The Tangible (and Intangible) ROI on Professional Development
Posted on Mon, Jul 19, 2010
Tomorrow the APRA 23rd Annual International Conference begins in Anaheim. Lori and I are putting the finishing touches on our Social Media: Fad to Facts workshop and I’m looking forward to my presentation on The Future of Data with my good friend Brian Dowling.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I attended the first APRA, so seeing that 23rd is a bit startling. Those early days were exciting as the relatively small number of fundraising research professionals began to create the framework for the profession.
Sadly the last few years have not been kind to professional development budgets. In fact, many organizations have simply done away with it altogether determining that it is a luxury in times likes these. This short-sighted thinking sees a conference as an expense with no measurable revenue so therefore the ROI is in the red.
Worse yet there is a perception that professional development is only about the person attending the conference. They absolutely gain from the experience, but so too does the organization. The overused phrase “Think outside the box” should be “Think outside your organization” when it comes to attending a professional conference.
The organizational benefits of having team members interact with people who may be facing many of the same challenges, but are not in the same “box”, are numerous. Here are my top 5:
- Ideas
- The sessions and workshops provide you with dozens of unpaid consultants who can give you a new perspective on how to get your job done
- Connections
- Between the attendees, speakers and vendors you can create a network of people who can help your organization long after the conference
- Energy
- Especially in these times we all need to plug into positive people and bring that attitude back to our organization
- Tools
- With budgets tight it’s great to be able to see in one place the latest tools available and talk not only with vendors but also with users so that you can make the best decisions
- Confidence
- Armed with ideas, connections, energy, and knowledge about the latest tools and techniques you can return to your organization ready to make a difference
I realize that many of these are intangible benefits which are not easily quantified. But that is exactly why professional development provides such a high long-term ROI. The knowledge to make better decisions, access to leaders in the field, and stronger connections with peers will pay-back the registration and travel costs over and over again.
For those of you that made it through the budgeting gauntlet and are going to the APRA conference I hope to see you at the workshop, session and/or the DonorTrends booth (#114).
Safe travels!
David Lawson