Our Flat World

I spent last week at the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands. It was a heady experience with over 950 delegates representing 60 countries. Meeting and learning from colleagues on a global scale is becoming increasingly more valuable for all of us as we compare and benchmark with our peers. Though I was disappointed to be not only the sole delegate from Israel, but (as far as I could tell) the only participant working in the Jewish world.

Over the next several weeks I be highlighting lessons learned from the world’s top fundraisers and also bringing you thoughts from this diverse audience on the current state of the global economy and the projected effects on philanthropy. What was most interesting, is that almost without exception and despite the current ‘economic mess’, attendees were upbeat about plans for the next year. While the economy certainly played into many sessions, and was the focus of a special mini-plenary the last morning, we all saw opportunity in the challenge.