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“I have fallen in love with the IWRM ever since my first participation in 2003 by briefly presenting my case study as PR director of the Jimmy Carter Work Project. I have looked forward to participating again and I did so this time at the 8th IWRM 2008 in Malaysia. My visit to the IWRM this time was much more fascinating, and more exciting than before, thanks to the well organised professionalism of the event. I am sure fundraisers are not only "friend raisers" but also mission builders who can be influential for the GOOD WILL to change the world! Thank you for organising this event for fundraisers with all my heart. ...See you in India in 2009!!”
Joy (Mi Hyang) Sohn, Fundraising Director, International Vaccine Institute, Korea
“The IWRM was a valuable experience for me because it offers the possibility for contacting great people and expanding my network. What was remarkable was the genuine attitude of the participants; the pure and sincere motivation and desire to learn and upgrade their operations and effectiveness."
Massimo Trombin, President, Field Coordinator/Project, International Relief Friendship Foundation, Luxembourg
"I thought the 8th IWRM was a great place to gain more experiences and valuable knowledge in fundraising. I learnt lots of technical fundraising knowledge and new ideas that I never knew about before such as 'migrant philanthropy' which was great to learn, as well as the latest trends of giving in the world. I got to meet many people from many countries in the world to network with, and have already received e-mails from friends of the event, who are back from KL with energy about our next meeting on fundraising next week!”
Puangchomphu Rammuang, Thai Fund Foundation, Thailand
“Thank you so much for organising the events of the 8th IWRM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The talented efforts that the team extended were just brilliant. It was an amazing experience for me. The sessions that I attended were excellent and I learnt a lot. In fact, I have been re-energised having new experiences and techniques of fundraising and accordingly, I am going to make some plans immediately which, I believe, will help my tiny organisation march forward and contribute to save the environment for our next generation”.
Siraj Molla, Director, Sunder Jiban, Bangladesh
“For me, the best part of the workshop was getting to know the real features of fundraising. It was like opening up a box of treasures. The trainers are not only experts. They are inspirers. From the workshop I had a glance of the whole picture of fundraising. But it's not just that. I also learned how to use fundraising as a strategy for organisational development. The topics are arranged with sound logic, and can meet the needs of the participants at all levels. The workshop didn't meet my expectations. It exceeded my expectations. I was preparing to learn some techniques. It turned out that my mindset was changed. When I came back, I had a workshop with my colleagues and we worked for a few days to develop a strategic fundraising plan for our organisation”.
Xiaomu Guo, CEO, Xintu Centre for Community Health Promotion, Shanghai, China
“The IWRM workshop gave me the opportunity to network with other fundraising professionals from around the world. There were so many bright ideas I learnt. One in particular was the session on organising your first fundraising event. I will be applying these skills to my first fundraising event, a college concert to be held in December 2008! I am excited and looking forward to raising $$$!”
Sunita Winitkoonchai, Programmes Assistant, ADRA Asia Regional Office, Thailand
“After attending the 8th IWRM I am planning to organise a fundraising event to support the first AIDS hospice within my city. The event will be a concert, carefully planned to ensure funds are raised. I learnt how to plan an event such as this during the workshop. In addition, I have also learnt how to communicate with potential donors and therefore I have arranged meetings with 2 local donors; I am hoping to secure 2 grants from them both as a result”.
Elena Vvedenskaya, Regional Programmes Senior Manager, Nizhny Novgorod Society for Palliative Care, Russia
“The IWRM is an invaluable workshop which will contribute a lot to my career success. I learnt from the IWRM how to write winning proposals and how to inspire audiences, colleagues and donors with my passion for the work that I am doing or plan to do. I am also now prepared to not only “jump out of the box” but more than that - “change the box” of my life to be more developed and successful. Coming back from the IWRM I am enriched with more ideas for fundraising and how to gain support from potential donors as well as maintaining their interest. I am motivated to be creative and innovative in my work as well as in my personal life. As a programme manager, I have learnt from the workshop how to use resources effectively and as a trainer, I have learned how to make training become an engaging and fun activity".
