Alice Ferris to Receive Founders’ Medallion From Largest Community of Fundraisers in the World

Alice Ferris, ACFRE, CFRE, MBA will receive the AFP
Founders’ Medallion at AFP ICON in Baltimore on March 29th

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the largest community of fundraising professionals in the world, will honor long-time fundraiser Alice Ferris, CFRE, ACFRE, with its Founders’ Medallion for her extraordinary contributions to the organization and the fundraising profession. Congratulations Alice! We are so proud of you!

(Reprinted from the AFPGlobal.org)

(Arlington, VA)  The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the largest community of fundraising professionals in the world, will honor long-time Arizona fundraiser Alice Ferris, CFRE, ACFRE, with its Founders’ Medallion for her extraordinary contributions to the organization and the fundraising profession at its upcoming international conference, AFP ICON 2020, in Baltimore, Md.

The AFP Founders’ Medallion is presented to members who, through their dedication to the principles of ethical and effective fundraising, honor the legacy of AFP’s founders: Harry Rosen, Benjamin Sklar, Abel Hanson and William R. Simms. Recipients must have been members for at least 20 years, served with local chapters and at the international level, and worked to foster the development of the profession and the fundraising community throughout their careers.

Ferris is the founding partner and chief executive of GoalBusters, a consulting firm in Flagstaff, Ariz., focusing on small nonprofits. Through her consulting firm, she is currently supporting fundraising activities for KAWC Colorado River Public Media and Border Radio in Yuma, Ariz., the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wisc., and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., among others.

Prior to launching her consulting firm, Ferris served as director of development and similar positions for a variety of organizations, including Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff Medical Center and KNAU Arizona Public Radio, all located in Flagstaff. At each organization, she vastly increased membership and fundraising numbers, such as leading KNAU to its first $1 million fundraising year.

Ferris has more than 30 years of affiliation with public broadcasting and has appeared on numerous public television and radio pledge drives, including national PBS fundraisers for Downton Abbey, Ken Burns: America’s Storyteller and Suze Orman’s Financial Solutions for You.

"It was a total shock to get the call from AFP President and CEO Mike Geiger asking me to accept this honor,” Ferris said. “Honestly, I thought he was calling me to serve on a task force to select the next recipient! AFP has been such an ingrained part of my professional identity for so long that it has always felt natural for me to volunteer and give back. The list of members who have received the Founders' Medallion includes people whom I consider part of AFP's fabric, and whom I respect as fundraising trailblazers and change-makers. And, luckily for me, a few of them I consider mentors and friends. I'm sure that they, like myself, did not commit to service to AFP and the profession for the recognition—my volunteerism is an inherent part of my calling to be a fundraiser. So this is an unexpected privilege and a gift."

An active volunteer with AFP for decades, Ferris has served as president of the AFP Northern Arizona Chapter on three separate occasions over the last twenty years—as well as every other chapter position, including multiple times as chair of the AFP Arizona State Conference. On the international level, she was on the board of AFP Global for eight years, including two years as vice chair of member and chapter services. Over the years, Ferris has held leadership roles in all areas of association operations, including credentialing, awards, membership, chapter development and fundraising.

Ferris was the 90th professional to receive the Advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive (ACFRE) credential, the most rigorous certification process available to professional fundraisers and which has only been conferred to 114 fundraisers around the world. She is also a three-time recipient of the Northern Arizona Chapter’s Fundraising Professional of the Year award.

“When you think of service and AFP, Alice Ferris comes top of mind,” said Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, president and CEO of AFP. “She has contributed so much to AFP over the years, and her efforts have improved so many different aspects of our association and the community of fundraisers worldwide. This honor is so well deserved, and on behalf of the board and staff of AFP, I want to thank her for everything she has done for fundraising.”

Ferris earned her Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Radio-TV-Film and Economics and her Master of Business Administration with a double major in Accounting and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She obtained her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) in 1999 and is certified through 2020. She received her ACFRE in 2010 and has been an AFP Master Teacher since 2006.

