Helen Brown Group

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A Conference Field Guide

By: Tara McMullen-King, Director, Research and Consulting

Tara McMullen-King

Tara McMullen-King

Are you headed to NEDRAcon2025, Prospect Development 2025, or another event coming up over the next few months? Conferences are a great way to recharge your professional batteries, pick up new skills and ideas, and connect with people who truly understand what you do. But let’s be honest – how much you get out of a conference often depends on what you put into it. After more than 20 years of attending conferences, I’ve learned that a little preparation can make a big difference! This post shares some of my favorite tips for making the most of your conference experience – before, during, and after – whether you’re attending in person or joining virtually.

BEFORE THE CONFERENCE – Plan Ahead

Choose Your Sessions Wisely : If a conference has a lot of different sessions to choose from, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Take a little time beforehand to scan the agenda and flag the ones that might speak to the challenges you’re facing now – or that fill in knowledge gaps you’ve been meaning to tackle. And don’t be afraid to step outside your usual scope – sometimes those unexpected sessions spark the best ideas!

Find a Conference Buddy : Conferences can be way more fun – and a lot less intimidating – when you have someone to navigate them with. Whether you’re an extrovert who thrives in crowds or an introvert who needs a familiar face, having a conference buddy makes the experience smoother and more enjoyable. Reach out to colleagues, LinkedIn connections, or folks from other professional circles to sync up. Make a plan to grab coffee, share a meal, or walk the vendor hall together. You’ll have someone to debrief sessions with, bounce ideas off of, and maybe even explore the city with if it’s an in-person event. If you don’t know anyone else who is going, many conferences offer first-timer meetups or socials where you can connect with others in the same boat.

If you’re attending a virtual conference – you could still use a buddy! A virtual conference buddy can help you stay engaged, make the experience more interactive, and keep you accountable for showing up (and not just half-watching while answering emails). Reach out to a colleague or LinkedIn contact who’s also attending and suggest syncing up before the event. You can compare schedules, share notes afterward, or even debrief together at the end of the day! Some virtual platforms also have discussion boards, chat features, or attendee directories that you can use to introduce yourself and connect with other attendees.

Set Your Intentions: Take five minutes to reflect. What do you hope to get out of this conference? A skill, a solution, a connection? Jot down a few goals, then revisit them each day. Intention-setting can help you stay focused and make it easier to recognize progress (even in small ways).

Pack Smart: Conference rooms often have unpredictable temperatures – one room can feel like an icebox, while the next feels like a sauna – so try to dress in layers. Also, comfy shoes are a must – you’ll likely be on your feet more than you expect, even if it’s “just” walking back and forth between sessions. And also remember to pack snacks, a reusable water bottle, chargers, business cards, and anything else you may need to feel like your best self!

Virtual Packing: Even if you’re attending from your living room, a little prep goes a long way. Think of it as packing your “virtual conference bag”– just in home-office form. Start by setting up a comfortable, distraction-free space where you can really focus. That might be your home office, a quiet corner with good lighting, or even a cozy spot at the library or a co-working space. Wherever you choose, make sure the Wi-Fi is solid and that your charger(s) are within reach. And try to schedule 5-10 minute movement breaks between sessions to stretch, reset, and avoid screen fatigue… your body (and brain) will thank you!

DURING THE CONFERENCE – Engage, Learn, Connect

Engage With Vendors : Sponsors and vendors aren’t just there for the swag (though that’s fun too) – they help bring conferences to life, and often offer products, services, or expertise that can enhance your work. Take a stroll through the vendor area (or click around the virtual exhibit hall) with curiosity. Ask for a quick demo or grab a brochure or one-pager to review later! Even if you’re not the decision-maker back at your organization, bringing back a helpful resource or tool can show initiative, and maybe help your team work more efficiently.

Be Brave… Say Hi!: Yes, it can feel super awkward. Yes, it might take a little courage. But introducing yourself – whether it’s to the person next to you in a session, in the coffee line, or at a lunch table – is one of the best ways to make meaningful connections at a conference. Most folks are just as eager (or nervous!) to connect, and you might end up chatting with someone who totally gets the challenges you’re facing, shares your interests, or introduces you to someone else worth knowing. In my experience, some of the best professional relationships start from a quick conversation at a conference. That person sitting next to you could be a future mentor, collaborator, or even your next coworker!

Take Great Notes: You don’t have to write down everything – but capturing 2 or 3 key takeaways from each session you attend can be a game-changer. Maybe it’s an inspiring quote, a new resource you want to check out, or a fresh approach you can apply to a familiar challenge. Whatever it is, jot it down while it’s fresh! Use whatever format works best for you – typed notes, handwritten scribbles, even voice memos – just make sure you’re capturing the good stuff so you can refer back to it later.