Phan Bich Thuy, MD, MPH, Senior Training & Services Advisor, Ipas, Vietnam
“All the ideas that I have gained from the workshop I have shared with my team. I have written a report of all the notes I took so that I can refer to it as and when required. One major achievement has been entering the bank sector. We are now in correspondence with a national bank so that we can send information about our organisation to all their credit card users through their mailing system”.
Esha Thapa Dhungana, Director, Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre, Nepal
"What I learned and appreciated most from the 8th IWRM were the concepts that can be tried immediately, the motivation to be creative, and the motivation and guidance to seek a new class of investors. The IWRM provided excellent speakers and subjects that, coupled with interacting with other resource development professionals have given me new ideas and techniques to use to expand the support for my organisation. A large measure of inspiration was added to the concepts presented which will translate into action to recruit meaningful financial and volunteer support. I look forward to continuing to exchange ideas with new friends from the conference and eagerly await my next opportunity to learn more at the next IWRM conference.”
Jim Yarbrough, Director, Operation Smile Thailand
“I had never attended any international opportunities to learn fundraising techniques in my 15 year career in the non-profit sector before attending the 8th IWRM. I thank you all for giving me this opportunity and I assure you that I will really be able to make a difference in my organisation very soon on the basis that I can enhance my resource mobilisation strategy and donor mapping through the things I learnt at the IWRM. I must say that the workshop has given me encouragement to feel proud of myself while working as resource mobilisation professional for the cause of humanity”
Mohammad Zia-ur-Rehman, Chief Executive, Awaz Foundation: Centre for Development Services, Pakistan
“All the sessions I attended at the 8th IWRM were brilliant, I found something new in every one; I wish I could have attended them all! I especially found the sessions on communications and advocacy tools very useful. Before attending the workshop I had expectations to gain practical skills in fundraising, strategic direction, inspiration and ideas, an understanding of donors and how to approach them, and access to an international network of NPO professionals. I met all these expectations through participation in the 8th IWRM, as well as how to think BIG for myself and for my organisation”.
Maniruzzaman, Finance Manager, Transparency International, Bangladesh
“Attending the 8th IWRM has duplicated my motivation to help structuring the fundraising corp. in a country where the word fundraising itself is unknown. During the workshop I met two Egyptian fundraisers working for an international organisation and we agreed to start working for the creation of an association for professional fundraising in Egypt, as well as joining the efforts of our mutual organisations to provide better learning opportunities for resource mobilisation professionals and exchange of best practices and know how”.
Ouafa Belgacem, Head of Fundraising Unit, Egyptian Antiquities Information System, Egypt
"What I learned most from the IWRM were new approaches to fundraising and new areas to explore in raising funds; looking at different potential resources around the globe, from individuals and the private sector which I never thought of during the past resource mobilisation I have done. The mixture of the topics presented was very useful and covered organisational management and fundraising. The other area I enjoyed and learned from was being creative and innovative, thinking beyond where you are now to new ideas and a new future. For me this was rejuvenating and from these new ideas I will be able to implement successful resource mobilisation at work and in my community”.
Jephias Mundondo, Executive Director, Family AIDS Caring Trust, (Mutare), Zimbabwe
“As a result of my attendance to the IWRM I plan to embark on my own independent research for the fundraising sector and intend to follow up many leads in India, through contacts I met at the workshop. I have also started a "Fundraiser's in Thailand" Network and we will be having our first meeting next weekend. We've had a good response so far, and I am looking forward to seeing some people from the conference and some new faces as well”.
Hannah Perkins, Marketing & Communications Officer, UNDP Regional Centre Bangkok, Thailand
“The best part of the IWRM was that it gave me the opportunity to meet and network with people from the world of fundraising. I found most useful the sharing of practical ideas and new fundraising techniques in dealing with Major Donors and Individual Donors for successful fundraising; which were drawn from research and analysis done globally. The workshop also allowed me to meet people from different organisations, share ideas and speak about challenges in fundraising. I learnt for myself and my organisation practical ideas and tips on fundraising e.g. - Major Donors and the Joy of Donors which will be extremely useful in my position within Oxfam”.
Prema Balasubramanian, Regional Programme Funding Coordinator - South Asia, OXFAM GB in India
