Adventures in Fundraising: 2014 Year in Review [VIDEO]

I'm guessing that if I look at your kitchen counter or dining room table right now, there's at least one holiday newsletter sitting there. There's probably a great list of all the wonderful things your friend (or in some cases,vague acquaintance) and his or her family did this year.

Consider this the GoalBusters video version of that newsletter. And we don't even take up counter space.

The life of GoalBusters definitely had plenty of surprises this year, big and small, good and bad. Of note...

• Visiting the NPR "mothership" in DC for a client, only to discover that Suzanne Vega is playing a Tiny Desk concert for NPR Music
• Beginning work with two clients that dramatically shifted our client base back into public broadcasting
• Adding a new colleague to our team, JC Patrick
• Celebrating my birthday in Puerto Rico kayaking on a bio-luminescent bay with a gaggle of my AFP friends

Of course, there were many challenges and disappointments in 2014, and through those challenges, we learned a lot-about our profession, our clients, and ourselves.

2015 will mark the 15th year of this company, and the tenth year of Jim and I working together. As we transition into the new year, I think this quote sums up 2014 well, and is a great guiding principle for 2015:

Here's wishing you a happy holiday and a great adventure in the coming year!

Thanks for flying with us,

Alice

Founder and Partner, GoalBusters

Why I Like TripIt

I do all the GoalBusters travel arrangements. I know I should delegate this, but, in reality, it's one of the things I like to do. I enjoy it!

One of the tools in our travel toolbox is TripIt. This is a total fan post, so bear with me. (I don't get compensated for this, by the way.)

There are several things I like about TripIt:

1. I can forward confirmations for hotel, air, car, restaurants, etc. from most travel websites and it creates a master itinerary for me/us. Since I don't have a travel agent, it is kind of my "virtual agent" organizing all the details into one place.

2. When I travel, I can access the TripIt site from my phone and get all my travel information on one schedule. It also calculates directions, so I know where I'm going.

3. It live updates flight status when I access it on my phone, so I know in advance about delays or gate changes. On the Pro version, I can also search for alternate flights.

4. More than one person can collaborate on the same itinerary. So if Jim schedules something, he can add it to the schedule, and we'll both see it the next time we log in, or get emailed that something was scheduled. I can also provide access to other people, like clients, so they can schedule me too.

5. It let's me know which connections are nearby. I've had some connections proactively contact me to schedule meetings when they know I'm coming.

For TripIt Pro, I also get the added benefit of tracking my frequent flier points or miles, and more importantly, the membership numbers. I've been much better about adding my member numbers to hotels in particular, getting me some perks on occasion. Check it out here.

100 Days of Gratitude, Day 4: Unexpected Friends

Margo Hudson is not someone we expected to meet. She's one of the housekeeping staff at the United President's Club at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

When we met Margo, we were on a strange itinerary in May 2012 that involved a long layover in Cleveland. I arrived first and settled in, then Jim joined an hour later.

Margo takes very good care of her club. She is constantly on the lookout for items that need to be picked up, tables that need to be cleared, chairs that need to be straightened.

She came to clear our used items. Jim tried to help, and dropped a cup of ranch dressing on the floor. Upside down.

When Jim started to clean it up, Margo was horrified. "Oh no, sir, I can do that."

Jim replied, "My Grandma always said it's not wrong to make a mess, it's wrong to leave one."

Margo grinned, and we all became instant friends. She checked on us regularly, teased us about how long our layover was, and asked when we'd be back. I returned a couple days later and ended up exchanging emails.

Many months later, I flew through Cleveland again. On a whim, I stopped at the Club to see if Margo was there. She was.

"Alice! You came back! How's your friend, Jim? And where have you been since I saw you last?"

We've exchanged several emails since then, including one today: Margo was featured in Cleveland Magazine for her connection with Seeds of Literacy, as a student and now as a volunteer!

After congratulating her, we thanked Margo for being our unexpected friend and an inspiration. She's been one of the highlights of our travels, and I hope we get to see her in person again soon.

######

Connect with GoalBusters     

Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris
Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Shameless Plug for TripIt.com

We at GoalBusters have been teased quite a bit for our obsessive use of TripIt.com. So when our friend, Chris Adams of Partners in Recognition asked us about what benefits we saw from this online service, we thought we'd put together our thoughts here.

There are several things we like about TripIt:

1. We can forward confirmations for hotel, air, car, restaurants, etc. from most travel websites and it creates a master itinerary for us. Since we don't have a travel agent, it is our "virtual agent" organizing all the details into one place.

2. When we travel, we can access the TripIt site from our BlackBerries and get all our travel information on one schedule. It also calculates directions, so we know where we're going.

3. On the phone, it live updates flight status through FlightStats.com, so we know in advance about delays or gate changes. We've even figured out where the best food is in the airport before.

4. More than one person can collaborate on the same itinerary. So if one of us schedules something, we can add it to the schedule, and we'll both see it the next time we log in, or get emailed that something was scheduled. We can also provide access to others who aren't on the trip, like our assistant, so she could schedule meetings as well.

5. In addition, it speaks to LinkedIn.com, which is where we've gotten most of our ribbing. Through the TripIt feed, connections can see when we're traveling near them. We've had some connections proactively contact us to schedule meetings when they know we're traveling.

So that's why we like TripIt.com.