NEDRA’s 25th Annual Conference in Review

By Conference Co-Chairs Amber Countis and Melissa Bank Stepno

 

NEDRA held its 25th anniversary annual conference on April 23^rd and 24^th at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We were thrilled to welcome more than 200 attendees for a wide range of educational programs in three tracks: Prospect Research, Prospect Management & Analytics, and Trends & Hot Topics. A talented slate of speakers addressed a range of topics, including best practices in prospect management, social media, analyzing SEC documents, change management, researching in China, development analytics, leadership annual giving, alumni and constituent engagement, and project management, to name a few. In addition to structured programming, attendees had the opportunity to network with colleagues and vendors and participate in a diverse array of productive and informative roundtable discussions. A highlight of this year's conference was the recognition of NEDRA’s 25^th anniversary through our very special 25^th anniversary panel discussion, moderated by David Eberly from Children’s Hospital Trust. Panelists included three past NEDRA presidents: Helen Brown from The Helen Brown Group, Paul Dakin from Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Joe Donnelly from Northeastern University.  All three were able to share great memories of NEDRA’s origins and growth over the last quarter century; what keeps it relevant; where the profession is likely going; and also reinforced the importance of volunteering and giving back, to ensure the strength and future prosperity of the organization. They offered a great mix of past reflection and forward vision to motivate and encourage all attendees, no matter their experience level!

 

Recognizing the limited budgetary resources for professional development that many NEDRA members face, we were pleased to once again offer a scholarship opportunity – this year’s scholarship recipient was Elizabeth Moyer from Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

 

NEDRA’s annual business meeting was held on Tuesday, April 24^th. Outgoing President Amy Minton reflected on the organization's activity and accomplishments during this 25^th anniversary year, including an overhauled and more robust NEDRA website, increased utilization of volunteers at all levels, and the revamped NEDRA News.  Treasurer Bruce Berg shared updated financial statements with the membership. Vice President Amber Countis recognized and thanked outgoing board members Nancy Faughnan (Yale University), Amy Minton (Bowdoin College), Barbara Moore (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), Sarah Ruberti (Mount Holyoke College), Marlisa Simonson (University of Hartford), and David Sterling (Western New England University).  Five new board members were also elected at this time. The full slate of board officers and directors for 2012/2013 was approved as follows:

 

President – Amber Countis, Tufts University

Vice-President – Tara McMullen, Combined Jewish Philanthropies

Secretary – Suzy Campos, Amherst College

Treasurer – Bruce Berg, Northeastern University

Amy Begg, Harvard University

Anne Brownlee, Harvard Medical School

Cheryl Cerny, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

James Cheng, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Lisa Foster, Phillips Academy

Melissa Bank Stepno, Target Analytics, a Blackbaud company

Ian Wells, Massachusetts General Hospital

 

Our conference sponsors help to make it possible for us to present two full days of programming and keep registration costs reasonable. We are grateful to them for their overwhelming support of NEDRA this year! This year’s conference sponsors were:

Thank you to our conference volunteers, and to all who volunteered for NEDRA in the past year. We are truly a volunteer-based and volunteer-run organization, and our success depends on the generosity of our members. Please contact the NEDRA office (office@nedra.org) if you are interested in volunteering for NEDRA; there are always a wide variety of opportunities available.

 

Many thanks to everyone who attended the conference and helped to make it such a success. We hope you will make plans to join us for NEDRA’s 26th Annual Conference in 2013!