At AFP Chicago: the warm up act for President Bill Clinton
Posted by Niki Nicastro McCuistion on March 28, 2011 · Leave a Comment
The Association of Fundraising Professionals conference in Chicago this month, featured celebrity philanthropists, Queen Latifah, who opened the conference and former President Bill Clinton, the closing speaker. Each addressed philanthropy and its power to change lives and societies and how critical stewardship is for our local and global communities.
Margaret and I had the honor of being President Clinton’s warm up (ok, ok, said tongue in cheek). But- we were the last session , on the last day, scheduled just before his presentation. Talk about pressure; a room full of people who wanted to get seats up close and personal, we expected a mad dash 1/2 through our presentation. Luckily- more than 3/4 of the room stayed till we finished.
And some of the comments reflected we succeeded…
Great information, especially comments on women’s generosity.
- Kelly C
Thanks for the tips on how to work with Boomers in a more business like way.
- Kristin M
Great insights.
- Patrick R
Refreshing to hear about women and legacy.
- Ulrica J
Thank you for the data on how to connect with women across generations.
- Peggy H
Loved the points about TLC: Trust, Leverage,Capital and how Boomers questioned everything and still do…
- Lauren C
Really enjoyed tandem speakers and audience involvement.
- Frankie P
Thought provoking, insightful and enjoyable presentation.
- W. Ooby
Learned a wealth of new data on Boomers.
- Rachel O
Wow! Fantastic, well paced, informative and reflective.
- Sue G
This is so relevant to my work.
- Yolanda H
So who knows we may be hired on to be President Clinton’s warm up in residence!
Margaret & Niki with SMU's Gary Kelsey & Mary Bambenek
The hour went quickly, as we summarized a few key points from our new book and the hundreds of interviews we conducted. And so we highlighted American’s generosity, most especially that of Boomers. Consider that this group- 78 million strong- born between 1943 and 1964 , were the first to ever expect health and wealth, who marched, picketed , protested and were jailed for their values- who truly believed they could change the face of the world- and in fact did. And who are one of the largest socio-economic groups in this country with every hour 330 Boomers turning 60,well it is just plain good sense to focus more of our outreach and fund raising efforts on this group.
By 2030 54% of the 57 million Boomers will be women, they are very generous , have a very small number of children and substantial wealth to give away .
And also consider that… key experts from, management guru Tom Peters, who stated “women are the largest national economy on Earth” ; and the Harvard Business Review ” they are in fact a bigger market than China and India combined”, and even the Economist claim, “ women are the most powerful engine of global growth”, we believe it is in our best interests to engage, nurture and keep this formidable group. Over 64.8 million Americans are on line, with over 47% of Boomer women accessing more than one social meda tool- yet too often we are not using these tools to reach out to them as proactively as we could.
Non profits today need to engage their (women boomers) heart and head, get them involved by building trust- and assuring their organizations fully communicate – open kimono style- if they want to connect and collaborate with this power group.We know that folks who volunteer are 2.5 times more likely to donate, yet we often don’t leverage this as we should.
Margaret & Niki with Susan McDermott of John Wiley & Sons - Josey Bass
In the time we had , our mission was to acquaint our group with the need to understand a person’s values so we know how to better engage them, to connect fully and to communicate our mission and strategy; that we need to operate from a business modality, yes even as a non profit as Boomer women use accountability and metrics, systemic change and sustainability as a yardstick.
And if we do- we have the generosity of the Boomer woman intent on leaving a legacy- as does my Dallas entrepreneur Boomer friend, Brenda Peyovich , whom we quoted in Women Wealth and Giving…” We, women need to understand that while volunteering time is important, we need to support the causes we believe in with our checks so that we have a seat at the table. Women have a major influence on policy and the more involved we are, the more effectively we can influence decisions that are important to us and our families. By increasing our participation in the competition for ideas, women will continue to contribute to a better society. It’s our checks that influence and it’s never been more important to open our wallets and give.”
Thank you AFP for the opportunity to be part of an inspiring conference.
