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Fundrasing Day Matters 

Today is Fundraising Day!  One of my favorite days of the year.  Today, more than 2,000 of us are gathering for what I think is the best one-day conference devoted to our work on the planet.

It can be challenging to stand up and speak in front of a crowd. Knowing what is at stake for your organization ramps the pressure up even more. Here are some tips to help you prepare to speak at any fundraising event, whether large or small. Use these best practices to win over a crowd and make new friends for your organization!

It’s the start of a new event season and you told yourself you wouldn’t overbook your calendar ever again –– but here you are, in a familiar situation needing solutions for event logistics in a flash. Don’t fret or break a sweat. Pulling together resources from within the event planning community is why we’re all in this together. Once you have the date and venue nailed down, it’s time to think about the guest experience. With overwhelming options and technologies, we put this article together to help give a simple 1-2-3 solution for the most common problems when planning an event. 

Fundraising Day in New York is right around the corner being held this year on Friday, June 22 at the New York Marriott Marquis.  This annual gathering of nearly 2,000 fundraisers, philanthropists, nonprofit leaders and service providers serves several purposes.  It’s the unofficial kick-off to summer.  It’s a great opportunity to connect with friends and former colleagues.  It is the place to pick up the latest tricks of the trade and trends while reinforcing best practices.  I’ll admit the first two purposes are what makes the event so much fun.  But I think what makes it so special is the opportunity to be reminded just how large our NYC community of fundraisers is.

Montgomery Alabama 1957, Martin Luther King Jr gave a speech in which he challenged those in attendance to ask themselves “What are you doing for others?”

Fast-forward 60 years; I think this generation's youth is rising to MLK Jr’s challenge. Despite popular sediment, this generation is not a generation of apathy, but instead of action and impact (just look at recent events).  So much so that 84% of young people consider it their duty to make the world a better place; and an overwhelming number, over 90%, of them want to make this impact by volunteering!

It’s June and that means Fundraising Day in New York is just around the corner. One session on my radar is Plan Now for a Successful Year-End Giving Campaign. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with one of the session speakers, John Mix. John is a Senior Director of Marketing at the Human Rights Watch and he kindly gave us a sneak peak of what’s to be expected in this highly anticipated session.

How to create an effective annual plan after a nonprofit develops a strategic plan? At Fundraising Day in New York, Jennifer Flowers, Founder and CEO, Accreditation Guru, Inc., will respond to this question at her session aptly titled: What’s the Plan?

Cecilia Clarke, President & CEO of Brooklyn Community Foundation, will be presenting at Fundraising Day in New York on a hot-button topic in philanthropy  – “The Double Bottom Line: Diversity, Inclusion and the Future of Grant Funding.”

VP of Development and Alumni Relations, Pace University

This is an exciting and interesting time for philanthropy professionals. Charitable giving is changing rapidly—donor decision making is becoming more sophisticated; new giving platforms are growing in number and use and retention rates are moving both up and down in wide bands.