Last week, I helped to present the opening plenary of the 3rd Latin American International Fundraising Congress, along with my friend and colleague, Fernando Frydman (the one wearing the bow-tie!).

The opening plenary focused on discovering Latin America’s Fundraising DNA and involved the participation of four other professionals from the region: Annette Candanedo from Mexico, Gonzalo Ibarra from Chile, Jonas Beccar Varela from Argentina and Joao Merielles from Brazil.

The plenary was based on a theory presented at the IFC a few years ago by Tony Elisher.

It turned out to be a highly entertaining presentation and the section on mobile marketing suprised everyone when we organised a live SMS vote using a system from smartmovil.

Out of the four elements of Latin American Fundraising deemed essential for the region’s Fundraising DNA, Communication was voted as the most important. The other options included committment, passion and creativity. However, the general conclusion was that all of these elements must come together in order to achieve success.

It was very motivating to see the 300 participants laughing and voting with their cellphones in hand. Could this be the beginning of a mobile era in Latin America for social organisations?

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