The 21st AFP member to receive the Founders’ Medallion, Ferris will receive the honor during the Opening General Session of AFP ICON 2020, the largest gathering of fundraising professionals in the world, March 29, in Baltimore, Md.

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The Party's Over! - Conducting Special Event Audits

GoalBusters conducted a FREE "Special Events" critical analysis webinar for nearly 700 Bloomerang registrants. Here is our presentation in SlideShare format.

The Party's Over: Conducting a Special Event Audit from GoalBusters Consulting

Here is the complete video presentation as delivered by GoalBusters' Alice Ferris, ACFRE and Jim Anderson, CFRE hosted by Bloomerang.

Everyone likes a good party, but what do you do when you know in your heart that a fundraising event has reached the end of its effective life? Rather than let the party go on, conduct an objective event audit and let the facts help you decide what do to next.

In this practical session, we'll discuss the signs of a failing event, the tools to analyze the event's effective return, ways to soften the blow to volunteers of ending a losing program, and strategies to evaluate new events before they even happen.

Resolution Redux: Happy Chinese New Year!

February 8, 2016 marks the beginning of the year of the monkey, and two weeks of celebrations in Chinese communities. And if you've dropped the ball on your 2016 resolutions, here's a chance to revisit them!

Each year, like many people, we begin the year with great intentions of many changes. And by February, the gyms are empty again, the snack food aisle at the grocery store needs restocking, and the vegetables in the crisper drawer really should be thrown out.

So in light of the lunar new year, here's your chance for a do-over, particularly in the context of your fundraising program!

Related Post: Chinese New Year Traditions for Nonprofits

Assess your health. How do you know if your nonprofit is healthy if you never measure it? Check out the Fundraising Effectiveness Project's Fundraising Fitness Test for a comprehensive, but pretty easy, measure of your organization's health.

Pick a BIG goal. This might be for your organization or for your own career development. Maybe it's an idea that this year you will break through a big financial milestone. Or perhaps you want to consider pursuing a credential, such as the CFRE or the ACFRE. Whatever it is, write it down, and then tell someone about it. It's not real until you tell at least one person!

Seek out a new coach or mentor. While you might have a great group of supportive mentors and coaches already, it can be easy to get stuck in a rut. At a conference, or online, reach out to someone that you think may have a different perspective, or experience with your big goal. You never know what they might say, if you don't ask!

Pick ONE thing to do differently over the next 30 days. Not 10 days, not 60 days, just 30 days, and only ONE thing. Most change fails because you're trying to do too much at once, like eat different foods, and exercise, and sleep more, etc..  If you want something to stick, you need to stick to one thing. Perhaps you want to make a donor contact every day--not necessarily a solicitation, but a contact. Or you want to get rid of at least one old email every day (that's not asking much, is it?) Just pick ONE thing.

Whatever your goal, whatever your one thing is, we wish you success and prosperity in the new year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

For a cool 360 view of some of the people at my 2016 Chinese New Year party, check out Jim Anderson's ThetaS 360 post. (Alice)

I love every person in this photo. (I think that's 27 people.) Look around, it's a 360 #theta #phototsphere - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Happy Hawaiian Holidays from the GoalBusters Elves

Happy Holidays from the GoalBusters Hawaiian Ukulele and Surf Team:
Alice Ferris - Jim Anderson - Annagreta Jacobson - J.C. Patrick and Elta Foster!

Another GoalBusters Consulting, LLC Video Production.

Connect with GoalBusters     

Alice Ferris      alice.ferris

Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

CFRE and ACFRE: Why certify?

"What do all those letters mean?"

I've been teased for having more letters after my name than are in my name. (For the record, there are actually 14 letters in my full name and only 12 letters after my name, so there.) I received my CFRE in 1999 and my ACFRE in 2010, and I proudly display those letters after my name on my business cards and email signatures.

So why should you care? Why do I care?

