Dare to Be Different: FIA Conference Hosts Controversial Author

Controversial US author Dan Pallotta will make his Australian debut delivering a keynote address to the Fundraising Institute of Australia’s 35th International Conference on the Gold Coast later this month.

Pallotta is the author of Uncharitable: How Restraints on Non-profits Undermine their Potential which The Stanford Social Innovation Review said “deserves to become the nonprofit sectors new manifesto”.

Pallotta argues in his book that not only must Not for Profits be allowed to use the tools of commerce to thrive and accomplish their missions, but the public also needs to get over its mistaken and tenacious fixation on fundraising costs and overhead ratios.

Conference organiser says whether you agree with him or not, this controversial speaker is worth listening to.

Pallotta is the founder and Chief Humanity Officer for Advertising for Humanity, a full-service brand and inspiration agency for the humanitarian sector. He is also founder and President on the Charity Defense Council, a member of the board of Triangle, and a member of the Reason Project Advisory Board. He is a William J Clinton Distinguished Lecturer, and has spoken at Stanford, Wharton, Harvard Business School, Harvard’s Hauser Centre for Non-profits, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Tufts University, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Gates Foundation, Hewlett Foundation and the Milken Institute among others.

Pallota will present the keynote address on Thursday 1 March 2012 at 8.30am.

The Syd Herron Oration will be delivered by Kay Sprinkel Grace, a San Francisco-based organisational consultant, providing workshops and consultation to local, regional, national and international organizations in strategic development planning, case and board development, staff development, and other issues related to leadership of the fund raising process.

Kay Sprinkel Grace will open the conference with a provocative and inspiring challenge to the audience to have not only the courage to be different, but to dare to dream.

She will caution participants that they may lose their edge of excellence if they allow daily demands to get in the way of big dreams about how they can change their communities and have a huge impact.

Kay Sprinkel Grace will offer inspirational stories of organisations that dared to dream and remind the audience that the entire sector is the result of the dreams of its founders who imagined a better community through the educational, health, social, environmental, arts and cultural programs they created for communities.

Kay will be speaking at 8.30am and 11.30am on Wednesday, February 29 and at 10am and 3.45pm on Thursday, February 28.

Registration for the Gold Coast Conference from Tuesday, February 28 – Friday, March 2 can be found at: www.fiaconference.org.au

The Conference Program can be found at here (PDF).

Pro Bono Australia is a sponsor of the Conference. You can also follow the FIA on Twitter #FIAConf2012, Facebook or LinkedIn for the latest Conference updates. 
 

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