Association of Fundraising Professionals
WASHINGTON CHAPTER
WASHINGTON STATE MEMBER E-NEWS UPDATE:
Spring 2007 edition
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Table of Contents
- AFP Washington Expands Programming to Meet Geographical Needs
- Book Notes
- Confessions of a First-Time Conference Attendee
- Life Balance: Do What You Love
- New Job Listings on AFP WA Website
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AFP Washington Expands Programming to Meet Geographical Needs
Jill Armitage, Consultant
On April 25th, AFP Washington launched new programming to serve fundraising professionals in Eastside communities (east of Lake Washington). An expressed concern for both relevant and convenient programming for those working and living across the lake from Seattle was brought to the AFP Washington Chapter and given an immediately supportive response.
One of the goals for the AFP Washington Chapter is to more directly meet the needs of fundraising professionals across the state. With such geographic distance and unique philanthropy conditions, AFP Washington has launched a pilot program to serve the specific needs of fundraisers on the Eastside.
The first of these new programs, the Eastside Roundtable, was sold out well before the event date. This overwhelming response clearly shows that the new programming is serving a need. The Eastside Roundtable was created to address common fundraising challenges as well as those specific to Eastside communities, and to provide an opportunity for professionals with ties to the Eastside to establish a supportive network.
A small but growing group of fundraising professionals has launched this inaugural year of programming. In 2007, the Eastside programming is presenting two Eastside Roundtables, two Eastside Breakfast Meetings (June 27th and September 26th) and monthly Audio Conferences beginning in June 2007 following the national schedule.
Each Eastside Roundtable consists of a half hour for registration and introductions followed by a 90-minute moderated discussion. In each 90-minute session, the announced topic will be addressed. The format, however, is designed to be responsive to the concerns of attending professionals and to have the group address other problems or challenges that may be raised by participants. A box lunch is provided.
The Eastside Breakfast Meetings are modeled after the Luncheons held in Seattle, but provide content and panelists specific to Eastside concerns. These meetings also offer convenient venues for those working or living east of Lake Washington. Topics focus on fundraising issues and best practices with an emphasis on the philanthropic environment and culture unique to the Eastside.
Beginning in June 2007, AFP Washington will be offering a new Eastside Audio Conference location at the Overlake Hospital Foundation Conference Room. The Eastside Audio Conference program will include a half hour networking opportunity before each audio conference begins and a half hour post-audio conference discussion to explore the topic presented in the context of Eastside fundraising.
If you are interested in learning more about opportunities to improve Eastside philanthropy by getting involved in the Eastside Programs Committee, please contact Linda Bonomi at lbonomi@pac-eastside.org, Mel Baer at melb@youtheastsideservices.org, or Jeanne Thorsen at jthorsen@kcls.org. If you know a colleague who does not currently receive AFP Washington event notices, but would like to be informed about programming, please have them visit www.afpwashington.org and click on the "sign up for the eNewsletter" button on the home page. If you are interested in starting programming like this in your community, please contact the AFP Washington office at afp@sbims.com.
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Book Notes
Jeanne Thorsen, King County Library System Foundation
It is not enough to have a great idea, you have to be able to turn it into reality and make things happen. In Get Them on Your Side, author Samuel Bacharach focuses on political competence and defines it as the ability to determine who is going to resist your idea, who will be on your side, and how to get people to buy into your plan. This is useful information for on-the-job situations and for introducing ideas in your neighborhood, church, and other organizations.
Riding the Blue Train: A Leadership Plan for Explosive Growth, by Bart Sayle and Surinder Kumar, is an interesting new book. It describes Breakthrough – a plan devised by the authors to help companies achieve greater growth and innovation. It works on the principle that to build a business, you must build the people in that business, and to grow the business, you must grow the people. The outcome is accelerated success. These concepts can be applied to a variety of work and organizational situations.
Know-How: The 8 Skills that Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don't separates the appearance of leadership from the real content of leadership. Author Ram Charan focuses on eight fundamental skills, including positioning, pinpointing patterns of external change, and setting laser-sharp priorities. He shows how the integration of personal and psychological traits with vital business acumen and skills can result in a foundation for leadership performance and success.
These books are available through the King County Library System, www.kcls.org.
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Confessions of a First-Time Conference Attendee
Eric Chambers, Northwest Educational Service District
First confession: As an adolescent boy growing up in the late seventies I had, like many boys at the time, a crush on teen idol Brooke Shields. While I registered for the conference before the program committee replaced Mary Tyler Moore who was originally schedule to deliver one of the four keynote speeches, with Mrs. Shields, I was much more excited about the conference after this decision.
Second confession: While I've been in the fund raising field for a decade, this is my first year as an AFP member and my first AFP conference. In the spirit of full disclosure I write these things so that you might better appreciate the lens I used to interpret the events at the conference.
