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.

Social Media Management in 15 Minutes or Less a Day

At the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference on Fundraising in San Antonio, Texas, in March, I did a very short presentation on how to manage your organization's (or your) social media presence in 15 minutes or less. My presentation was actually 9 minutes long, and they started shutting off the lights in the exhibit hall as I wrapped up!

So, now here's the presentation in blog form. The video presentation is even shorter than at Conference: it's FIVE minutes. So there.

Here are the primary tools I mention:
Content aggregator: Feedly
Content queue: Buffer
Feed management: Hootsuite
Follower management: CrowdFire
Email filters: I don't go into a whole lot of detail here, so check out DottoTech for great tutorials on Gmail.

And the deck was created in HaikuDeck.


Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app

Enjoy!

100 Days of Gratitude, Day 8: Investing in Our Profession

Past and present AFP Vice Chairs of Membership (l to r):
Alice Ferris, Joyce Mitchell-Antoine, Joseph Goepfrich,
Susan Earl Hosbach, Ann Hale, and Vice President Lori Gusdorf.
Not pictured:
Bill Hallett, Phil Schumacher, Jay Frey

People who know me know that I have invested a lot of time volunteering for the Association of Fundraising Professionals. In spite of the challenges of the time, travel and financial contributions, it is still one of my most fulfilling volunteer jobs.

But how did this come to be?

Like a lot of things in life, when I started this adventure, I wasn't expecting much. I was serving my first year (of eventually four years) as president of the small but mighty AFP Northern Arizona Chapter. I got some letter (yes, letter) inviting me to serve on an international committee, and I blindly signed up. It was the Chapter Support Subcommittee, chaired by Susan Earl Hosbach, CFRE.

I had no idea what I was getting into, but before long, I volunteered to do something. I don't even remember what it was, but Susan immediately identified me as a "good volunteer." And someone with leadership potential, apparently, because when she moved up in the volunteer structure, so did I.

Phil Schumacher, CFRE, ACFRE, got into the mix as well, encouraging me in other volunteer and leadership areas in the membership division of AFP. Others in the division leadership also supported my involvement, including Roderick Reinhart, CFRE, Jay Frey, CFRE, Ann Hale, CFRE, Joyce Mitchell-Antoine, CFRE and Vice President of Member and Chapter Services, Lori Gusdorf, CAE. (Not a complete list, for sure!) Eventually, I served as Vice Chair of Membership in 2009-2010, which was one of my most challenging and most rewarding volunteer commitments to date.

So what did all these people do to encourage my volunteer service?

1. Provided genuine appreciation for my work. I never felt like someone was just giving me lip service. They provided timely, personal and specific thanks for my efforts.
2. Followed through on promises. If they said they were going to do something, they did it. Or, if it became unrealistic to follow through, they provided logical reasons why and alternate solutions.
3. Challenged me to stretch. I naturally gravitate, as most people do, toward things I'm good at. They often recognized before I did where I would excel.
4. Brought me into the bigger vision. I never felt like I was only privy to a small part of the picture. These leaders led and shared the big picture and made sure that budding leaders knew the direction we were headed.
5. Encouraged me to develop leadership that would come after me. Leadership in the membership division is not just about your current term, it's about who will serve next. It's easier to think big picture when you know there will be skilled leadership after you.

I am still involved in AFP, now not only in the membership division, but also in external relations, professional advancement and in resource development through the Canadian Foundation. I'm in the process of writing to many people who have invested their volunteer time in advancing philanthropy through our professional association, most of whom have also become my good friends in the process. In the meantime, thank you for your work and for influencing my philanthropic life.

The Best Way to Use Social Media in Fundraising

By ALICE FERRIS, CFRE, ACFRE 

This was a "Guest Blog" originally written for AFP Toronto

Social media is not the best tool to solicit a gift. There. I said it. So what’s all the fuss about? Social media is a very good tool for cultivation and stewardship. It has been said that social networking has created the largest cocktail party in the world and you can interact with any number of people without an invitation!

