn how we reached thousands of legacy prospects, deepened donor engagement, and the lessons we learned in the process

Pricing: WPGC Members - $15 | Non-Members - $30

CFRE credits have been applied for.

About the Speakers:

Cindy Sharek 

Director of Gift Planning, Seattle Foundation

Cindy Sharek is the Director of Gift Planning at Seattle Foundation where she works with philanthropists and their advisors to provide impactful philanthropic strategies. Prior to Seattle Foundation she worked at the King County Library System Foundation where she was an advocate for literacy and learning programs for 12 years. Her background includes development positions in major and planned gifts, special events, grant writing, and corporate relations. Cindy grew up in Oregon and attended Oregon State University. She serves on the board of A Child’s Notebook, an international nonprofit whose mission is to build schools in rural parts of SE Asia. Cindy is a member of three books clubs, and when she isn’t working or hanging out with her husband and two kids, you will most likely find her with her nose in a book (currently reading “The Island of Missing Trees” by Elif Shafar).

Kara McDonald

Senior Director of Philanthropy and Planned Giving, The Seattle Public Library Foundation

Kara McDonald is the Senior Director of Philanthropy and Planned Giving at The Seattle Public Library Foundation, working with leadership and legacy donors to create sustainable funding for the library. With more than 15 years of fundraising and nonprofit communications experience, Kara has also served as Associate Director for Advancement at the University of Washington Libraries and on the Annual Giving team at Swarthmore College, doing everything from managing reunion giving to running the Phonathon program – even donning the Phineas the Phoenix mascot costume on new student move-in days. When she’s not reading the library’s latest Peak Pick (currently reading: “Bear” by Julia Phillips), Kara can be found running and eating her way through the Pacific Northwest with her partner and two rescue pitties, Joan and Jett.