That’s a wrap: FIA Conference 2021 & Awards for Excellence in Fundraising
The 2021 FIA Conference was held at the end of February, and for the first time, was delivered via digital platform. It was an outstanding conference with an informative, relevant and jam-packed program.
We learnt that fundraising is changing and it may be time to challenge the way things have always been done. Fundraisers need to be resilient, effective and decisive. There was much inspiration and reminders that there are plenty of opportunities for growth and success.
A few of my highlights from this year’s conference:
Simon Scriver’s session on changing the world one nugget at a time.
I know I’m not alone in thinking this was one of the most engaging online presentations I’ve seen. It was insightful, real and full of humour – a great mix! He provided some valuable methods of surprising and delighting donors and reminded us to be authentic, that we have the power to change a person’s day (or even life) with a few meaningful words and that donors deserve an exceptional experience.
The opening plenary by Amelia Telford.
Amelia spoke about Seed, a movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people for climate justice with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Seed Mob are on the cusp of becoming Australia’s first and only Indigenous youth-led environmental organisation and so far have impressively raised over $500,000 to set themselves up as up as an independent organisation. If you missed this session and the incredibly powerful video she shared, take a look here.
She also put the challenge out to us all – how many first nations fundraisers are there? Could we change that and see more first nations fundraisers at next year’s conference?
Mental health and its impact on fundraisers
Karen McComiskey, Ian Adair and Ligia Peña presented this session. It’s such an important topic and was so refreshing to see it featured in the program. Karen also spoke with Pro Bono Australia after the session and I’d encourage you to take a look at the article here: Why fundraising can create a perfect storm for mental health issues.
On the final day of the conference, each state had their own hub event. What a treat to be able to attend in-person! It was a wonderful opportunity to network and reconnect with fundraising friends and former colleagues.
The conference concluded on Friday night with the FIA national awards for excellence and Gembridge would like to congratulate all the deserving winners.
A special mention and huge congratulations to Brotherhood of St Laurence's Fundraising & Philanthropy team who were awarded Fundraising Team of the Year, Best Strategic Partnership and Young Fundraiser of the Year (Luke Toebelman). We have loved working with them and seeing the success and growth of this awesome team over the last few years and it was wonderful to celebrate together at the awards night.
Brotherhood of St Laurence's Fundraising & Philanthropy team & Michelle Varcoe from Gembridge
Click here for the full list of the award winners.
See you at FIA Conference 2022!