NCDC, Inc. 500

The summer goes by pretty quickly, and with Fall just around the corner, the start of fundraising conference season kicks in again.

This season we kicked it off with another visit to the National Catholic Development Conference, held in Crystal City, VA. The conference was very well attended, and it was great to see everyone again and also some new faces.

As you may have been noticing on the recent Twitter feed, we'll be announcing some news- and we were able to share that with the attendees at this year's conference. October 6th is the date, and the newest release of DonorPerfect Online Fundraising Software (Fall 2009) will likely turn out to be our largest ever! Look for a post soon with screen shots as we get closer to the date.

I also had the opportunity to attend the Inc. 500 conference held just a couple of days later. This conference attracted some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs, and it also wasn't surprising that philanthropy was on quite a few agendas. I think the key points about building successful companies and organizations really centered on two key concepts- persistence and execution. (It also didn't hurt to know a few other successful people as well, of course)

Finally, I had some interesting travel experiences as well. On my ride back to Philadelphia, the train was delayed for security reasons. Why? Because Vice President Joe Biden rides Amtrak. Not sure where he is though- I didn't see him except for the extra security in place.

Tales from the Road

I just finished exhibiting at the National Catholic Development Conference, held this year in Orlando. Typically referred to as NCDC, this conference hosts over 700 development professionals from about 500 catholic organizations across the US.

It's our fifth year exhibiting at the conference, and our first, in at least 10 years, that our booth and materials did not make the flight. Apparantly, they were hijacked to Texas instead, and we had to activate "Operation Conference Backup". Luckily, after a quick infiltration of a local 24 hour Kinkos shop and with help from our marketing gurus, we whipped up some materials and booth in

Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"

just a few hours. Special thanks goes to both Chad Kashub and Sam Goldenberg for stepping up to the plate and helping out over the weekend.

The conference proved to be a major success as we were able to demonstrate our latest version of DonorPerfect, Version 10. Version 10 sports some new features, including a completely integrated Special Events module that makes it easy to plan, coordinate, and execute almost any kind of special event.

It's easy to record event details, such as venue information, expenses, and even auction items. Invite groups of constituents at a click of a button, and record responses just as easily. The module even tracks teams or tables in a drop-and-drag interface, making these assignments painless. Finally, over a dozen reports track the progress of the event, and comparison reports make it easy to evaluate one event against another. It's simply awesome!

Surely, the chief buzz at the conference was the state of the economy and its effect on giving. Though there were some exceptions, most people were resigned to the fact that this year would be tough and they were preparing for a decline in most revenue categories as compared to last year. An exception seemed to occur in major gifts and planned giving, which at least anecdotally, seemed to be on the rise.

The next several weeks will be very busy for us as we release Version 10- it's going to be very exciting!

LIVE from NCDC Conference, Phoenix Arizona

I'm blogging live from the exhibit hall in Phoenix, AZ, for the 2007 National Development Catholic Conference- it's been a great week! I've always assigned myself to this conference as I like to interact directly with our customers and get their direct feedback.

It was great to see the 'regular' conference crew. This included Vinay Bhagat from Convio, Spence Hoopes from Wealth Engine (one of our partners), and Beckie Mann (former DonorPerfect employee) from Blackbaud. (Yes, even though we are competitors, we still are friendly to one another!)

I had the chance to talk to Paul Clolery, the editor of the Non-Profit Times, one of the leading industry papers for the non profit. We talked about the industry in general, the effect of the consolidation wave, and where DonorPerfect stood. I gave him some insights about our new product, code named Spider.net, and we both agreed it will be an interesting addition to the non-profit market.

Temperatures in Phoenix were HOT. Ridiculously hot- 107 degrees in the shade. Like they always do, the staff at NCDC did a fantastic job of taking care of the conference attendees, even providing personal fans for attendees to use when walking from building to building.

We had a chance to show off our new integration with Wealth Engine to a packed classroom- it was fantastic to see the interest and be able to show off just how easy and powerful our solution is for everyone. We also sponsored the Internet Cafe, increasing our exposure and making sure that people know they have a real choice in fundraising software.

Next stop is back home, where I hear it's 70 degrees...nice. I'll be taking a break from traveling for a bit- While I was away my daughter learned to ride a bike and she can't wait to show off to her daddy when I get back! :)