Blogging From the AFP Bridge Conference

July 10, 2007 | Philanthropy, Professional Development

“We need to make our donors feel good all over again about giving to our organizations.”

- comment made today by a Bridge Conference attendee

Today and tomorrow I am at the Bridge Conference here in DC. If you’re like me, the Bridge Conference description gets you all hot under the collar: the conference features over 75 cutting-edge sessions on direct marketing and fundraising strategies featuring the best in the business.

Also a big thank you goes out to the wonderful folks at AFP/DC who allowed me to attend this conference on a full scholarship for both days! My AFP chapter is really walking the talk of developing younger fundraisers for the sector through offering scholarships for this amazing event. If I’m not mistaken, all the scholarship recipients were in the 40 and under age range.

Today I attended sessions facilitated by Mal Warwick (Copy Clinic), Martha Schumacher (Major Gifts), and Barbara Schroeder from Children’s Hospital Foundation (Corporate Partnerships). I’m bummed I missed Tony Elischer’s opening plenary this morning, which everyone said was pretty inspiring. I knew most of the sessions would be totally foreign to me since I have next to zip direct marketing experience but the presenters were pretty on-target with content that I could understand and take back to my nonprofit to implement. Some highlights:

Mal Warwick’s Copy Clinic gave a fabulous overview of direct mail that was just right for me as a beginner in writing direct mail fundraising letters. I knew he was the guru of direct mail and now I know why. I also had a chance to chat with him at lunch where he gave me some specific advice to use at my organization. Thanks, Mal!

I had met Martha Schumacher before so I knew I had to get a seat in her major gifts session. She really talked to us about the importance of “managing up” for our CEOs and board members to reach our major gifts goals. Martha said that managing our CEO’s time to prioritize fundraising is key and to be best friends with the person who manages the CEO’s calendar!

By far, Barbara Schroeder’s session on corporate partnerships was the best of all that I learned today, especially since my nonprofit seeks to increase our corporate fundraising goals. I took 6 pages of notes during her session! Barbara talked about how the fundraising shop at Children’s Hospital came up (step-by-step!) with their fantastic corporate fundraising strategy, which includes special events, cause-related marketing, sponsorships, and various levels of cash grants. She told us that nonprofits can be strategic partners with corporations who want employee involvement & retention, public recognition for corporate citizenship, and charitable alignment with their business interests. The group also had a lively discussion about where to draw the line with accepting corporate gifts: Should nonprofits serving children accept gifts from tobacco companies? What about from companies that try to use nonprofits to clean up their bad images? I love it when presenters give you practical, tested advice you can use!

Overall the conference is well put together, with hospitality a top priority. My only complaint is that the Hilton Washington, where the conference is being held, is not very wireless internet or cell phone-friendly for us folks that still need to get work done even while we get our professional development on. Bummer.

But there was a lot of great networking today, where I reconnected with people I’d met at other AFP events, who then introduced me to other folks I should know. I feel I should give full disclosure here and say I just started getting involved with AFP a few months ago, while I have been a member since October 2006. I guess I didn’t really see myself fitting into the organization at first since I am way younger than most AFP members and I wasn’t sure how racially diverse its membership was. However, I have attended 5 events now that AFP has been involved in and I continue to be amazed that there are actually young fundraisers as well as people of color embraced and involved in the activities. Of course I would love to see more of this, but I do think if AFP keeps up their outreach, they will increase membership for people of color and of different age ranges.

So far, the Bridge Conference is all I hoped it would be. More tomorrow…

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Tags: Blogging, Fundraising, Philanthropy, Professional Development

Rosetta Thurman

Actually the comments and concerns from people were not about the image to other donors, but in terms of the integrity of their mission. We were sorta evenly divided...some people said just show me the money while others were struggling with their boards on whether the company was totally contrary to their mission, i.e. a tobacco company partnering with a hospital. No easy answer...
Jamon

When you summarized Barbara Schroeder's presentation, you discussed nonprofits being more selective with corporate partnerships.

Relative to companies using nonprofits to clean up their bad image, my initial response to that is a partnership of this manner can be seen as a win-win for both parties. A partnership must have clearly defined benefits, so this appears to be acceptable.

On the other hand, I can see how association with a poorly perceived company can hinder the fundraising process, making the nonprofit less attractive to other potential donors, appearing to be "money-hungry" and not mission-driven, etc.

What were some of the comments presented at the conference around this topic?