First, some definitions.
CFRE: Certified Fund Raising Executive, a credential for fundraising professionals worldwide with 5 or more years of professional experience in fundraising, is a practice based certification. The parallel I sometimes use is that the CFRE is like a CPA, in that you must be currently active in the field. The CFRE must be re-certified every three years and demonstrate ongoing professional practice and professional development over that period. The certification is administered by CFRE International, an independent, accredited organization based in the US.

ACFRE: Advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive, is a credential for those with 10 or more years of experience in the field. Unlike the CFRE, the ACFRE is a permanent designation demonstrating a senior level depth and breadth of knowledge in the sector. Candidates go through a four stage process that takes 1-2 years and is designed to determine the level of sophistication and nuance of your understanding of the profession and your ability to apply critical thinking techniques to best practices. While historically the ACFRE was tied to the CFRE, this credential is completely separate from CFRE, and is administered by a volunteer committee of AFP International, with advice from the Professional Examination Service.

Voluntary credentials
There are many professional arenas that provide certification for those committed to that career: human resources, public relations, meeting planning, interior design, software support, real estate, etc.

Professional credentialing is, in most cases, voluntary. You do not have to have a credential to practice in the field, but it is sometimes considered a competitive advantage, depending on how established the credential is. You may, however, be required to have a license; professions that require licensure are legally mandated by government entities to demonstrate a baseline level of proficiency.

To credential or not
Rory Green has written a good piece about her own debate over getting the CFRE, and I think she has some valid points. For me, credentialing is important because...

• Desire to show long term commitment to the field. I was 28 years old when I decided to pursue my CFRE. Given that the average tenure in a fundraising position is 3-5 years, I wanted to show that I intended to stick with my career for the long haul.
• Differentiating myself from others. I believe that being credentialed in fundraising has provided me a degree of competitive advantage in my overall personal brand. I'll admit, I have not experienced dramatic financial increases because of my certifications. The "What is a CFRE or ACFRE?" question, however, has triggered many interesting discussions about my professional fundraising philosophy with employers, donors, volunteers and other fundraisers. Regardless of their knowledge of the credentials, they remembered my commitment to fundraising.
• Investment in the sector. The evaluation structure for either credential is intentional. For example, CFRE International goes through a review of fundraising practice every five years to determine if the exam is testing for the right domains of knowledge and to see if there have been changes in our fundamental practice. We just completed this process and, as someone who has served twice on this task force, it is an intellectually challenging exercise to look at the sector globally and hone in on the core body of knowledge. This whole process not only guides the construction of the exam questions, but also determines where there are gaps in research within the sector.
  
  Sometimes people get frustrated because they feel that the exam doesn't cover current practice, but the challenge is that current practice doesn't always have literature and research to back it up for testing purposes. It's not that CFRE is ignoring current practice; it's waiting for research to catch up.
• Investment in myself. As they say, sometimes it's the journey that's important, not the destination. In my case, the ACFRE process was an intense, in-depth self examination. I had to showcase what I had learned and accomplished throughout my career to date. I had several moments when I almost gave up (ahem, three tries to pass the written exam), but in the end, had gone successfully through an evaluation process that helped me articulate how proud I am of what I have contributed to our sector.

Bottom line
Yes, some incredible fundraisers will never pursue a credential. Yes, there are people who are credentialed who aren't very good. A fundraising credential is not a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval"--you should always evaluate a person based on your own knowledge, not because some outside group applied a label. I am very proud to be both a CFRE and an ACFRE because of my personal values about investing in myself and the overall body of knowledge in fundraising. It's not for everyone, but it's certainly important to me.


Full disclosure, I serve on the ACFRE Credentialing Board for the Association of Fundraising Professionals and also serve as a volunteer for CFRE International. These opinions are my own and not an official position of either of these organizations.

A good reference guide about the difference between a certification and an academic certificate is on the CFRE website here.

You are a Person NOT a Company - "BAD LinkedIn Connection Requests"

I NEVER accept a Facebook friend request or a LinkedIn invitation to connect from a company. DUH! You are not a company. You are a person that incorrectly set up your LinkedIn profile. 

