3 Benefits of Attending Professional Fundraising Events for Nonprofits

I recently attended the Association of Fundraising Professional’s (AFP) Toronto Congress 2011 where I was a representative of Miratel which was both an exhibitor and sponsor of the event. Even though I have previously attended Congress 2010 and other professional fundraising events like Fundraising Day 2011, I was still nervously anticipating the event and wondering if my time could be better spent.  You see, it’s our busy season so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to give Congress the time and attention it deserved or if I’d be sidetracked by the work that awaited me when I got back. Well, those concerns were pretty much put to rest as soon as I arrived.

One step into the hall and I was immediately reminded of the camaraderie and just how inspiring and motivating being in a room full of people who have a shared goal can be. Beyond the plethora of information I picked up at seminars and interacting with other delegates, here are 3 things I came away with that reminded me of the importance of attending:

1. Learning is a journey not a destination. During registration it was very evident that Congress delegates had a choice of many informative workshops, lectures and case studies available and regardless of your experience level, there was something for you.  There were multiple sessions being held simultaneously and all of them were presented by an appropriate professional and healthily attended by both newbies and seasoned professionals alike. The idea of continuous learning and building on your knowledge base is truly inspiring to see and reflects the current climate of professional fundraising. Advancing social and other technologies are impacting the way life is lived and nonprofits have to keep up to remain relevant and events of this nature help that along. These industry events are an excellent opportunity to not only network but also participate in a vast variety of seminars geared towards improving professional fundraising standards and results by fostering continuous learning to stay current.
2. We are Family. Attendees, delegates, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors at industry events are all part of a small community – this is something that I observed since my first Congress and I continue to experience and appreciate. A community that has sincere affinity for one another as we are all peers that are working – either directly or indirectly – for the greater good of many worthy causes.  When I come across other fundraising professionals that I have met or interacted with at past events, I began to truly appreciate this camaraderie and feel more part of this community.  I definitely look forward to continue building on these relationships and if it weren’t for industry events of this nature, I may never have had the opportunity to make their acquaintance.
3. Join the social media revolution or be left behind. A recent study on Nonprofits and Social Media indicated that Facebook was king of all social media and that may be the case but Twitter is definitely nipping at its heels. Twitter’s news flash nature proves an excellent communication tool and it was integrated into the AFP event and regularly used by attendees. From Twitter feeds on the large screens, to comments and insightful tidbits picked up at sessions and the constructive feedback on the event, it was certainly a communication platform many were enjoying and using regularly. Clearly nonprofits HAVE to embrace social media to avoid missing out on the many benefits it provides.  All social media seminars were very popular at the AFP event so it’s great to see many wanting to be more informed and ready to become ‘socially connected’.

I’d like to share something I learned from Leadership Expert and Author, Simon Sinek. At the opening plenary, Sinek talked about how we say we work in nonprofit but our work is for-profit – the profit of creating value – social and otherwise. To advance a cause we are creating non-monetary profit.  He believes we should not start out with a negative connotation in our heads like “nonprofit” but a positive mindset that our work has value and is for profit.  Brilliant.

I learned so much more at the various seminars I attended which I will share in future blog posts but these are the 3 main benefits I observed in attending professional fundraising events that Congress reminded me and made me glad I went.

What motivates or deters you from attending professional fundraising events? What do you see as a key benefit?
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.