Being on the east coast-WHAT an adventure!

Right here, this is the face I make when I have such an incredible audience, like I had this last week at the Women in Philanthropy breakfast in Holyoke MA, and at the AFP NJ Philanthropy Day Conference. Thanks to everyone who made it to these two presentations! I had such a good time hearing your advice, and stories and ideas about how to build trust, and how to find new donors! I simply could not hold still for this photo.

Here’s me breaking it down at the AFP NJ Conference, about WHY we are losing our donors. HINT: It’s the turnover! Fundraiser turnover leads to donor turnover! How can we stop the massive fundraiser turnover? Well, we covered that in the Fundraising Career Conference this year, and the Nonprofit Leadership Summit, and in my presentation about Trust at the Women in Philanthropy breakfast!

Here I’m sharing with an incredible group of fundraisers how to deliberately build trust at your nonprofit, with your colleagues, board and director. There were so many good ideas in the audience, and good questions, some of which I could not answer. For example one person brought up how she wanted to encourage people to be more vulnerable, and share more mistakes, and I realized that I had to add another section to my presentation. That was a humbling moment.

This was such a fun moment after my presentation at AFP NJ. A new fundraiser, Mr Tran, came up to me, and said it was his first month on the job! And I said WOW! you’re a brand new fundraiser! And he said YES! I said, I am going to give you my book, Get the Job! Your Fundraising Career Empowerment Guide! And he was very happy about that. This is what it’s all about-these moments, for me, are the best. When I can get to chat with someone in a new job, or new to the profession, and help them get a leg up right away. But even if I talk with someone who has been in fundraising for awhile and looking for a pick-me-up, I like getting them my book too.

I also got to see my family, my parents, my grandparents, lots of my cousins, (and their kids) my aunts, my uncles, and my friends too! It was SUCH a good visit, and I am looking forward to going back!