Please feel free to copy and paste my standard response below as a reply email to anyone who sends you an email to become friends on Facebook with or connect on LinkedIn with their "Locksmithing Company" or "Real Estate Agency." It's written for LinkedIn, but minor edits will make it apply to most social media platforms.

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Hello, I received an invitation to "connect" with your business. Your have incorrectly set up your LinkedIn profile. Businesses can't have personal LinkedIn "connections." Businesses should create company or organization "pages" and you as an owner should have a personal profile where you are identified as an individual, by role at the company and THEN you can invite others to connect with you personally and/or "follow" your company. Your profile isn't a person's profile it is currently set up as basically a Yellow Pages ad. Businesses who set pages up as "people" either don't understand Linkedin's policies, or worse are purposefully attempting to use LinkedIn as a direct mail/spam marketing device. LinkedIn is designed to be a networking tool for people, NOT a solicitation tool for companies. If you want to connect as a person, please send me another invitation from a person's profile.

Also, some companies and individuals send bulk direct messages to their contracts. If they are sending unsolicited marketing or sales offers, they are spamming their contacts and they are violating anti-spam laws, they are in violation of LinkedIn's Terms of Service and they are abusing their relationships with their contacts. There are staff members of a Northern Arizona radio station that are notorious for this egregious spamming practice. I hope this is not one of your practices.

Good luck with your business.

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Feel free to edit the above message to fit your circumstances and degree of annoyance.

Marketing With Facebook Photos

I often see organizations and individuals "repost" their existing Facebook photos duplicating the photos. This is unnecessary and ineffective unless you're reusing an existing photo as a Cover Photo or Profile Picture in which case duplication is unavoidable. However, if the goal is to "borrow" content from the past to add current visual content to a post today, there are few more efficient/effective ways to do that. 

 

The ultimate goal with Facebook is to increase engagement with audience. A person can't be engaged if they don't see your post and they won't see your post unless it shows up in their Facebook News Feed. How likely something is to show up on a person's News Feed is determined by "Facebook's feed prioritization algorithm" formally called "EdgeRank."  This algorithm determines which posts show up on in a user's news feed, how high in that feed and for how long.  Facebook execs claim there are as many as 100,000 variables that produce the News Feed. The three original EdgeRank elements, Affinity, Weight and Time Decay are still  part of the evaluation and interactions (likes, shares, comments) are very important.

If you repost an existing image or video as a new timeline update as opposed to sharing it from it's existing/previous location, you LOSE ALL previous interactions, meaning that new posts starts from "zero." If you do not want "waste" prior engagement and interactions there are a few more efficient ways to use existing content.

1. Share a link to an existing photo album. It will generate a post that looks identical to an original "new" post. AND it retains ALL captions, links, photo credits AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...it retains all the engagements...likes, comments, shares, etc. Those "engagements" are gold in increasing the post's rankings in Facebook's prioritization system. You can use Facebook's "share" feature or share the link by copying and pasting the url for the album.

2. Share a specific photo from an existing Facebook album. This allows you a wealth of photos you can post as you work to generate buzz for specific recurring events or ongoing topics while retaining all the engagements as mentioned above. It will navigate the user to the specific photo within the album and they can explore the album and your Facebook page from there, all while building your overall engagement. You can use Facebook's "share" feature or share the link by copying and pasting the url for the photo. 

3. Add new photos to an existing album. When you add photos to an existing album, the photos appear as a new post on your timeline and are a part of the existing album so viewers might explore previously posted photos. Also, when you add photos to an existing album that album "jumps" up to the top of the list of your photo albums because it has been edited with new content. 

TIPS FOR MARKETING WITH FACEBOOK PHOTOS

 

Improve Engagement When posting photos to Facebook that are suitable to create an album, ALWAYS try to post 4 or more photos. An MTV comparative test demonstrated that posting 4 or more photos generated 1200% more clicks than a single photo posted. To create ongoing interest and engagement you might choose to post 4 or more photos from an event over a period of days creating serial storytelling experience.

Be Strategic. Select your album's Cover Photo carefully. And think about how you organize your photos within the album to place the most dynamic photos first in the album to generate interest, even if that means putting some photos out of chronological order. You can always go back and rearrange the photos to be chronological later if that's important.