Here are some quick tips on what to do with your online presence:

• Plan your content. You don’t want all your messages to be about selling something or about you—the majority of your posts should be information that establishes you as an expert in your sector. Your posts should also, on a regular basis, include references from other content sources so you don’t sound like you just talk about yourself.
• Be consistent. Post something every day. There are many free apps available to streamline and schedule your posts, so you don’t have to be tied to the computer every day. If you’re not in someone’s stream on a regular basis, they will forget that you are there.
• Establish your voice. Show some personality so that people want to be connected to you! Remember, you’re cultivating a relationship—try to make your organization likeable online.
• Use positive reinforcement. If someone in your online network shares your information or advocates for you in some way, thank them for it. You don’t have to do this for every post, but periodically call attention to the fact that you’re paying attention. Also, regularly interact with people online. They need to know that you’re interested in them too.
• Use calls to action sparingly. If you have a well-established relationship with your online connections, you can mobilize them, but if you’re asking all the time, they will tune you out. Calls to action should be time sensitive—deadlines that aren’t too far away will be most effective.

Most organizations cannot afford to ignore social media, but understand that no one will “get rich quick” using these tools. Position online networking tools to augment your existing marketing, cultivation and stewardship programs.

Alice Ferris is the founding partner of GoalBusters, providing philanthropic leadership services such as outsourced development operations for small shops; strategic, development and marketing planning; board development and staff training. Join her session at Congress 2012 and follow her on twitter @aliceferris

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Connect with GoalBusters     

Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris
Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Creating Engaging Content for your Social Networks

A core value of your Social Networks is the improved engagement and relationships you can form with your communities. At the 2012 AFPTechKnow Conference in Orlando, Alice Ferris, ACFRE and Jim Anderson delivered the first two presentations in the Association of Fundraising Professionals "Live Learning Lab" series. Here are the YouTube videos, a few select Twitter posts and photos from those presentations which provide tips for improving the quality of your social content.

Jim Anderson delivers the first AFP Live Learning Lab presentation.

"Why Should I Care? Creating Entertaining and Engaging Content."

Alice Ferris presents the second AFP Live Learning Lab presentation.

"Structuring Content to Engage Your Audiences and Build Action"

Connect with GoalBusters     

Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris

Here's a link to the complete "Storify" version of this post. It also includes content from another GoalBusters AFPTechKnow presentation: "Plug-In!" Hardwiring Relationships with Social Networks"

(Storify empowers storytelling with Social Networks by bringing together all of the content created by the community.) 

Here are a few photos and select Tweets from Alice and Jim's AFPTechKnow Live Learning Lab Presentations. 

#AFPTechKnow Live Learning Lab @Jim_Anderson1 "Why Should I Care? - Creating Entertaining & Engaging Content" #AFPMeet

@GoalBusters

I'm here! MT@AFPTechKnow: @AFP Live for a chance 2 win iPad! Grt session with @GoalBusters about to start! @AFPTechKnow
@Laura Amerman

Thanks for joining us! RT @LEAmerman: Waiting for @Jim_Anderson1 and @AliceFerris at @afptechknow! #afpmeet  #afpeeps
@GoalBusters 

Pre-Show Nervous Coping Mechanism #4 at @AFPIHQ's Live Learning Lab in Orlando. #AFPTechKnow #AFPMeet

#AFPeeps Master Nick Ricci introduces @Jim_Anderson1 at the 1st @AFPIHQ Live Learning  Lab at #AFPTechKnow

 

Veteran Camera opp @aliceferris Flips the action at first @AFPIHQ #AFPTechKnow Live Learning Lab.

Inform, entertain, provide opportunity! #SM tips from @goalbusters @jim_anderson1 #afpmeet #afpeeps

@Laura Amerman

Long tweets create barrier to participation. 100 characters are best for getting RT'd #afpmeet @goalbusters

@Laura Amerman 

#AFPTechKnow Live Learning Lab: @AliceFerris "Structuring Content To Engage Your Audience"

RT @paul61877: @aliceferris nails the value of #140 characters 12 min vid @AFPIHQ at AFP Live 





 







RT @GoalBusters: #AFPTechKnow Live Learning Lab: @AliceFerris presents "In the Round."
@Jim Anderson

Connect with GoalBusters     

Jim Anderson      GoalBustersJim

Alice Ferris, ACFRE      alice.ferris

THANK YOU for Tweeting and ReTweeting! @LEAmerman @AFPIHQ @AFPTechKnow @AudreyWkdhq  @LydiaChicles @paul61877