It Really Is a Small World After All: International Group Discusses Fundraising Challenges

  

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Campbell & Company’s Washington D.C. team recently created an opportunity for D.C.-area international sector executives and senior fundraisers to meet face-to-face to discuss their common challenges. The kick-off event was a mid-September breakfast attended by nearly two dozen directors and chief advancement officers from a cross section of organizations that fundraise in the U.S. and internationally to support global causes.

“We were extraordinarily pleased with the response,” said Dirk Sellers, Campbell & Company Vice President. “Many of these executives knew of the other organizations, but they had never personally met. I think they were surprised to learn that they all were experiencing similar challenges, and this forum will provide our community with an environment where we can openly discuss our challenges and the strategies we can undertake to overcome them”

Some of those challenges were well-known to all of us in the philanthropic arena, like how to empower boards to take a more active role in fundraising, or how to build a culture of philanthropy inside donor organizations. But some issues were specific to the international sector, like the legal aspects of transacting gifts from other countries and protecting U.S. assets from terrorism.

The D.C. team will take these topics to build agendas for future roundtables, with Campbell & Company serving as the facilitator to a task force of volunteers from the kickoff meeting. The task force will help identify experts and thought leaders to engage on critical topics, giving participants a chance to pose questions and generate a free flow of ideas. The next event is tentatively scheduled for November 30.

For questions concerning the international group in D.C., please contact Dirk Sellers.