Take Breaks and Take Care of Yourself : Conferences can be exciting, inspiring… and totally exhausting. With back-to-back sessions, networking, and information overload, it’s easy to forget to hit pause! But pacing yourself is key to actually enjoying the experience (and retaining anything you learn), so try to build in small breaks throughout the day. Step outside for fresh air, grab a quiet corner to decompress, or do a quick stretch between sessions. Even 5 to 10 minutes of downtime can make a big difference in how you feel. If you’re attending in person, look for opportunities to wind down with others, like a casual group dinner, a chapter meetup, or even a walk around the block.

Share the Experience Online: If you’re someone who likes to share in real time, live-posting on your favorite social media platform during the conference can be a fun and valuable way to engage with the broader community. Most conferences have an official hashtag – use it to post your favorite quotes, key takeaways, or sparks of inspiration. Not only does this help others following along (including those who couldn’t attend), but it also boosts your visibility in the field. You might even strike up a conversation with someone new, gain a few followers, or find a session buddy through your posts.

Keep a Spark List: You know that feeling when something in a session makes your brain light up – but it’s not something you need right now? That’s where the “spark list” comes in. Throughout the conference, keep a running list of tools, ideas, resources, books, quotes that spark your interest, anything you want to remember – even if they don’t have a clear place in your work (yet). These are your creative breadcrumbs… the point isn’t to act on them right away, it’s to collect them so you can revisit them when the time is right.

AFTER THE CONFERENCE – Make it Stick

Follow Up With New Connections : If you meet someone great at the conference, don’t let that connection fade the minute you get home (or log off). A quick follow-up can turn a passing conversation into a lasting professional relationship. Shoot them a short email or LinkedIn message within a few days of the event. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy – just a “Great to meet you at NEDRAcon! I really enjoyed our chat about portfolio management. Let’s stay in touch!” kind of thing. Even if you only exchanged a few words in line for coffee, connecting on LinkedIn and dropping a note helps you build your network in an intentional (and friendly) way.

Share What You Learned : Once the conference wraps up and you’re back at work, don’t let all those fresh ideas fade into the background. One of the best ways to make your learning stick – and to show your organization the value of sending you – is to share what you took away. Pick one or two standout sessions and summarize the key takeaways for your team. Sharing what you learned shows leadership, helps your colleagues grow, and builds a culture of continuous learning. And bonus? It’s one more reason for your organization to say “yes” the next time you ask to attend a conference.

Try One New Thing: After soaking up all that conference inspiration, don’t let it sit in your notebook forever. Pick at least one idea you learned and actually try it! It doesn’t have to be huge – the key is to take one thing that sparked something in you and put it into motion. This not only reinforces what you learned, but it also helps make the conference feel like a true investment and gives you something concrete to talk about with your boss or team when they ask, “So, how was the conference?”

Say Thank You : If your employer or supervisor supported your attendance – whether they covered the cost, gave you the time, or just encouraged you to go – don’t forget to say thanks. A quick thank-you goes a long way and not only shows gratitude, but it also reinforces the value of investing in professional development.

Later this month, my HBG colleagues and I will be heading to beautiful Portland, Maine for NEDRAcon, one of our favorite conferences. We’re especially proud to once again sponsor a NEDRA conference scholarship, which helps cover registration and some travel expenses for an attendee who couldn’t otherwise afford it. We’d love to see you there – or at another upcoming event! Here are a few conferences on the 2025 calendar that you might want to add to your radar:

NEDRAcon2025 – April 30 – May 2 (Portland, ME)

LEVEL UP: MARC 2025 Virtual Conference – April 21–25 (Virtual)

2025 Apra Great Plains Conference – April 25 (Ames, IA)

AFP ICON 2025 – April 27–29 (Seattle, WA)

2025 APRA-NW Conference – May 8 (Virtual)

Fundraising Day in New York (AFP NYC Chapter) – June 13 (New York, NY)

Prospect Development 2025 (Apra International) – August 19–22 (Baltimore, MD)

Wherever your conference journey takes you, I hope this guide helps you feel more confident, prepared, and excited for the experience. If we do cross paths – at NEDRAcon or beyond – please don’t hesitate to say hello. I’d love to hear what’s sparking your curiosity these days!

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NEDRA 2024: Top Themes & Take-Aways

by: Melissa Bank Stepno, VP of Data Insight

A couple of weeks ago, the entire HBG team attended the NEDRA conference.  Part annual team retreat, part professional development, we immersed ourselves in 3 days of learning, team building and networking.

It was so great to see everyone in person!  Especially in our post-COVID world, with many more of us working remotely, I can’t understate the power of “togetherness.”

Now that the dust has settled and I’m back in my remote world, and in true HBG fashion, I wanted to pay it forward for those who were not at the conference.

