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Tag Archives: conference
April 6, 2012, 2:01 pm
The Chronicle’s Reports From Fundraising Meeting
See all the the articles Chronicle reporters wrote while they covered the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, held in Vancouver.
April 4, 2012, 1:53 pm
A Simple Question to Prevent Employee Theft
Each year, billions of dollars are stolen from charities by people working for them. One simple way to keep that from happening, a former state regulator told attendees of the Association of Fundraising Professionals meeting in Vancouver, is for chief executives of nonprofits to sit down with staff members and ask bluntly: How would you steal from me?
Michael DeLucia, former director of charitable trusts in the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office, said that direct approach was not his idea, but he learned it from an ex-FBI agent.
The first time chief executives pose the question, no one may speak up, he said, but the second time, workers will be talking about the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the charity’s systems and suggesting improvements.
“Leaders need to send a clear message from the top,” Mr. DeLucia said.
Send an e-mail to Raymund Flandez.
April 3, 2012, 9:32 am
Attendance at Fundraising Conference Drops by More Than 20%
Officials of the Association of Fundraising Professionals are hoping a few dozen more people will sign up to get into the last day of the conference in Vancouver to listen to today’s keynote speaker: Wayne Gretzky, the ice-hockey legend.
Lack of star power, an international location, and events that coincided with many school vacations are among the reasons that this year’s meeting attracted 3,200 people, down from the more than 4,000 fundraisers who went to the conference in Chicago last year.
“Geography is an issue,” says Michael Nilsen, a spokesman for the association. It’s the first time since 2003 in Toronto that the conference has been held outside the United States, he says.
Still, the attendance figure is in line with the organization’s goal this year, Mr. Nilsen says. “Frankly, they’re pretty good numbers. … We’re in the ballpark.”
In Chicago last year, the…
April 1, 2012, 9:29 pm
Stuff (Major-Gift) Fundraisers (Shouldn’t) Say
“Hit up.” “Loaded.” “Milk.” “Should give.” “Ought to give.” “Owes us.” “Get into his or her pockets.” “Pick the low hanging fruit.”
Those are the kinds of expressions fundraisers should never say, Marcy Heim, a fundraising trainer in Madison, Wis., told people gathered in Vancouver for the first day of the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Such talk is toxic, she says, and will destroy a charity’s image and create a schism between the professional staff and board members and big donors.
“A donor can smell a fake a mile away, just as you can,” Ms. Heim said.
Fundraisers shouldn’t ever suggest to donors that they can get extra recognition by making a big gift, or reduce or avoid taxes through a charitable donation. However, so many fundraisers have said such things that a lot of donors are now turned off.
While many donors have said they stopped…
March 21, 2011, 2:47 pm
How to Train Volunteers to Raise Money
Chicago
Fund-raising jargon can hurt a charity’s efforts to get their board members and volunteers involved, the fund raising consultant Laura Fredricks said today during her session at the AFP International Conference on Fund Raising.
“It’s about putting tools and language in front of them that they know and that they’re comfortable with,” said Ms. Fredricks.
Nonprofit board members know the language of business, so borrow phrases from for-profit operations to speak to them. Ask them how they would sell to a prospective customer, then have them apply those same ideas to a potential donor, she said.
Volunteers often hesitate to ask for money because they are not clear about what they should say when they are asking, she noted. She suggested creating a simple card with the organization’s priorities that volunteer fund raisers can carry to meetings or use on calls.
To…
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