For those of you who attended APRA International's Prospect Development 2016 Conference, we hope you were able to join us for the NEDRA VINO at Fuse Sports Bar, and that you had a great time with your fellow NEDRA members! Thank you to those who came by.

There are not currently any dates set for upcoming programming. Rest assured, however, that the Programming Committee is working hard to plan some excellent opportunities for learning and networking in the near future. Keep an eye on your inbox and on the NEDRA News for more information, as plans solidify. 

Many of you have probably just returned from APRA's Prospect Development 2016 Conference. Hopefully, you did plenty of networking and learned a lot! Now, you're probably slogging your way through an over-full e-mail inbox, trying to figure out how much you missed and what fires are waiting for you to put them out. When you get back to the office after a conference, it's easy to become immersed in the day-to-day work again and let the conference fade into the past without making the most of your experience there. Here are some common traps that many people fall into, and some suggestions about how to avoid them.

1. DON'T stick all those business cards that you collected in a drawer until you've forgotten who any of those people were. When you get back to the office, after you've plowed through that inbox (or even before), send a brief note to the people you met, just to reinforce that connection. Did you collect a lot of vendor business cards even though you aren't responsible for purchasing decisions? Hand those cards over to someone who does have that responsibility, along with any thoughts about which products and services you found particularly interesting.

2. DON'T keep all that knowledge to yourself! In most offices, it's hard to send everyone to a conference, especially if it's one that's distant from your organization. Having a conference debrief meeting with your colleagues is a great way to share the things you've learned, get others' perspectives on it, and work new techniques, resources, and procedures into your everyday operations. Bring your notes, and share useful presentation printouts. Just because the whole office couldn't attend the conference, it doesn't mean that everyone can't benefit from those who did attend.

3. DON'T neglect to fill out any post-conference surveys. As a member of the NEDRA board, I can assure you that the responses an organization gets to these surveys are the best tool we have for gauging how to best serve our members and plan an even better conference for the following year. What speakers were particularly good? How was the session variety? Were there times when it was difficult or impossible to obtain that life-giving substance, caffeine? How easy to use were the apps or online resources? Did you like the location? All of this feedback is invaluable to conference planners, and helps ensure that future conferences will be equally, if not more, educational and enjoyable.    

In this article from the Spring 2006 NEDRA News, Mitchell Linker discusses the challenges and importance of prospect management meetings between researcher and front-line fundraiser. As someone whose office is likely to start doing more prospect management in the near future, I personally find this very useful!

Running Prospect Management Meetings- One Researcher's Perspective.pdf

The NEDRA Board of Directors had its annual retreat on June 16th and 17th at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA. This was two days filled with strategic planning for the coming year and beyond. Many topics were discussed, including the annual conference, membership growth, exciting new programs, NEDRA's 30th birthday and much, much more. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information about what's in the works and read on for more news!

NEDRA members,

I'm pleased to announce that NEDRA board member Laura Parshall from MIT has agreed to take on the role as editor of the NEDRA News Blog and Industry News Blog in the coming year. 

Laura previously served as editor from July, 2012 through June, 2015 and we are thrilled to have her talents leading up this effort again. 

Please reach out to Laura to share articles for the Industry News Blog or to write an article or other piece for the News Blog. Share your expertise, your opinions, and your experience--you are what makes NEDRA, NEDRA!

--Susan Grivno, outgoing NEDRA News editor

The new slate of NEDRA committee chairs and officers for 2016-2017 is as follows:

President

Committee Chair - Ann Castle Award

Amy Begg

Deputy Director of Research

Harvard University

Vice President

Committee Co-Chair - Programming

Ian T. Wells

Founder

Ian T. Wells & Associates

Secretary

Committee Co-Chair - Conference

Susan Grivno

Senior Prospect Research Analyst

University of New Hampshire

Treasurer

Committee Co-Chair - Conference

Nominating Committee

Lisa Foster

Director of Development Research

Phillips Academy

Immediate Past President

Committee Chair - Volunteers

Committee Chair - Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship

Suzy Campos

Director of Advancement Research

Amherst College

Committee Chair - Diversity

Committee Chair - Website & Technology

Committee Co-Chair - Social Media

James Cheng

Development Data Analytics Specialist

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Committee Chair - Membership

Erin Dupuis

Director of Prospect Research

Merrimack College

Committee Co-Chair - Programming

Tim Enman

Research Analyst

Smith College

Committee Co-Chair - Sponsorship

Bill Gotfredson

Associate Director, Research

Boston Children's Hospital

Committee Co-Chair - Social Media

Committee Co-Chair - Sponsorship

Stacey Vial MacDonnell

Assistant Director of Prospect Research

Harvard Law School

Committee Chair - NEDRA News & Industry Blog

Marketing Liaison to the Conference

Laura Parshall

Senior Principal Gifts Researcher

MIT

Committee Chair - Conference Scholarship

Committee Co-Chair - Marketing

Tim Wilson

Associate Director, Prospect Management/Development

Harvard Business School

Why Investments in Supplemental Data Appends are Investments in the Sustainable Success of Your Development Program

Supplemental data is available for just about anything you might want or need – from age, household income, and marital status, to email addresses, cell phone numbers, and places of employment. 

