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VOL. 126 | NO. 142 | Friday, July 22, 2011
FUNdraising Good Times
Pearl and Mel Shaw
For Nonprofits: The Place to Be
Mel and Pearl Shaw
In this column we seek to share information, ideas and suggestions that can help nonprofit organizations and institutions. But we are not alone in our goal of helping to strengthen this important part of our community and our economy. There are many such individuals, organizations and institutions. One of these is the Association of Fundraising Professionals Memphis Chapter – AFP as it’s called.
Thursday, Aug. 4, is the annual AFP conference, and you are invited. The topic is Surfing the Next Wave of Philanthropy. This is the place to be for learning and networking. The people involved with AFP are friendly, outgoing, and everyone volunteers their time. To demonstrate support and help cover costs, First Tennessee Foundation is the presenting sponsor of the conference. If you ever wanted more information about the topics covered in this column, this conference is for you.
If you are a board member who is surprised to learn you are expected to fundraise, there’s a workshop for you! There will be a whole session on board members and fundraising. If you are responsible for helping to grow your board, Susan Tomlinson Schmidt, the executive director of the Institute for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Excellence at the University of Memphis, will provide guidance on how to select and engage new board members. There’s another session solely focused on avoiding “no” and getting to “yes” when asking people to give. There’s a session on branding led by the experts from ALSAC/St. Jude, who will talk about their process for brand enhancement.
Relationships and communication are at the center of the nonprofit sector and at the heart of fundraising. You can learn more about communicating with people of all ages from keynote speaker Alice L. Ferris, the founding partner of GoalBusters LLC. She will talk about what motivates people to give and become involved at different times in their lives, and how to most effectively engage people who are not yet involved in giving to your organization. Sue Matthews, the director of planned giving at Le Bonheur, will share information on trends and creative approaches to planned giving. The conference will close with a session on effective collaboration. Many are familiar with the word, but what exactly does this look like?
We hope you these words will encourage you to attend. With a small investment of your time and money you can learn a lot that will help the important work of nonprofits in our community.
The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn University of Memphis, 3700 Central Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4. Students are encouraged to attend and there is a discounted rate! Continuing education credit is available for fundraisers working on their CFRE credential. For more information call Alisa Smallwood at 483-4323 or visit www.afpmemphis.org.
Mel and Pearl Shaw are the owners of Saad & Shaw. They help nonprofit organizations and institutions rethink revenue sources. They are the authors of “How to Solicit a Gift: Turning Prospects into Donors.” Visit them at www.saadandshaw.com or call 522-8727.