Association of Fundraising Professionals
BacktoTopAFP Greater Madison Spring 2014 Member eNewsletter 
In This Issue
President's Letter
CRFE Review Course
Scholarship Opportunities
Thanks to our Chapter Meeting Sponsors!
What's New - Chapter Updates
Member News and Kudos
Avoid Three Massive Mistakes That Even SMART Fundraisers Make
Building Better Boards
Stay in Touch on Facebook and LinkedIn
President's Letter
2014 marks AFP Greater Madison Chapter's 27th anniversary and the board has been hard at work developing programming and events that will help all of you to excel in your careers as fundraisers.

The focus for 2014 is membership education and training. We realize that not everyone started out thinking - "I am going to be a fundraiser when I grow up." To help you to become the best you can be we have many exciting events planned for you including the monthly chapter meetings and quarterly roundtable breakfasts, the newly formed Fundamentals
& Management Affinity Circles, a one day Capital Campaign workshop scheduled for May, the CFRE Review course planned for June and a one-day workshop in August with the Milwaukee AFP Chapter.

We realize that cost can be an issue and want to encourage you to contact the scholarship committee for availability of scholarships in connection with the training events.

It's not all work and no play however, we are hosting a Happy Hour on July 15th for all of us to gather to relax on a summer night and get to know each other better.

You might be wondering how the AFP Greater Madison Chapter is able to offer this level of training and events each year. Among other sources, the Chapter gets its financial support from dues, National Philanthropy Day, registrations and a portion of the donations made by you to the Every Member Campaign.

I encourage you to donate to the 2014 Every Member Campaign as each year we receive a quarter of what our chapter members donate to the campaign from the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy. Funds raised through the Every Member Campaign are used by the Foundation to provide for member education, to build future leaders through scholarships and to foster a greater understanding of philanthropy and fundraising practices through research.

Your board of directors has once again committed to 100% participation in the 2014 Every Member Campaign and we ask you to consider contributing to the campaign at any level. We have added a link to the Chapter website which will direct you to the EMC donation site.

Thank you for your continued support of AFP Greater Madison!

Kirsten Houghton, CPA, MBA
CRFE Review Course

Our Chapter is offering the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) Review Course on Wednesday and Thursday, June 11 and 12. We are pleased to have chapter members Marcy Heim (The Artful Asker) and Jennifer Karlson (UW Foundation) as our presenters. Both are CFREs and use these best practices in their professional careers.

 

This Review Course offers development professionals an opportunity to review the main components of a complete fundraising program.  It is a two-day, intensive program that provides an overview of skills, techniques, and program components based on fundraising experience at the five-year level. Whether or not you plan to take the CFRE exam, these best practices will benefit your career.  

 

Who should attend? The course was developed for intermediate-level fundraising professionals who want a comprehensive overview of fundraising principles, at a step above the fundamental level.  Its content is organized around the CFRE exam domains: Current and Prospective Donor Research, Securing the Gift, Relationship Building, Volunteer Involvement, Management, and Accountability.  Participants engage in fundraising problem-solving with top-notch professionals and network with fundraising peers.

 

Stay tuned as registration will open soon!  
  
Scholarship Opportunities
The Scholarship Committee has lined up several scholarship opportunities for members - so many in fact, that there are too many to list here!

Be sure to check out the current list of available scholarships on our website. Several applications are due May 1, so don't wait - apply today!

Thanks to our Chapter Meeting Sponsors!
Thanks to the monthly chapter meeting sponsors!

January - United Way Dane County Foundation

February - Alliant Energy Foundation

March - Nakoma Country Club

If your organization is interested in sponsoring a chapter meeting, please contact Jenni Collins at 
[email protected] or Julie Bauer at  [email protected]

Our April program is Impactful Internships: How to Create the Best Experience for Your Intern and Your Organization, with a panel of speakers with some great insight on the topic.
 