So, here are three of the top themes and takeaways from our time together (at least in my perspective!):

 

1. Family Offices – one of the most interesting sessions was a plenary session on family offices, given by Josh Roach, who manages one such office.  For those less familiar with the concept of a family office, these are typically small private business entities* that are owned by an uber-wealth family with the specific function of working on behalf of the family.

*Note that some large financial firms operate “family offices” that serve multiple families at the same time, however the information that Josh shared relates to single family offices that are fully dedicated to one family.

While Josh was clear that there is no typical or average, he did share that frequently, an office will serve multiple generations and broadly be responsible for supporting the family vision, assisting with transition of family leadership and assuring the family legacy is maintained.  Specific responsibilities typically include wealth and asset management but can also include a wide array of other concierge-style services such as travel planning, property management, general accounting, arranging social calendars, and, you guessed it, providing advice on philanthropy.

These offices are incredibly discrete and private – by design – since part of their role is to protect the privacy of the family that they are serving.  As such, sometimes one family office might not even know of the existence of another family office!

Families with family offices usually have net worth of at least $750 million – $1 billion and you rarely see one for families with net worth under $250 million.  Why?  They are expensive!  The average family office runs an operating budget of $6 million and employees 6-8 full-time employees.

If you want to learn more about Family Offices, check out this benchmarking study conducted by The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania or the Family Office Association.

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2. Data Compliance is an ever changing, complicated quagmire.

In addition to the ever-present General Data and Protection Legislation, or GDPR for short, which covers all of Europe, in the past few years the United States has seen a significant uptick in legislation covering data privacy.  In fact, there are currently 15 states with privacy laws in effect and 18 additional states with pending legislation.  The IAPP manages a fantastic website that tracks both pending legislation and existing laws – without it, I’m not sure how we would keep up!

Just last month, a bill was introduced in Congress called the American Privacy Rights Act, or APRA for short (anyone else notice the irony that the acronym is APRA?).

The good news is that a national law would supersede the variations in all the state laws.  The million-dollar questions are: what would be included in the final bill, when would it go into effect, and how would it impact our industry?

Heard at the end of the session: “I did not expect this to be a wild ride.”  When was the last time you heard a comment like that at a Prospect Development conference!?

For more reading on this topic, check out my two colleagues’ recent Intelligent Edge Blog posts: Data Privacy: Where We’ve Been and Where We are Going by Michele Borucki and Data Privacy (Part 2): Practical Tips and Better Practices by Jessica Woodbridge.

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3. Due Diligence – the conference included not one, but three sessions on due diligence.  It truly is a statement as to how much more important this topic is becoming for our industry.  Five years ago, there wouldn’t have been any sessions on this topic.

Essentially, due diligence is the subset of prospect research that focuses on the assessing the legal, reputational, and financial risk for our organizations when considering whether or not to develop a deeper relationship with, and/or accept a gift from, a donor.

At this point, it seems as though many organizations have a process in place for due diligence but the level of formality and how/when specific due diligence research is conducted varies from shop to shop.

It must be noted that what passes a due diligence “test” for one organization may not pass the test for another.  Due diligence is, and always will be, highly contextual and nuanced.  For more on my thoughts on the matter, check out my blog post Philanthropy’s Shades of Gray.  Also, look forward to a joint report on due diligence by Xapien and BWF that will be published later this year.

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Of course, there are a lot of other important topics in our industry right now.  These just happened to be the three that piqued my attention the most during this particular conference.

If you missed the NEDRA conference, perhaps I’ll see you in Seattle in August at the Apra Professional Development conference?  You can learn more about it and register here.

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Unexpected life lessons from the NEDRA conference

Heather Hoke

Senior Consultant Heather Hoke

This week I’m delighted to share an insightful article by HBG Senior Consultant Heather Hoke. As is our custom, the whole team gathered at the NEDRA conference this year. NEDRA is always a bit like a family reunion, but this year was even more special for all of us. Heather shares a slice of that wonderful two days and some of the insights and reminders the experience gave her. ~Helen

I recently returned from the NEDRA conference in Springfield, MA. My drive home gave me some time to reflect on the differences that I saw at the conference this year versus the one I attended pre-pandemic in 2019.

At the conference, I was happy to find that it felt like it was back to near normal. I saw smiling faces not hidden by masks, no one backed away from hugs or sitting close. I gave countless hugs during the conference, the most I have in years. Some people wore masks indoors which I think is now just a part of our lives for the long term. I was thrilled that we were back to a place more like pre-pandemic for this event. This felt amazing considering all that we have gone through since Spring 2020.

It was 1,153 days that we were in a COVID-19 Public Health Emergency! The health emergency was renewed 13 times since the declaration was first issued  on March 13, 2020. It expired on May 11, 2023. Shouldn’t we have celebrated on May 11?! I mean come on…. We all went through a shutdown and our lives changed forever. After the shutdown in 2020, the roads were deserted, rainbows went up in windows, everyone was out walking in the neighborhood but on opposite sides of the street, toilet tissue was impossible to find, face to face time with people outside of our bubble ceased, we were wiping down our delivered groceries for Pete’s sake!! Where were the fireworks and the parades to celebrate on May 11?

