Preliminary Development Report for 2011

From AFSWiki

We are pleased to announce that the final (unaudited) results for Development revenue in 2011 is just over $2,270,000, which represents an increase of 13% over the goal of $2 million. This is wonderful news for our organization and for us all! Kudos to our Development team who has worked extremely hard to make this happen despite a very challenging economic environment. As you know, 2011 marked a period of transition as well as growth in revenue in the Development area. A new National Director of Development (Chuck Ferrero) joined AFS-USA in January, and new Development team members (Angela Bullock and Aimee Calandria) were added later in the year to more aggressively pursue opportunities in, respectively, the institutional giving and individual major gifts arenas. Incumbent Development team members include Carrie Kran, who oversees department administrative functions, and Rosetta Fludd, the department’s gift processor. Kate Wood transitioned to a revised role liaising communications between Development, Marketing and the President’s Office.

In addition to surpassing its year-end revenue goals, the Development team made great strides in a number of areas in 2011 as well as positioning itself for growth in 2012:

• Creation of the "Ambassadors Circle" intended to recognize major donor giving ($1,000+ annually) and reflecting an enhanced effort to more personally engage major donors and prospects.
• Implementation of donor cultivation events in New York City, Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Kansas City.
• Design of new fundraising promotional materials aimed at informing and more personally connecting with AFS-USA Returnees, Volunteers and Supporters.
• Nearly 30 new foundation and corporate funding prospects received proposals by year end.
• Launch of the state-of-the-art online communications platform, Convio, which enables AFS-USA to correspond, via personalized email, with over 60,000 constituents who have received little or no communications in recent years. Going forward, Convio will provide an opportunity to more cost effectively communicate with and, as appropriate, solicit, this rich new prospect pool.
• We began to work with key volunteers in targeted areas around the country to review potential local funding opportunities and create a working model of cooperation between the National Development Office and local volunteer teams and chapters. This will continue to be a focus for 2012.
• Creation of a robust planned giving strategy that will be implemented in 2012 to increase bequests and other legacy giving vehicles such as annuities and charitable trusts.
• Formation of an alumni relations infrastructure aimed at tapping into the enormous reservoir of good will of thousands of AFS-USA Returnees as potential supporters through financial contributions as well as advocacy.
• In 2012, Development is planning donor and prospect cultivation events in conjunction with AFS-USA activities in Portland (National Council Meeting in February) in the Washington, D.C. area (related to the March ECA and June “End of Stay” programs), and Charlotte (NVA), as well as events in St. Paul, New York, and other locales to be determined. In addition to events in these cities, we will also seek private visits utilizing Development and senior AFS-USA staff and board members to meet and engage key major donors and prospects.