What's New - Chapter Updates 
  • $10 Student Rate for Chapter Meetings is now being offered for full-time students.
  • AFP Greater Madison is now on Twitter - Follow us!
  • The 2014 Membership Directory will be out soon. Now is a good time to renew or join to ensure you're listed! 
  • Our chapter was honored as a Ten Star Chapter for our efforts in 2013. Thank you to our members, sponsors and friends for being a part of those efforts!
Member News and Kudos
Ron Luskin joined Meriter Foundation in November 2013 as Senior Director of Development. Ron brings a wealth of experience from his years at the UW Foundation and the field of hospital architecture, business development and marketing. 

 

Amy Recob joined Meriter Foundation in October 2013 as Director of Development for Annual Giving. As former Marketing Manager for Findorff and Sons, Amy also raised funds for the Madison Children's Museum and Madison Repertory Theater. 

 

Amy Disch joined Meriter Foundation in February 2014 as Prospect Researcher and Database Manager. Formerly with the UW Foundation, Amy will be overseeing prospect research, wealth screening, budget and database management.

Christina Beach-Baumgartner has been promoted to Program Director at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County, and Sandy Morales is the new Fund Development Director at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County.

Jen Davie started as Literacy Network's Development Director this month. Jen's most recent position was with the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin, where she helped to build relationships with individual, corporate donors, and organizations. She provided extensive training of internal staff and key volunteers to encourage a culture of philanthropy within the organization.

 

"I am honored to be a part of the Literacy Network staff," said Jen.  "The staff at Literacy Network are dedicated and passionate about making our mission a reality.  I am proud to continue to be a part of the Dane County community in this new role and look forward to working with many of you."

 

Avoid Three Massive Mistakes That Even SMART Fundraisers Make
What are we doing right? And what are even SMART fundraisers doing wrong? Often we make some key mistakes that hinder our success in securing Major Gifts.

 

Marcy Heim, CFRE, AFP Master Teacher and fundraising coach shares that we even SMART fundraisers ask the wrong questions.  Focusing on empowering questions sets us up with a mindset for major giving success.  Secondly, we pay only lip service to the kind of stewardship that really honors the donor for the giving.  Finally, we fail to really plan our approach to major donors.  Marcy calls this creating a RAP - a relationship action plan. On Monday, March 31st, Marcy will be sharing more about the What, Why and How to fix these mistakes on her free teleseminar.
 She'll also talk a bit about her MORE Major Gifts Workshop and have some special pricing for AFP MEMBERS at the end.  The first two workshops will be held in May in Milwaukee and Des Moines, Iowa in partnership with AFP Chapters. 

Build Better Boards to Elevate Nonprofit Effectiveness

Nonprofit organizations should be enhanced by, not hindered by, their Boards of Directors. Too often, however, Board members don't understand their role or the parameters within which they must engage to advance the nonprofit's mission, vision, and values.

 

In a recent Stanford Social Innovation Review article, "A Better Board Will Make You Better," the authors asserted that "any board can improve its performance if its members are willing to confront the people, process, and behavior challenges that drag competent people into an abyss of ineffectiveness."

 

Handling that confrontation constructively requires knowledge and tools. Individuals interested in enhancing the effectiveness of the organizations they serve are invited to learn more through the 2014 Building Better Boards Nonprofit Governance series being hosted by Timpano Consulting.

 

The face-to-face training focuses on a different aspect of Board development every third Friday of the month from 8:30AM-10:00AM. Topics include Board goal-setting, fundraising, performance reviews, strategy, and more.

 

Sessions are held in the Training Center at Wegner CPAs in Madison. Sessions are led by Melanie Schmidt, a nationally certified governance trainer who brings extensive experience in the nuances of nonprofits.

 

Learn more online be clicking here.

 

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Join the Conversation on Facebook and LinkedIn

Are you taking advantage of the information and networking opportunities available to you through AFP Greater Madison?  If you have not joined our group on LinkedIn or have yet to "Like" AFP Greater Madison on Facebook, you might be missing out.  Find us in LinkedIn under "AFP Greater Madison Chapter" and like "AFP Greater Madison" on Facebook to stay in the loop!

 

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AFP Greater Madison Chapter
P.O. Box 45046
Madison, WI 53744-5046
[email protected]

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