Tag People. When you tag someone, you often draw attention to your event or organization from people that are completely unaware of you. But don't over do it. Only post flattering photos and only tag a person in a few photos within a given album. Group photos are a great way to get a conversation started. Tag a few people and they or their friends will tag others.

Honor Privacy If you want to make someone aware of a photo but don't want to leave the tag "public," tag them and then immediately remove the tag. They'll get a notification, but it won't show up in other people's News Feed. 

Tell Stories and Provide Information. Always add captions, links and photo credits to your photos. Your goal is to create visual storytelling with your photos and your captions and links provide information and entertainment for your viewers while delivering "thank you" value to the people and organizations in the photos. It's just common courtesy.

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due. If you are posting someone else's photo, be sure to ALWAYS give them credit. When possible post a link back to a website, blog, or social media site that they would want promoted.

Photos can be your most effective posts in creating social engagement, I hope some of these tips help you better engage your communities.

Here are some additional training resources.

Fundraising Success:  Creating Your 'Virtual Porch'

Advancing Philanthropy:  Social Media - You’re Not Herding Sheep, You’re Tending a Garden

ONLINE Prezi Training by GoalBusters, LLC Plug In! Social Media for NonProfits

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Connect with GoalBusters     
Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris      alice.ferris

100 Days of Gratitude, Day 12: The Team

Elta Foster, Alice Ferris, Jim Anderson & Tegwin Tiffany

Unless you're Kanye West or Donald Trump, you'll probably admit that you need other people to support and collaborate with you to in order to achieve your full potential.

I've been fortunate to be a part of many great teams from my undefeated High School Football team to record breaking corporate sales teams to the nonprofit organizations I serve today. But one of the most collaborative, supportive, fun and empowering teams I've ever been a part of was the Development Team at KNAU Arizona Public Radio. Together we achieved great things including producing the first, and only $1,000,000 fundraising year in the station's 30 year history.

The team begins with Elta Foster, the Membership Manager and the "foundation" of our team. Alice Ferris, ACFRE was the Development Director. She had just lost 1/2 her staff "overnight" when she hired me as Sales Manager. For about six months it was just the three of us doing the jobs of six people. That kind of challenge either brings you together or tears you apart. It cemented our relationships and they thrive to this day. Tegwin eventually joined us as Development Coordinator and Maddie (Synnott) Stansell rounded out our team as Development Assistant. Together we broke the records set before us and created new milestones. None of our accomplishments would have been possible if not for the strengths and sense of common purpose each person brought to the team.

We're taking Elta to dinner to thank her for being our "rock" and for her leadership and kindness. We're sending a care package to Colorado for Maddie and maybe we'll Skype to share "in person" how much her contributions and support empowered our success. Sadly, Tegwin is no longer with us, but we'll honor her contributions as well.

I've said before that all you need to create a successful team is cooperation and enthusiasm, but here are a few other characteristics that help create effective and highly producing teams.

Common Goals: Team members understand shared goals and agree that they are important and attainable.

Emotional Commitment: Everyone is personally invested in the success of the team and cares about their teammates' experience.

"We" Mentality: The team thinks in terms of "we," working together toward the same goals. Teams find ways to "pitch in," overcoming challenges and maximizing opportunities. It's unacceptable to say "It's not my job." Instead the question is always "How can I help?"

Specialized Skills: Individuals within the team each have unique valuable strengths and skills that they bring to each task and are recognized and valued by the team. Each has independent responsibilities that contribute to the common goals.

Clear Leadership: Leadership may change depending on projects, circumstances and events, but there are not battles for control during transitions.

Celebrations of Success: Long term goals can be draining. Strong teams find reasons to celebrate small successes in order to improve morale and provide motivation.

Thank you to the people that create teams that work. It isn't easy and takes time to mature, but when it works the end result is exponentially more than what you could have accomplished alone.

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Connect with GoalBusters
Jim Anderson GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris alice.ferris