May 11 was just another day, like any other. It did not feel much different. Well, it did a bit as I was climbing out of the work pile that happens after you travel for a conference.

As I sat down to write this blog, I intended to write about the quality and value of the NEDRA conference. As always, NEDRA put on a fantastic event, and I learned a lot from the sessions. I was excited to learn more about art, planned giving, physician compensation, and unlisted billionaires. But upon taking the time to really think about my conference experience it unexpectedly became about something else…the human connection and coming out the other side of a pandemic.

One thing that was not “normal” this year was the number of development researchers that I spoke with who are now working from home. I was thrilled to hear this! I have been fortunate to work from home at least part time since 2001. When I wrote a blog in 2016 about the benefits of teleworking, I received many messages of frustration about the struggle to get employers to allow staff to work from home. Most often such work arrangements at the time were denied. A positive about the pandemic became apparent. Employers are much more accepting of teleworking and hybrid arrangements. That’s a big victory (more fireworks here)!

This recent conference was a good reminder to open up, let go of the past, live in the moment, and to celebrate the victories in life as they come. I found such enjoyment with my HBG colleagues, clients and friends. I am feeling refreshed, renewed and even hopeful as we move into the time after the public health emergency has been lifted. Heck now that we know life as we know it can just come to a halt, that’s enough of a reason for all of us to live a more carefree life.

I hope to see you face to face at a future NEDRA conference, perhaps next year in New Haven, Connecticut. (Don’t forget that the Helen Brown Group awards a conference scholarship which covers registration plus some travel expenses!) Perhaps there you will discover some unexpected life lessons too.

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All aboard!

Happy Week 4 of Research Pride month! What have you been doing to celebrate this most wonderful of professions this month?

I hope that last week’s article gave you some inspiration to consider standing up and sharing your knowledge with others at a conference or just among colleagues at some point soon or in the future.

There’s something else I want to talk about with you to honor our profession this week, and that is stepping up as a volunteer for board service for our professional associations.

You may think that board membership is all about boring meetings and decisions. Or maybe that it’s being part of an elite group of people that are somehow separate from others. You might have some doubts about whether you have the qualities that it takes to be on a board. Maybe you’re beyond busy and don’t have the time to fit it in right now.

There are lots of reasons to think “Maybe this isn’t the right time” or “Maybe I’m not the right person for that” or “I don’t know enough yet.” Those things could be true, but they could also be holding you back from one of the most rewarding professional and personal experiences you may ever have.

I know what my board and volunteer service has meant to me (really great; wouldn’t trade it for the world), but I wanted to find out if my experience was universal. What were other peoples’ experiences like? What did they gain from it? What did they learn about themselves or about the profession? Did it help them in their careers, and if so, how?

I asked some friends and colleagues to share their experiences with me. My sincere thanks to Misa Lobato, former Apra president; Lisa Howley and Dina Zelleke, former NEDRA and Apra board members; Elizabeth Dill, current NEDRA board president; and Rick Snyder, former NEDRA board president, for sharing their insights and experiences.

Joining a board

Misa Lobato had been a prospect researcher for all of 2 years when a friend and colleague approached her to consider serving on the Apra Rocky Mountains (then CPRA) board. She had doubts about what she could offer being so new to the profession, but her colleague encouraged her to go for it anyway. Misa says:

“When I started on the CPRA board, I was writing our newsletter; I was our director of communications. That was a great role for me at that stage in my career because I was able to interview people about research and prospect management and learn from others. I provided resources and tips and tricks to share with our members. It was a good education for me and I really enjoyed having the experience of being with these board members that I had a lot of respect for and learning from them.”

It’s important to have people on an association board who have a wide range of experiences. How better to know what new researchers need to help them grow professionally, than to include someone with that level of experience in conversations about professional development?

And although someone that new might have doubts about their ability to contribute meaningfully, there’s always something, like a newsletter, or helping with conference programming, that someone with a fresh perspective can bring that’s of great value.

And of course, the friendships and professional connections they make can widen their networks and help their career trajectory.

For folks with more experience, their reason to join an association board might be different.

Said Lisa Howley: “For me, it was just a way of giving back. I really wanted to have more impact and involvement in the community and in the nonprofit world.”

Dina Zelleke agrees: “I would say the same thing. For me, NEDRA was the first professional education event in this industry that I had gone to. So I feel like NEDRA was very much there for the beginning of my learning.”

Another important benefit for some, including myself, was having the ability to directly influence change for the better for members. Advocating for our profession is hugely important to me. But with that comes the responsibility of giving members the tools they need to be successful and good at their jobs.

