Live From the International Fundraising Congress
The International Fundraising Congress (IFC), hosted by The Resource Alliance, is taking place this week in the Netherlands. Erica Waasdorp, president of A Direct Solution, is U.S. ambassador for the IFC and will be reporting live for FundRaising Success from the conference.
Monday, Oct. 14 (just arrived)
As the delegates are starting to arrive in the Netherlands, many volunteers and speakers are gearing up to welcome almost 800 fundraisers from all over the world to the NH Leeuwenhorst Hotel in Noordwijk, close to the beach and the North Sea (on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean — can you see us waving?).
This will be the scene for the next several days of workshops, big-room sessions, 60-minute sessions and keynote speakers, plus the first Global Awards for Fundraising presentation.
The IFC is probably one of the few (if not the only one that I know of) all-inclusive conferences around, so breakfast, lunch and dinner are communal, and it's just so much fun sharing fundraising and other experiences, cultures and more with people at your table. At breakfast, you can be sitting with people from Austria, South Africa and Uganda, while at lunch you're sharing a table with folks from Spain, Sweden and the U.K.
One misconception is people think the IFC is only for fundraisers who raise funds internationally. That is not the case. It's just a great venue to learn new and proven fundraising techniques to take home to apply in your own country. All attendees want to become better fundraisers in their own countries, so this is the perfect venue to learn from each other and hear from great speakers and presenters.
Tuesday morning, we'll get up bright and early to be at Schiphol Airport and welcome the delegates who plan to attend the master classes (led by expert such as Geoff Peters, Harvey McKinnon and Kay Sprinkel Grace, for example).
I'll try to attend as many workshops and sessions as I can to give you some of the highlights in blogs over the next few days.
Erica Waasdorp is one of the leading experts on monthly giving. She is the president of A Direct Solution, a company serving nonprofit organizations with fundraising and direct marketing needs, with a focus on monthly giving and appeals. She authored "Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant" and "Monthly Giving Made Easy." She regularly blogs and presents on fundraising, appeals and monthly giving — in person and through webinars. She is happy to answer any questions you may have about this great way of improving retention rates for your donors.
Erica has over 30 years of experience in nonprofits and direct response. She helped the nonprofits she works with raise millions of dollars through monthly giving programs. She is also very actively supports organizations with annual fund planning and execution, ranging from copywriting, creative, lists, print and mail execution.
When she’s not working or writing, Erica can be found on the golf course (she’s a straight shooter) or quietly reading a book. And if there’s an event with a live band, she and her husband, Patrick, can be found on the dance floor. She also loves watching British drama on PBS. Erica and Patrick have two step sons and a cat, Mientje.
