This week has been a busy one for those in the professional fundraising crowd.  The Association of Fundraising Professionals held their annual conference which I followed on Twitter using #afpmeet.  There are some great links, resources and videos if you search using this hashtag.  Additionally, in the April 8th issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy you can find the annual Fund-Raising Services Guide title, Keeping Donors Loyal in Tough Time.  A couple bullet points from the insert that I found to be most helpful.

   * Ask donors for advice- it makes them feel involved and valued.
   * Focus on the most-loyal donors, and give them more attention.
   * Be specific in thank-you notes about the results of donors’ gifts.
   * Donors want accountability along with thank-yous.

Some resources from the AFP conference include:

The Nonprofit Times put a series of videos online from the Association of Fundraising Professionals conference.


The Chronicle of Philanthropy created a Conference Notebook that they updated throughout the event.  An entry entitled, What Makes Donors Give: A New Study Offers Clues was fascinating.


And lastly, here are a couple of of interesting tweets from the conference:


AmyBlogTalk: #afpmeet Archbishop Tutu philanthropy is the opposite of selfishness #Cinch: http://bit.ly/bapzYB

gonnagetthere: #afpmeet “You cannot separate fundraising from leadership anymore” Karla Williams Session on NPO Leadership Models (via @TammyZonker) Amen!

ToDiFor: 66 percent of high wealth donors said they quit giving because they did not feel connected any longer #afpmeet

BTalisman: RESOURCE: #nfp Posted links to handouts, info etc from #10ntc and #afpmeet http://bit.ly/c8KNc7