Being on a board, you get the opportunity to strategize about what your association can do, and then actually do something about it.

As Dina says, “I think that that board service gives you the ability to make that impact to people. I’m thinking about the toolkits, the Body of Knowledge, and all of the work that has been done by APRA, because they were particular things that were identified that would be helpful to membership. So being innovative about how you can create solutions that will help benefit your members, and then implementing those ideas is important.”

Rick Snyder confirmed this, saying, “I particularly liked feeling like I was providing service to a profession that I loved. I also enjoyed knowing that decisions we were making were (hopefully) going to strengthen the organization.”

Stepping up, giving back, and making meaningful improvements; great reasons for joining a board. But…

Does board service give something back to the board member?

Let me back up here for a second. One of the questions I asked my colleagues was very specific: “Besides all of the amazing friends you made on the board, did serving on a board give you back anything?” And the reason I asked the question in that way was because if I hadn’t, the only answer I would have gotten was “the amazing friendships that I made with my fellow board members!!”

And it’s really true. Serving on a board can be fairly intense. All of you are together on this journey at sea. There are some old hands on the board with more experience, and maybe you have an association management office to help guide you, but basically you’re all figuring it out as you go along.  (Such is life)

But you’re all in it together, and this honestly forges some great and lasting friendships based on shared experiences, intense discussions, and getting stuff done. Maybe you won’t love everyone all the time, of course, but years later they’ll be people who help you find jobs, who you still have virtual coffee with every month, and/or you can call on to share their thoughts for an article about board service.

So, back to the question: besides making lasting friendships, does board service give something back to the board member?

The answer was an enthusiastic “absolutely”.

For some, it was gaining first-hand experience with how a nonprofit is run, because in many ways, those same mechanisms and procedures – like board development, budgeting, and strategic planning, just to name a few – are the same at for-profit companies.

So in addition to having direct experience on a nonprofit’s board, this insight will help you understand in a first-person kind of way how other sorts of companies, institutions, and organizations operate successfully, which will make the information you provide at your job even better.

If you’re a manager (or aspiring to be one), practical board experience will help you be better at that, and/or a better candidate for leadership.

Misa says, “there were lots of things I learned about strategic planning, and about structuring an organization and how to get people into roles that harness their skills. In terms of my leadership skills, it was incredibly informative. Board service also helped me understand how nonprofit boards function and why they make the decisions they do. And so, in my day-to-day work, I’m so much better equipped to think about how the work of our board affects my work and the work of my organization.”

Lisa says, “the one thing that I have found to be so applicable [to my work now] is that at every organization I’ve worked since I was on the Apra board, I’ve been able to work with development leadership and the board of trustees on what an ideal board would look like… I have had a real impact because I was helping the board understand what the right composition should be.

Misa adds one more benefit: “I also was exposed to ideas that were really cutting edge, and to people [who were] thinking strategically about the future of our profession. I wouldn’t have been exposed to that if I hadn’t been on the board.”

Ladders and Chutes

It’s not all roses, of course. Boards are like any other gathering of people with a passion for something and differing opinions. Sometimes there are going to be politics and personalities to navigate. But this, too, provides opportunities to learn how to navigate tricky conversations and hone your diplomacy and personal communication skills. These are especially important for anyone who wants to advance in their career, take on more management, and interact with (or become) senior leadership.

And then there are things that you have no way to plan for – like a pandemic – that can completely upend what you thought your board’s priorities were going to be. In those cases, you learn adaptability and the importance of delegating to, picking up the slack for, and relying on other members of the board and volunteers to help each other to make the best of a bad (or tricky) situation.

These life lessons are important in many ways for your personal growth. But sometimes even getting on the board can be a bit of a journey. For Misa, who ultimately became Apra president, it took two tries to get on the board. Former Apra president Elizabeth Crabtree has shared publicly that it took three rounds of nominations before she was elected to the board.

It’s not uncommon – there are lots of amazing people in our profession, and Apra and its chapters are looking for different kinds of people every year to add specific talent or make up for knowledge, experience, or other gaps that applicants will have no way to know about. It may be that the next round of openings will leave a gap that exactly fits what you bring. And that kind of tenacity, commitment to service, and belief in their abilities are perhaps what helped contribute to Misa and Elizabeth Crabtree’s success as Apra leaders.

What have these leaders learned about themselves by serving on a board?

Both Rick and Elizabeth Dill said that serving on the NEDRA board has given them more confidence in her own abilities. Elizabeth says, “I was a little nervous about considering it, because of all the responsibility and all the big shoes to fill, honestly. There have been amazing presidents in the history of NEDRA, but I think you just can’t be afraid of that, and [you should] know that you can do whatever job you want to do.”

