I just spent the last three days at the 2007 Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference in DC. It was nice to be on the sitting-end of a conference for once! I heard a lot of presentations and talked to tons of attendees, and thought I'd share some of my observations. I've got a lot of ground to cover, so I'll stretch this out over several posts.

An opening plenary from Tony Elischer Monday morning kicked off the bulk of the sessions. Tony is the British Seth Godin. He's funny, engaging and smart. His presentation was about re-evaluating how we do our marketing work. He encouraged the audience to take everything they are doing and throw it out the window. Start from scratch and do something new. Experiment, play, and invent. I thought this was a refreshing message, because I know it's easy to get caught in the trap of doing only what feels safe.

More than 1,000 fundraisers will be convening in Washington, DC at the 2007 Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference , July 8-10, 2007, at the Hilton Washington. NTEN is the educational partner at the conference, featuring several tracks focused on online fundraising and using technology in development. We are honored to share our network's vast expertise in using technology and the web in fundraising with the Washington DC AFP community.

Growth in online giving has seen a surge: $6.87 billion was donated online in the US in 2006, a 51% increase over 2005, driven by significant increases in online giving for both small and large organizations and the unprecedented use of the Internet by individuals for non-disaster and disaster support efforts.

“The Internet is fundamentally changing the way people connect with causes and is forcing organizations to re-think the traditional models for communication and fundraising,” said Gene Austin, CEO, Convio, Inc.

While online giving is still small overall, there is steep growth. A surge of interest in philanthropy and civic engagement, with people of all ages online, presents a huge opportunity. Generations X and M -- younger people -- are the next generation of donors. They have money and they're online. Smart nonprofit organizations that want to further their causes go to where their donors are. And they are online.

A joint press release can be found here. NTEN members interested in attending the conference are eligible for a significant member discount.