Making connections for partnerships in the post-COVID world

It was so refreshing to attend my first large conference after the pandemic. It was especially fun since I was attending partly thanks to the AFP Ottawa scholarship I received from the chapter, the 2023 Barbara McInnes Executive Mentoring Project Fund .

The Partnership Conference was excellent, from the speakers to the venue (Toronto Reference Library), the food and the 400 or so attendees.?

We got to hear a lot of cutting edge topics including gamification, nudge theory and AI. Although the conference was mostly geared towards big brands and big charities in the GTA, there were a lot of takeaways for myself and my small nonprofit (Prescott Russell Recreational Trail ). My to do list is expanding but I’m quite excited about all the opportunities.

The point that partnerships must be beneficial to all parties was driven home by all the presenters, with some very engaging and clear cut examples from various sectors. It was also nice to see all the personalities that came out during the two-day event, since not all of those truly come out on virtual meetings.

Although technology helps with making connections, it was quite apparent to me that personal connections and shared values is where it’s at for making partnerships work for the long term.

Even after the event, I had a great conversation about it all on the train ride home with my seatmate, a newer member of the community giving team at a national organization that attended the same conference. I even mentioned the benefits of AFP Ottawa so we might have a new member soon!

All and all, a great time learning among brands and nonprofits and I’m already looking forward to my next opportunity for such a cool experiential event. I look forward to digging in even more into the content and following up with some of the great connections I made at the event.

If you’d like to know more, don’t be shy and reach out. If you’ve met me before you’ll know I love chatting about topics I’m passionate about.

Eric Collard is Executive Director of the Sentier récréatif Prescott-Russell Recreational Trail, located just outside of Ottawa in the east end. A nonprofit management professional with a background in public and stakeholder relations, he is looking forward to getting out to more AFP events in 2024.