Rick shared, “When I was board president, I struggled initially with being in charge. I guess I equated being in charge with telling people what to do, which kind of made my skin crawl since I’ve always liked to work collaboratively and seek consensus. It took me a few board meetings to realize that I was just setting an agenda, not running the entire organization. I think I learned more confidence from the experience.”

Misa also shared a great self-realization observation, and one that I’ve heard from other leaders, too: “I’ve learned where I have gaps in my own strengths and my own skills, and how to work with other people that can help fill in those gaps.”

Finding others to surround yourself with that can bring strength to your weak side will not only enhance what you bring but will create an even stronger team to deal with challenges ahead – whether on a board, at work, or in your personal life.

Still conflicted about board service?

Misa’s comment about why some folks don’t seriously consider board service really struck home with me: “If I think about ‘what are the resistance points of doing that kind of volunteerism?’ The thing that was holding me back a lot was this was a belief that I didn’t personally have enough expertise to offer that would make me worthy of serving in a leadership position. And I think we all have to believe that our unique experiences are valuable.”

Adds Rick: “If you love research, you should love volunteering or being a board member. You’ll help the profession and make some great friends. If you attend an event, look at the number of people who work behind the scenes to make it happen. What’s cooler than being one of those people?”

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Remaining Relentlessly Relevant

Last week was the NEDRA conference which was, as in all years past, exceptional. How do they do it? How do they not only come up with interesting and unusual topics but also deliver them so effectively? And maintain a sense of community?

For example, what was billed as a panel of development professionals who also happen to be fiction writers turned into an opportunity for scores of lurkers to listen in on a fascinating, organic conversation from three amazing women on balancing fundraising work, creative life, and life in general. We got to ask questions, of course, and listen to these three authors from California, Pennsylvania, and Florida discuss, explore, and learn from each other’s experiences. How lucky were we? Who gets to do that?!

It used to be that NEDRA conferences featured mainly New England-based speakers. As a region, we’re pretty lucky because you can’t turn around without bumping into a nonprofit around here, and the mainly local speakers have always been first-rate.

But this year speakers and conference attendees Zoomed in from Texas, New York, Minnesota, Canada, the Netherlands – 22 states and two countries…providing a diversity of geography and experience that we never benefited from in the Before Times.

How they do it and maintain a sense of community is partly operating from experience, but it’s also creativity, collaboration, keeping a keen eye on trends, and a bit of chutzpah. That’s a recipe for the best way to remain relevant in the Now Times.

I mentioned in a previous blog post that, because of the pandemic, I was able to attend events from my university in the UK and hear from leadership and students that I never would have been able to because, Before, they would only have been in-person events.

I’d invite you to think for a moment about all of the creative and beneficial pivots that this crummy pandemic has afforded you.

Maybe those included diversified speakers at conferences. Work from home opportunities. More time to spend with those who matter to you. Maybe a possibility to enjoy a new hobby or interest or activity.

Remarkably rejuvenated annual fund results for some nonprofits. Ways to meaningfully connect with far-flung donors for others.

A chance for us to rethink what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean and what we want to do about it.

Our world has completely changed in lots of ways. We’ve been forced given a chance to reset. As we emerge out of the dark door of this theater of the absurd pandemic, aware that the tacky remains of Covid will be sticking to the bottom of our shoes for many years to come, what are the good lessons we can purposefully take away with us? Will we, for example, find ways to successfully navigate hybrid conferences so that the diversity of experience and geography and ability can still happen? Will we incorporate the best of the MacGyver-style creativity we applied to alumni relations and annual fund and major gift fundraising and build on it?

I’ve got a friend named Mark who is a marketing guru. He’s the author of a bunch of bestselling books, an adjunct professor, a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and a super nice guy to boot. He recently did a TEDx talk, which I recommend giving 12 minutes to, called “How to be Relentlessly Relevant.” In the talk, Mark chronicles his experience of a career that went from the deafening roar of being a SxSW Superstar to the sound of crickets in a matter of 48 hours. And then how it went back again.

In the talk, Mark challenges us to think about our career paths to date, and how they’ve unfolded. Much of the success in our careers involve taking advantage of opportunities in the moment in which they’re presented, and responding relevantly to the needs of that situation. As Mark says, “There’s never been a more promising time to become really relevant.”

In prospect development, we’re always striving to remain relevant, and more than that: our work can help our organizations see ahead of curves. Before we move too much further into the Next Times, let’s take a moment to grab onto what we want to capitalize on from Now forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Opportunity of a lifetime

As I watched the Inauguration ceremonies over the past couple of days and saw those heartbreaking and beautiful flags on the Mall, it made me think about where we are now and how unbelievably changed we are from just a year ago.

If you had known a year ago what you know now, what would you have done differently? What have you found to be more important than you expected? What did you think was important then that you’ve now easily discarded? What do you wish you’d taken advantage of sooner?

