Palm Beach

Any nonprofit organization’s success hinges in part on recruiting and retaining the best and the brightest people — and firing those who fall short. That according to Stacey Girdner, the chief people development officer at Russ Reid Company, a Pasadena, Calif.-based marketing and communications firm that serves nonprofit organizations. “[Fewer and fewer] people are available for your positions,” Girdner said at the session “Grooming the Next Generation of Fundraisers: How Do I Find, Train and Retain Good People?” at the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s 2008 Leadership Summit held last month in Palm Beach, Fla. “You have to be more strategic.” Girdner, who has worked

“Vision without fundraising is hallucination.” — Russ Reid President and CEO Tom Harrison quoting MINDset direct Principle and Founder Kristin McCurry at the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s 2008 Nonprofit Leadership Summit held last week in Palm Beach, Fla.

Behaving like a business can have some real benefits for nonprofit organizations. So said Kurt Aschermann, president and COO of Boston-based fundraising consultancy Charity Partners, speaking in the session “The Business of Fundraising: How Does the Influx of Corporate People and Business Models Help or Hurt Nonprofit Fundraising” at the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s 2008 Nonprofit Leadership Summit last week in Palm Beach. It would be foolish for nonprofits not to begin exploring some of the practices instituted by their corporate partners, he warned. Aschermann, who previously served as senior vice president and chief marketing and development officer for the Boys & Girls

Sometimes the best ideas and feedback come from colleagues in the nonprofit world. That’s why Dane Grams, online strategy director for the Human Rights Campaign, a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender political organization, reached out to attendees of the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2008 Nonprofit Leadership Summit even before they arrived in Palm Beach, Fla., last week for the conference. Preparing for the session, “Leading Our Leaders: How Do I Get Buy-In from the Top for My Great Ideas, Innovation Strategies and Fearless Fundraising Efforts?” Grams and his colleague Ann Crowley, membership director at HRC, conducted a pre-conference survey to find out

Following is a sampling of new-to-the-market and newly managed lists. #1 Golf Investors Mailing List: Target more than 1 million wealthy investors who love to golf and make financial investments. Price: $100/M. Call: Crowley Marketing, 800.488.4852; or visit www.crowleymarketinginc.com 1TM Home Improvement Requesters Opt-in Email Database: Target more than 2.3 million online consumers with an interest in home improvement. Price: $65/M. Call: 1Touch Marketing, 561.368.5067; e-mail info@1touchmarketing.com; or visit www.1touchmarketing.com A and R Research — Pet Owners & Lovers: Target more than 6 million pet owners and lovers. Price: $85/M. Call: ACT ONE LISTS, 800.228.5478; e-mail info@act1lists.com; or visit www.act1lists.com Audubon Naturalist Society: Target

If you haven’t given some thought to registering for the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s Leadership Summit taking place in Palm Beach, Fla., in June … now’s the time. This year, the senior-level conference’s theme is “Tackling the Tough Questions” and, like always, it features just a small number of sessions to allow attendees to really dig into the tough issues facing the nonprofit industry today, including how the influx of corporate business models can help and/or hurt nonprofit fundraising; getting buy-in from the top for innovative and perhaps risky campaigns; grooming the next generation of fundraisers; and the reality of ratings for nonprofit organizations. Every