#17NTC: A Fundraiser’s Guide To Getting The Most Out Of NTC

#17NTC

It’s time for the 2017 Nonprofit Technology Conference! On March 23- March 25, professionals across the nonprofit tech sector will gather to learn about the latest developments in tech, build new skills, and meet and network with their peers from across the country and the world. Are you going?

A conference like the NTC can be overwhelming. Registration is full, and there are a lot of sessions to choose from, and activities to participate in. Without a plan, it’s easy to miss out on things that really would have been useful. Have no fear, CauseVox is here with a guide to help you get the most out of #17NTC.

Not going to make it this year? Make sure you follow the #17NTC hashtag online to keep up with the action.

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Make A Plan

Have you ever gone to a conference, gotten your information at the registration table, then started trying to pick sessions to attend? Maybe you just ended up going to whatever your co-workers picked, or wandering from session to session. At the end of the day, instead of feeling empowered and excited, you may have just felt “meh.”

Don’t let this happen to you! It’s entirely preventable! You can get the most out of any conference, and tailor it to your needs, with a little simple planning.

First things first, decide what you want to get out of the conference.

Do you want to meet other professionals dealing with the same challenges you are?

Do you want to learn more about specific technical advances?

Do you want to find a mentor, learn a new skill, or find an answer to a technical problem?

Identify what success looks like for you.

Put an end to aimless wandering before it starts by reviewing conference materials ahead of time. The NTC agenda is online, so you can start thinking about what you’d like to attend right now.  Introduce yourself on the conference’s online forum, and check out tips from other conference attendees, find someone to split a hotel room with, and connect with presenters.

There’s even a #17NTC App available for download. You can make a personalized agenda, post to social media, and navigate the conference with your smartphone.

Even if you’ve already given some thought to which sessions you’d like to attend, do yourself a favor and take another look at the offerings. Since registration for the conference is full, spots may be scarce for some sessions. Choose an alternate session to check out if you can’t get into your first choice.

If you are attending with someone else from your organization, take some time this week to compare your plans. You’ll get more value out of the conference if you don’t attend the same sessions, but be sure to share what you’ve learned with each other.

A Sample Schedule For Online Fundraisers

Do you wish someone would sift through the conference information, and make a schedule tailored to online fundraisers? We did! If you want to focus solely on online fundraising, this schedule is for you.

Thursday

8:30 General Session

My Self Care Fail Story: The Fastest Way to Zero Impact

10:30 Breakout Session

Help! People Want to Fundraise for Us

1:30 Breakout Session

Ten Things You Can Do To Increase Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

3:30 Breakout Session (two great options!)

Love and Happiness: Building Community with Smart Communications

Steal Smart: What Nonprofit Fundraisers Can Learn From For-Profit Digital Marketers

Friday

8:30 General Session

Keynote

10:30 Breakout Session (two great options)

Breaking Down Silos: Integrating Marketing and Fundraising Departments

Ready When You Are: Developing An Online Community That’s Primed For Giving

1:30 Breakout Session

Secret Share Time: Throw Out Your Email Fundraising Best Practices

3:00 Exhibit Hall Open to the Public

Saturday

8:30 General Session

Keynote

10:30 Breakout Session

The Donor Journey: Delivering Personalized Experiences Without Breaking the Bank

1:30 Breakout Session

Getting Your Digital House in Order: What Smaller Nonprofits Can Do to Raise More Money Online

3:00 Closing Reception

Network

A conference is more than attending sessions, of course. It’s also a great opportunity to network. #17NTC will be full of interesting people with experience and information to share. You are an interesting person with experience and information to share, so make some connections.

Networking often happens on the fly at conferences, but you’ll get so much more out of it if you’re deliberate. Just like you plan your session attendance, you should also plan your networking. Block out time on your schedule, and plan specific actions.

The best thing about networking at conferences is that you already know you have things in common with virtually everyone there. This makes striking up a conversation with strangers a lot easier. Try out some conversation starters like:

• What new tech have you tried at your organization this year? How did it go?
• What sessions are you most excited about?
• What are the biggest tech challenges at your organization?

In addition to good old fashioned chatting, NTC provides a lot of opportunities to meet people with similar interests, including:

• Birds of a Feather lunch tables
• Dine Around DC–Small gatherings at nearby restaurants on Friday evening
• Self-Organized Events, like museum outings, hikes, happy hours, board game nights, a knitting meetup, and more

A Networking Checklist

Before the Conference:

• Introduce yourself on the NTC forum
• Choose which Birds of a Feather lunches you’ll check out
• Sign up for a Dine Around DC group
• Choose a self-organized event or two to attend, or propose your own
• Put a great big stack of business cards in your bag
• Write down your conversation starters
• Identify opportunities in your schedule for networking

At the Conference:

• Greet people at every session you attend
• Attend a Birds of a Feather lunch
• Attend self-organized events
• Request business cards from people you interact with, and give them yours

After the Conference

• Connect with the people you met via LinkedIn, making sure you send a personalized request.
• Send thank you notes to anyone who provided you with helpful information, speakers whose sessions you really enjoyed, and people who organized any self-organized events you attended.
• Send along helpful information to people you met, as you encounter it.

Capture Value

It’s easy to get information overload at conferences. The only way to make sure you retain the valuable information that’s getting thrown at you from all directions is to take notes. Whether you capture your notes with a pen and paper, or sync everything digitally through Evernote or another note-taking platform, just make sure you take them.

Your notes will be a lot more useful if you organize them a little. We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling of looking at a page of scribblings, and having no idea what we meant. Avoid this by taking a quick look over your notes immediately after a session, and filling in the gaps before you forget. If you’re using a note-taking app, tag your notes right away.

In addition to your personal notes, take advantage of the collaborative notes that are available for each #17NTC session. Participants can add to a shared Google Doc, getting the best of everyone’s brains. Each session also has a hashtag for discussion in social media, so you can continue the conversation and connect with other participants online.

Don’t Forget To Eat: Conference Self Care

While you definitely want to get the most out of this fantastic conference, three days of constant activity is a lot. If you’re not careful, you may be exhausted, crabby, and brain-fried by Friday afternoon. Take care of yourself during #17NTC by:

• Drinking water (not just coffee!)
• Getting an adequate amount of sleep each night
• Wearing comfortable shoes
• Building in some downtime
• Eating regularly

Have Fun, Learn Lots!

Have a great time at #17NTC! Remember to:

• Identify what success looks like for you
• Make a plan ahead of time
• Use the technical and networking resources #17NTC provides
• Take notes in a way that will make sense later
• Take care of yourself
• Have fun!