One easy thing for me is that I would have made my ‘temporary’ home office a lot more comfortable sooner. I finally did that over the holiday break, but I wish that I’d done it back in July when it settled in my bones that this pandemic really wouldn’t be over as soon as we’d all hoped. Looking back, in some ways it felt like much of last year was just suspended time.

On the other hand, when I was craving lost community last spring I reached out to some folks that I’d always wanted to talk with but hadn’t had time (or hadn’t made time) to reach out to before. Some lovely new personal/professional friendships have bloomed, and it’s been a source of joy in this time of disconnected connection.

Did you do that, too? Did you make new connections over this past year, or re-forge old ties that had gotten frayed?

What about professionally? What did you do that challenged you to learn something more? Did you jump into the deep end and do something scary like take on a role you weren’t totally sure you were qualified for? Or speak at a virtual conference? Or survive being furloughed? Or…what?

What did you do this past year that your January 2020 self would be astonished to know about you? What did you learn about your priorities?

Here at HBG we launched a new Data Insight unit that I’d been inching toward for probably five years. In July, I just said “GO.” No more waiting. No more wondering “are we ready yet?” And now, every Friday my smile is goofy and wide with pride listening in on the DI team strategizing about new screening and analytics projects they’re working on, sharing data sources they found that week, or discussing how they want to visualize key discoveries for a client. It’s keeping me learning, too, and pushing myself and my team to pursue opportunities for services that will offer unique value (more on that this summer!).

Mid-summer, I couldn’t seem to resolve to the reality of fixing up my home office, but we launched a whole new business unit. I guess I discovered my priorities.

This year I’ve been impressed by leaders like Jay Frost and Jason Briggs who prioritized education and community and brought real innovation to our sector. Both of them jumped into the void with great speaker series and new, innovative forms of conferences to keep us connecting and learning. I’m honored to be speaking at the PyroTalks Fundraising Intelligence Conference next month on due diligence, and I hope you will join me.

And the Apra chapters! Wow. The pandemic has shown their resiliency and super-creative thinking to bring great programming that expands their reach and attracts membership beyond their geographical borders. My own chapter, NEDRA, runs research boot camps that will be available to newbies from Alabama and Albania to Nebraska, New England, and Zimbabwe, and they’re offering 11 full scholarships to their annual conference in May, including a brand-new one to support an initiative to bring more diversity, equity, and inclusion to prospect development.

Although the vaccine is slowly rolling out now, we’re probably going to be in the same physical situations for at least another eight or nine months, and possibly another year. Where do you want to be then?

Now is a really great time to break out of time suspension, take stock of where you are, and think about where you want to be personally and professionally this time next year. What do you need (or need to know) to take that next step? What certification or Coursera class or connection with a mentor will help pave the way? This is the opportunity of a lifetime to do that.

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Stepping up with pride

My guess is that you fell into your fundraising career. Most of us have, including myself and my colleague Tara McMullen-King, this month’s Intelligent Edge author. What we make of that opportunity can be a combination of hard work, stepping out of our comfort zone, and the good fortune of meeting people that impact our lives and our careers. Tara shares her career trajectory and the choices she made along the way to her success in this #ResearchPride celebration. ~Helen

Happy #ResearchPride month everyone!

So – possibly like many of you – I graduated with a B.A. from a liberal arts college not really knowing exactly what path I wanted to embark on with my career. What did I want to be when I “grew up”? After starting out my studies with plans to major in Psychology, I then switched to English, and then finally settled on Studio Art in the first half of my junior year. Many days were spent happily painting and drawing and studying art history (while still taking classes in myriad different subjects – everything from Buddhist mythology to developmental psychology to Spanish literature to classes in anthropology… and the list goes on and on).

While I temporarily entertained aspirations of becoming a high school art teacher, I just wasn’t really 100% sure what I wanted to do with my life. The problem was that my interests were just so broad, and I fell passionately in love with pretty much anything and everything I studied. Once I graduated, I moved to the Boston area and had to quickly find a job – ANY job – to pay my rent (a whole $500 a month – those were the days!).

Soon after I moved, I managed to find an administrative position working for a small association management firm, where I helped process memberships, create newsletters, and register members for conferences and other educational programs we planned and executed for clients. Our firm’s two biggest clients happened to be the Massachusetts chapter of NSFRE (the National Society of Fund Raising Executives – now known as AFP) and NEDRA (the New England Development Research Association).

At the time, I knew nothing about fundraising, and even less about what development research was. However, through working closely with those two organizations, I was exposed to the wild and wonderful world of development – and I haven’t looked back since.

After about a year working for that company, I decided to take a chance and accept a position working in the development office at a college in Boston to explore my new-found interest in fundraising. This position required me to perform some basic research, such as event bios and some low-level information gathering and analysis on prospects.

