Thankful for the Kindness of Strangers (and Friends): The Joys of Travel

With all the talk of full body scans and "friendly" pat downs, it makes you wonder why anyone would bother with travel at all! For GoalBusters, the last few months have been filled with many trips and through it all, we've met many people that make it worth the hassle.

Why travel is cool:

The Last Butter Tart
(before 5 of us ate it)

1. People generally want to share the best of their community. In Mexico City, my hosts were insistent that I tour the Anthropology Museum during my less than 72 hour trip for a presentation. They were so insistent that they arranged for a driver to whisk me from the conference to the museum, wait for me at the museum, and bring me back to the conference in time for one of the closing sessions. That driver also took me to a bank to get pesos (at my request) and took me to a street stall for lunch (and he even bought).



In Toronto, my friends Mark and Joseph Climie-Elliott invited people to join them for the Taste of the Danforth. A small group of us got to experience this lively Greek street festival and five of us shared a single butter tart, the last one remaining of several hundred that were made by the bakery we visited. It was a really good, really teeny piece of pastry which is now a link amongst Mark, Andrew Watt and I at Association of Fundraising Professionals meetings!

Carlos Madrid-Varela and Alice in Mexico City

2. People are pretty understanding if it looks like you're trying. I speak almost no Spanish. I can say por favor, gracias, si, no, a few numbers, and a smattering of other words related to food. Yet in spite of my less than preschool grasp of the language, every person I interacted with wanted to help me. Maybe they felt sorry for me, but I was put at ease almost immediately by everyone with a smile and "Don't worry, I speak a little English," or hand signals to try to communicate. In general, if you ask questions with genuine interest, you can usually get some good travel tips and maybe a clue to a hidden gem.

Jim Anderson Named AFP Northern Arizona Fundraising Professional of the Year

Jim Anderson of GoalBusters Consulting, LLC will be honored as the Fundraising Professional of the Year during the 2010 National Philanthropy Day®, hosted by The Association of Fundraising Professional Northern Arizona Chapter (AFPNAZ) Thursday, November 18 in Sedona, Ariz.

James Anderson
AFP Northern Arizona
2010 Fundraising Professional
of the Year

Anderson was nominated by Vernon Kahe, Alice Ferris, and Sararesa Begay-Hopkins for his contributions to the philanthropic community since 2005.

Anderson’s work with the Hopi Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) and KGHR Navajo Public Radio, among many others, gave him experience and motivation to be a philanthropist, while his personality and creativity gave him the characteristics it takes to be a one-of-a-kind leader.

“Often, one is surprised to see this uptight-looking guy in a suit and tie break out in a TV theme song, or even better, 'I’m a little teapot' or running around a crowded room sprinkling water, acting like rain,” said Kahe, resource development manager for the HEEF. “Although easygoing, Jim gets his point across, while the suit and tie lend credibility.”

Will work for frybread.

Ferris, Anderson’s business partner at GoalBusters Consulting, LLC since 2006, has a vast appreciation for Anderson’s personal commitment to philanthropy. During the Schultz Flood, he dropped everything he was doing to help an affected family shovel mud for fours days, and was rewarded for his hard work with frybread.

“I know Jim wants people to believe that he’s a tough salesman, but he has the heart of a philanthropist,” Ferris said. “I believe that this combination makes him an excellent fundraiser and worthy of this year’s award.”

Key Takeaways from the Fundamentals of Fundraising

We recently presented two modules of the AFP Fundamentals of Fundraising in Tuba City, Arizona, on the Hopi Reservation (and across the street from the Navajo Reservation.) The discussion and questions from our participants made us think about what key points really need to be communicated to people new to fundraising. Here are our thoughts: