Recently, Joshua and I had the opportunity to attend and exhibit at the 2011 National Religious Broadcasting Convention in Nashville, TN. I cannot easily describe how invigorating and inspiring it was to be surrounded by passionate, engaged nonprofit leaders for four whole days! It’s so easy to get so caught up with everyday management details, that I sometimes forget why I got involved in this business in the first place. The convention was a wonderful reminder of how much I love working with nonprofits. I can honestly say that I love my job because I get to work with the most important people in the world.
While we were there, we also had the opportunity to meet with some of our clients, many of whom have been with us for a long time. Caleb, Jennifer (in photo at left with Joshua Shirley), and Josh Weiss from CrossTalk Ministries came by to meet us and could not have been more kind! They have been using FundRaiser since 1999, and are a brilliant example of a nonprofit who has really made the best use of donor management software, beginning with FundRaiser Basic and upgrading over the years all the way up to Professional Hosted! You can read the story or how CrossTalk has used FundRaiser to increase their donor base in their case study here. 
We also met Joe Emert (in photo at right with Joshua Shirley) from Life Radio Ministries, who spent a long time talking with Joshua about some of the ways he uses FundRaiser to manage their events, and to provide us with some thoughtful input for future development. Joe was so kind to share so much of his time with us.
Calvin Bader (in photo at left with Autumn Shirley) from WJIE Christian Radio also stopped-by to say hello, and to share news of their recent successful pledge drive: they held their most successful on-air campaign ever just before NRB! Calvin has been something of a pioneer user of FundRaiser and a beta tester for our Donor Portal. Thanks to Calvin’s clear ideas and input, our development team was able to integrate the Phonathon module (used by on-air personality to see up-to-the-minute campaign totals) with the Donor Portal, so donations and pledges made online are also displayed.
Finally, we met Eric Jingst and Aaron Darr from WLMB-TV40 in Toledo, OH. They were kind enough to stop by and say hello between sessions at the event. We really enjoyed meeting with them, and were lucky enough to snap a quick picture which you can see here on the FundRaiser Facebook page. WLMB has been using FundRaiser since 2002, and their thoughtful input and suggestions have also helped to drive our development path.
Speaking of pictures, you can see more of them on our Facebook page. While you're there, please let us know what you think of the page or any other comments or suggestions you have about FundRaiser.
We had a marvelous time at NRB, and are looking forward to working with many of the amazing new organizations we met there. If your organization is involved with religious broadcasting, we hope to see you there next year!
Autumn Shirley is the CEO of FundRaiser Software. Outside of work, she enjoys raising her daughter, exploring new chocolate and dessert recipes, and learning ballroom dancing with my husband, Joshua, who is CFO of FundRaiser Software.