The more I learned, the more I became enthralled by the world of prospect research, and realized that I was able to use all the diverse skill sets I had developed over the years– reading, writing, researching, analyzing, creating, communicating, and using critical thinking – to be successful in my work. I eventually accepted a full-time development research position at the college – but as a newbie to research, in a small shop, I had limited exposure to the field and few opportunities to meet other research colleagues. As a result, I sought out educational programs offered by NEDRA to help me gain more knowledge and find networking opportunities, and eventually became a volunteer for the organization. As I became more involved with NEDRA, I had the opportunity to meet a number of colleagues who became instrumental in my professional development, including my now-boss, Helen Brown, and the late Heather Reisz.

Back in those days, Helen and Heather were instrumental in creating the first NEDRA Boot Camps for researchers new to the field. Heather and I connected almost immediately upon meeting one another – she was vivacious, hilarious, and knowledgeable, and had a particular passion for “research newbies,” many of whom she took under her wing. As she and I became more friendly, she told me that she thought I would be a great board member for NEDRA, and that I would absolutely be a great Boot Camp instructor in the future. At the time, I sort of chuckled and didn’t take her ideas too seriously – I thought that she was just being kind. As someone who has suffered from imposter syndrome for most of my life, I was sort of convinced that I wasn’t “good enough” or smart enough for any of that, at all.

But then just a year later, I was nominated to join the NEDRA board of directors – to my shock – and decided to ignore my feelings of self-doubt and take that plunge. I was honored to spend six years on the NEDRA board, trying my best to give back to the organization that had not only provided me with integral support and education at a time when I needed it, but had quite literally exposed me to the field and piqued my interest in it in the first place. In a way, things had sort of come full circle.

When Heather unexpectedly passed away in 2013, the loss was profound for those of us who had been lucky enough to know her. A few years ago, NEDRA’s then-president, Amy Begg, echoed Heather’s previous sentiments and encouraged me to get involved as a bootcamp presenter for NEDRA. Even though years had passed since Heather had first floated the idea, I still wasn’t sure about it – and those nagging feelings of self-doubt crept up yet again.

However, this past January – despite my nerves– I finally agreed to co-present a NEDRA Boot Camp in Boston. And you know what? It was amazing. Meeting a batch of new professionals coming into the field, and being allowed the chance to help them and arm them with the tools and confidence they need to get started was one of the most professionally rewarding experiences I have had in my career. Again – it felt like things were coming full circle.

Writing this today, after having now spent seventeen years working in development research, I have come to realize many things. First and foremost – it is okay (and normal) to sometimes have those nagging moments of self-doubt. I consider myself to be a pretty humble person (compliments make me uncomfortable; praise often makes me bashful), and I still have those moments on occasion.

But what I have learned is that putting yourself out there – pushing those feelings down a bit and taking some risk – can lead to some truly rewarding personal and professional experiences. During this month of Research Pride, I can truthfully say that I am proud of myself for taking those risks in the past, and I am proud of the work that I do.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to work with many amazing non-profit organizations to help them achieve their goals and further their missions. I am proud to work with Helen Brown – who has been a mentor to me over the past thirteen years – and to be a part of the Helen Brown Group, where I get to work with so many amazing and intelligent colleagues each and every day.

I am proud of the work that NEDRA has done – and continues to do – to provide education, assistance, and networking opportunities to so many of us. And I am truly grateful for the support that so many other researchers offered me as I navigated my way through those first years in the field.

It may have taken me a while to figure out what I wanted to do when I “grew up,” but now I can’t see myself doing anything else. And in my heart of hearts, I would like to think that Heather would be proud of me as well.

Are you new to prospect research or know someone who is? NEDRA’s got another Boot Camp coming up in May! Registration can be found here.

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Rock Solid

This past year has been enough to make anybody’s head spin. What would have been the normal amount of news in one of 52 average pre-2017 weeks has been crammed into 341 news cycles of increasingly elevated astonishment. Nearly every day feels to me like watching a piranha feeding frenzy in the Amazon.

Will we end up losing our capacity to relax? Or to believe that we aren’t just missing something in our newsfeed if we don’t immediately see evidence that something shocking has happened overnight? [Read more…]

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International prospect research resources – United Kingdom

From a North American perspective, international prospect research just doesn’t get any better than the United Kingdom.

First of all, there’s no language barrier.

Second, the way information is gathered and distributed by commercial and governmental entities is relatively similar to ours, so navigating around information sources feels …familiar. Logical.

And third, many of the resources that provide information here in the US (like LexisNexis, Factiva, D&B, and Moody’s) also offer products and services in the UK, so there’s crossover. Some of the information we can already get through what we’ve already, well, got. [Read more…]

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Great prospect research training – now!

Listen up, all you new-to-prospect-development folks (and anyone who has a brand-new researcher on staff)!

Great prospect development training sessions are coming up SOON (like, next week and next month!) and you really can’t afford to miss them. Why? [Read more…]

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