Live from the International Fundraising Congress — Day 3
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.
Wednesday, Oct. 16
I can see why people who’ve been to this conference really like coming. It is such an inspiration! It truly demonstrates why we do what we do and that we are proud of it!
After a wonderful introduction lunch with the U.S. and Canadian delegates, we poured into the grand ballroom for three tremendous stories. They were not presented by fundraisers, but told by three wonderful women helped by three great organizations.
Sallie told us how as a young child she was able to call the Childline from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). She later interned with the organization and helped produce a video to tell her story to help other children like her.
Anne told us how she became blind as an adult just a few years ago and is now able to live independently thanks to her dog, Yaro, from the Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation. She is now an ambassador for the organization.
Finally, Florence had to flee from Uganda and was able to reconnect with her children thanks to the International Red Cross.
Such an impact we make as fundraisers! We get too caught up in looking to speak to our donors, so it was great to hear from those we support.
In the afternoon, I attended the session from Alan Clayton on Fired Up for Fundraising. He took us on the donor journey, going from sadness, to despair, to hope, to determination to triumph. That’s what we want donors to feel thanks to the support they give. He also told us that we should truly be proud of being fundraisers as we make such an impact on the world, really!
Global Awards for Fundraising
The evening brought the Global Awards for Fundraising. Cris Contra el Cancer from Spain won the Big Idea, Small Budget Award.
This category recognizes small and medium organizations that have introduced a successful new fundraising idea or stream of revenue on a small budget in the past year to 24 months.
The award went to Spain's only nonprofit dedicated to cancer research for its classical music concert and fundraiser in Madrid, which matched bars of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with seats sold for charity — any unsold seat would result in an unplayed bar and silence during the performance. The event sold out, and the orchestra played the entire symphony.
The Innovative Fundraising Campaign award went to Germany's Städel Museum. This category recognizes organizations for a fundraising campaign demonstrating innovation and opportunity for replication within the last year to 24 months.
The award went to the museum's campaign to help build its new Frankfurt museum. The campaign gained accolades for its individualized approach that allowed schools, neighborhood pubs, football clubs and more to take part, all promoted with a popular visual icon: a yellow builders boot that was used across every medium.
The Global Fundraiser Award was won by Louise Driver, chief executive of the Children’s Hospital Trust in South Africa, raising millions of rand to expand child health care in the area. This category recognizes an individual with five years' fundraising experience who demonstrates fundraising success over a sustained period of two years or more.
Driver won for her hands-on, dynamic fundraising approach and recent successes, which include forging a child health care partnership between the provincial and Western Cape governments, and raising 58.7 million rand of project funding in 2011 and 41.7 million rand in 2012 for pediatric health care projects.
Finally, the Outstanding Volunteer Award went to Alexandra Madrigal Eduque for her work with Habitat for Humanity in the Philippines. This category recognizes an individual volunteer whose work has made significant impact on the fundraising success of an organization.
Eduque initiated the Habitat for Humanity Youth Council to fundraise and raise awareness on the issue of substandard housing and how it affects young people. She recruited youth campus leaders to community development projects and raised 2 million pounds to develop an early-childhood alternative-learning program for Habitat communities. She also won the IFC Choice Award, as voted on by guests at the event.
Today will be a full day, and I’ll try to attend as many workshops and sessions as I can to give you some of the highlights in blogs the next few days. Till tomorrow …
~ Erica Waasdorp
President, A Direct Solution
- Categories:
- Awards
- Fundraiser Education
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.
