Further adventures in Fundraising Learning

Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands.   So in an effort to do something different this year I decided to attend the Resource Alliance, International Fundraising Congress.  I arrived yesterday, Monday as the Congress begins at noon today.  Interestingly others obviously made the same decision.  It worked out well as after 14+ hours travelling I was able to sleep for 12 hours and awoke reasonably early this morning, first to have a leisurely breakfast and then to walk to the nearest village to look around.  

One of the disadvantages of having a conference in the same place each year is that as organizers we forget that others coming to the event may not be familiar with the area and so it was that there was no one able to give me any information about the area other than point me in the direction that they thought the village lay.  Luckily I had done some research and the hotel was able to give me a small map, however hosting any event, and as fundraisers we should be more than aware of over supplying information, the supply of local information and pieces of local folklore or interest should be part of any information pack.

The information session for first timers was a little disappointing, for perhaps because I'm a little jaded and there was nothing new for me.  Now I go into a 'Masterclass' Balanced Scorecard - linking strategic thinking directly to fundraising output.  Stay tuned!