Such data not only help ensure that you keep in touch with your prospects and donors but also provide valuable insights. 

Click on the image below to read more on why investments in supplemental data appends are investments in the sustainable success of your development program!

Are you going to APRA this year? Drop by the Fuse Sports Bar at the Opryland Hotel Nashville on Thursday night for a NEDRA VINO!

What: This NEDRA VINO (Very Informal Networking Opportunity) is a self-sponsored, casual get-together of fellow New-Englanders in the Music City.

When: 5:30 pm on Thursday, July 28th

Where: Fuse, at the conference hotel

Follow and participate with @NEDRA_tweets via Twitter throughout the #APRApd2016 conference! And follow #NEDRAafterDARK for more late-night networking that my take place. 

Stock options are confusing. What are they exactly? And how do you estimate how much they could be worth for prospects you research?

I will never forget when a new gift officer I once worked with came excitedly into our office with a Form 4 for one of his young prospects at a tech start-up. He had uncovered a multimillionaire! Trying to explain what options are and what they are not (stock holdings! actual, realized wealth) was difficult and, for him, deflating. As with many things, my understanding of all things securities-related is rudimentary at best, but it's something I do read about often as I'm researching insider prospects. 

A review of NEDRA News articles about options led to a 2003 article by Frederic Sinclair, linked below. Some things have changed in the past 13 years, but much of the basics remain the same. Check out his method for calculating the value of options. What method do you use to value options? Or do you not value them at all?  Discuss in the comments below!

Note that the website he mentions to learn more about stock options, mystockoptions.com, remains a good resource for learning some basics, although more advanced information is behind a paywall. You can also read more at Investopedia and Fool.com   

Evaluating Stock Option Awards - Frederic Sinclair.pdf

- S. Grivno

The NEDRA Board of Directors would like to thank ALL of the volunteers who helped make the 2015-2016 program year such a success.

You have served as committee members, contributors to the NEDRA news, speakers, program facilitators, conference room monitors, round-table facilitators, and more. We thank you for your time and effort!

Valerie Anastasio

Beth Bandy

Michelle Baptista

Jesse Bardo

Dana Barrow

Hut Beall

Hugh Bennett

Sarah Benson

Bruce Berg

Brett Berger

Helen Brown

Lindsay Brown

Molly Carocci

Gary A. Carskaddan

Roslyn Clarke

Doug Cogswell

Amber Countis

Courtney Cutler

Dale DeLetis

Adriana DiCecco

Nancy Faughnan

Sarah Fernandez

Rebecca Francis

William Gallaher

Diane Garvey

Ruthie Giles

Amy Gingle

Tricia Glasheen

Elizabeth Goodman

Bill Gotfredson

Jennifer Grasso

Kristin Hagan

Leslie Haley

Kate Hanson

Kyoko Ingalls

Nancy Isabel

Charity Jovanovic

Jack Karako

Connor Kasey

Renana Kehoe

Patricia Kelleher

Cathy Kingery

Kelly Labrecque

Matthew Lacroix

Shay Laderbush

Jesse Leonard

Frances Littell

Maureen Lopez

Dan Lowman

Jameson MacDonnell

Tina Manuel

Paul Mateo

Pamela McCarthy

Jill Meister

Alejandra Mendez-Rivera

Claire Moitra

Bryce Mullins

Debbie Neumann

Rafi Norberg

Jill Nosach

Colleen O’Donnell

David Owens

Elizabeth Parker

Michael Parker

Diane Parsons

Jeannie Patch

Jessica L. Paterson

Connie Pekar

Marianne Pelletier

Jana Peretti

Virginia Putnam

Michael Quevli

Eric Rezsnyak

Scott Rosensweig

Karen Rowe

Amy Sacco

Ginny Santamaria

David Sattler

Vanessa Silva

Amy Spears

David Sterling

Meryl Stowbridge

Bill Tedesco

Sarah Tedesco

Rebecca Tiernan

Chris Toro

Maureen Trafford

Amitha Vasanth

Chris Vrotsos

Robby West

Sarah White

Tim Wilson

Elisa Winker

Jennifer Young

Brian Zive