Held in Dallas from March 25th to March 28th, the 44th AFP International Conference on Fundraising hosted more than 90 sessions and 4,000 attendees making this the largest International Conference in AFP history. As AFP President Paulette V. Maehara was quick to point out, "things really are bigger in Texas." Bigger, in most cases, was better in that the size allowed for a more diverse set of sessions and presenters and provided the resources to support "celebrity" speakers including Lance Armstrong, Craig Kielburger, Maria Echaveste, and, of course, Brooke Shields. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong spoke about his experience starting and maintaining the Livestrong Foundation, the importance of having a good team, and the courage to keep fighting. I think many of us left Craig Kielburger's presentation feeling both inspired and very, very old. At 24 years of age, Mr. Kielburger has traveled to over 50 counties, built dozens of schools in these countries, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize not once but three times. Community activist and former White House Aide under President Clinton, Maria Echaveste spoke about community, advocacy, and of course, politics. Keynotes, of course, are often more about inspiration and less about substance. The substance came from the plethora of conference sessions.
The 90 sessions were arranged along thirteen "master tracks" ranging from Annual Giving to Working with Boards and Volunteers. Since my interest was in experiencing a range of sessions this arrangement did me little good but someone wanting to learn as much as possible about major gifts, for example, could participate in these sessions without having to choose between two or more relevant sessions scheduled during the same time. Unfortunately the foresight the conference planners used in planning the general sessions did not transfer to their arrangement of the distinguished speakers which were all scheduled on Monday from 1:30 to 2:30 forcing conference goers to choose between hearing Chip Heath author of Made to stick: Why some ideas survive and others die and Evelyn Clark author of Around the corporate campfire: How great leaders use stories to inspire success. Scheduling these speakers at alternate times and days would have made more sense to me.
Being bigger, then, is not always better. Many of the sessions I attended were overcrowded with some attendees standing or sitting on the floor. Likewise it was difficult at times to move around the exhibition hall—especially between sessions, when food was served, and when people started to line up for one of the keynote speakers. Overcrowding, in my estimation, also depleted the morning coffee supply far sooner than was reasonable for the caffeine-dependent. These complainants, however, are minor contrasts to an otherwise excellent conference.
But what about Brooke Shields? Charming, funny, and beautiful, in my estimation, and to my pleasant surprise, bright and articulate with an important message all of us would be wise to heed. In describing her life and her "celebrity" she focused on the choices she made throughout, including the good—like remaining in public school and graduating from Princeton—and the bad—who remembers her Calvin Klein advertisements? Listening to her speak reminded me of the choice that we in this profession have made and reaffirm time and time again: The choice of service. The choice to give up more lucrative careers in the private sector for a chance to serve others-though education, the arts or the human services. President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated less than a mile from the Dallas Convention Center once remarked, "if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot help the few who are rich." What Mrs. Shields reminded me of, more than anything else, is that we are the rich, because we choose to help the poor. And that is a good lesson indeed.
Eric Chambers is a Development Officer at the Northwest Educational Service District 189 in Anacortes, WA and has spent 13 years working in the nonprofit and government sectors, mostly in the development profession. Eric has served as a director on several nonprofit boards and was the founding president of the Children's Museum of Skagit County. He holds an adjunct teaching position at Western Washington University where he teaches classes in applied research, program evaluation, nonprofit management, and (of course) fund development.
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Life Balance: Do What You Love
Mark McCampbell, Virginia Mason Foundation, CFRE
Resolutions are easier made than kept. More than 60% of those surveyed in a recent poll include weight loss and exercise in their New Year's plans, yet for most those are temporary fixes at best. It's easy to say "No" to dessert after weeks of holiday feasting, but come Valentine's Day that sweet tooth is ready to be satisfied once more.
For many, these minor changes seem meaningless in light of the much more significant changes that are needed to bring life into balance. At the core of a balanced life is our enjoyment of what we do for a living. More of our waking hours are spent at work than in any other activity. Development professionals who manage projects, people and prospects may find themselves away from home for twelve to fourteen hours a day. If you're not enjoying what you're doing, that pace can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction.
How do you find fulfillment in what you do? It's a simple truth so obvious it seems trite and cliché: Do what you love. Unfortunately, too many people spend too many years doing too many things they don't enjoy doing. This happens when we fail to Measure, Assess and Correct. As you begin a new year, take time to think about and write down some specifics toward enjoying what you do professionally.
Measure
Take stock of where you are in your career. Are you growing? What's the next big thing you are planning? What challenges and opportunities can you see from where you are now? Is there a place you would rather be or a person you want to work with? Measure how effective your last year was. How did you do against your goals?
Assess
Assessment evaluates the importance of something. Perhaps in your measurement you discovered that you are static in your career advancement. Is that important to you, or do you enjoy life right where you are? For some, life is challenging enough without taking on a new career challenge. Assess the importance of challenge for yourself, personally and professionally. As for goals, you may have doubled your previous year's results but still missed your goal. Assess that goal.
Correct
When you've discovered where you are and evaluated the importance of those measurements, it may be time for a course correction. Perhaps you've discovered that you prefer relationship management over event management. You may delight in creating change but become bored with maintaining momentum. How can you correct that situation? What do you really want to do?
Taking time at the beginning of the year to measure, assess and correct will help you on the way to enjoying your profession more than you ever imagined possible. Our work is important in meeting others' needs. Be sure you're not missing your own needs. Do what you love.
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New Job Listings on AFP WA Website
United Negro College Fund, Bread for the World, Outdoors for All Foundation, ACLU of Washington, Portland Opera, Parkview Services, The Campion Foundation, The Northwest School. Visit the jobs page to view these jobs by clicking HERE.