AFP and Planned Legacy: A Winning Combination In Baltimore!

AFP & Planned Legacy: A Winning Combination In Baltimore!
The proverbial “great time had by all” could easily describe the recent Association of Fundraising Professionals’ International Conference that Planned Legacy was an exhibitor at in Baltimore April 10-13, 2010, and from my perspective the mood was positive, confident and enthusiastic!
Over 3600 fund raising professionals were in attendance, including some from Australia, Europe, Asia and other far flung locales where giving is just as important as it is in North America. However, no matter where the visitors were from, they were all there to participate in the numerous plenary sessions, listen to keynote speakers such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, take in the local sights and attractions and stop by well over 200 exhibitor booths to learn about new ways, products and methodologies to strengthen their message and improve strategies to reach their respective donor constituencies.
Economists and financial prognosticators from around the globe would do well to take in one of these conferences because just listening to the comments of the attendees can give you a great sense of what’s happening in the “real” world and, based on what we heard, things are starting to look up in the philanthropy sector as budgets become looser, projects get moved off the back burner and delayed plans get resurrected.
At the Planned Legacy booth we spoke to representatives of over 100 different fund raising organizations and, while a lot were no doubt just “kicking the tires” the prevailing sentiment was optimistic. In fact, over at the AFP Jobs Board, the wall was covered with career opportunity postings, a marked change from last year’s conference in New Orleans where attendance was significantly less, job postings were far fewer and the mood was subdued and cautious. What a difference a year makes!!
The Baltimore AFP Conference was also a great opportunity to introduce James Graham, the newest member of the Planned Legacy team. James is a Business Development Manager with a lot of great experience in both architectural donor displays as well as electronic multimedia systems, so he’ll be a great asset to Planned Legacy clients on the US eastern seaboard, which represents most of his sales territory. James comes to us from another donor recognition company where he enjoyed a great career and we’re confident that all his skills and experience will prove to be a great asset for our growing family of Planned Legacy clients.
That’s it for me. Look for Jared Novoseller, our Toronto-based Business Development Manager at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Conference at the Toronto Hyatt Regency April 18-20, 2010. He’ll be there with Carla Borges, our interior design specialist who’ll be in Toronto to attend the Society For Environmental Graphic Design conference.

AFP LogoThe proverbial “great time had by all” could easily describe the recent Association of Fundraising Professionals’ International Conference that Planned Legacy was an exhibitor at in Baltimore April 10-13, 2010, and from my perspective the mood was positive, confident and enthusiastic!

Over 3600 fund raising professionals were in attendance, including some from Australia, Europe, Asia and other far flung locales where giving is just as important as it is in North America. However, no matter where the visitors were from, they were all there to participate in the numerous plenary sessions, listen to keynote speakers such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, take in the local sights and attractions and stop by well over 200 exhibitor booths to learn about new ways, products and methodologies to strengthen their message and improve strategies to reach their respective donor constituencies.

Economists and financial prognosticators from around the globe would do well to take in one of these conferences because just listening to the comments of the attendees can give you a great sense of what’s happening in the “real” world and, based on what we heard, things are starting to look up in the philanthropy sector as budgets become looser, projects get moved off the back burner and delayed plans get resurrected.

At the Planned Legacy booth we spoke to representatives of over 100 different fund raising organizations and, while a lot were no doubt just “kicking the tires” the prevailing sentiment was optimistic. In fact, over at the AFP Jobs Board, the wall was covered with career opportunity postings, a marked change from last year’s conference in New Orleans where attendance was significantly less, job postings were far fewer and the mood was subdued and cautious. What a difference a year makes!!

The Baltimore AFP Conference was also a great opportunity to introduce James Graham, the newest member of the Planned Legacy team. James is a Business Development Manager with a lot of great experience in both architectural donor displays as well as electronic multimedia systems, so he’ll be a great asset to Planned Legacy clients on the US eastern seaboard, which represents most of his sales territory. James comes to us from another donor recognition company where he enjoyed a great career and we’re confident that all his skills and experience will prove to be a great asset for our growing family of Planned Legacy clients.

That’s it for me. Look for Jared Novoseller, our Toronto-based Business Development Manager at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Conference at the Toronto Hyatt Regency April 18-20, 2010. He’ll be there with Carla Borges, our interior design specialist who’ll be in Toronto to attend the Society For Environmental Graphic Design conference.