Resource Alliance news

Resource Alliance celebrates most successful IFC ever

This year’s International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands last month attracted 958 delegates, from 552 organisations and 60 countries – the highest ever attendance.

The event saw the launch of the Fundraisers Fund, the new online fundraising programme that will allow fundraisers in the developed world to support the professional development of their colleagues in emerging markets. The fund (www.fundraisersfund.org) will be used to provide bursary places for fundraisers to Resource Alliance conferences and training events. Face to face fundraisers signed up 108 new donors worth £12,000 over the first year.

Other events included:

International data company Blackbaud unveild the results of its European State of the Non-Profit industry (SONI) survey, which was conducted in association with the Resource Alliance. This compared hopes and fears of fundraisers from the UK, Netherlands and Germany and revealed that Dutch fundraisers were the most optimistic about future income trends.

UK children’s charity NSPCC won the second Gold Star Award for Excellence in Fundraising DRTV following a vote by delegates.

An e-book was circulated to all delegates in which US consultant Kay Sprinkel Grace outlined the main arguments of her closing plenary – that fundraisers need to become ‘dream brokers’ to the donors who want to make a real difference in the world and are not content just to make donations to charity.

The 29th IFC will be held at the NH Leeuwenhorst Hotel, Netherlands from 20 – 23 October 2009.