APRA International Conference Scholarship Recipient – Zehra Rizvi

APRA SCOOPI am honoured to have received the APRA Radhika Jaggernauth Memorial Scholarship for the international conference held in Nashville.  This scholarship continues to celebrate Radhika Jaggernauth’s legacy of giving, and provides learning opportunities for professionals.  This was my first APRA conference, and with over 1,000 attendees and countless sessions, it was a perfect opportunity to engage with others, and dive into topics of interest.  The APRA community offers a unique understanding of challenges and issues researchers’ encounter. It also provides insights and solutions implemented by those further along in their journey. Ali Jacobs and Emily Mimms lead a superb session titled ‘The 5-Step Prospect Management System’.  This is a moves management system incorporated into their daily practices and database. Ali later shared that she implemented this prospect management system after attending an APRA conference a few years ago. This inspired me to think about systems and processes we could implement today that would move our university one step forward. Chrissy Premeaux and Trish McPeek presented ‘The Power of Data Visualization’.  Their reports visually communicate key information points (e.g. size of portfolio, portfolio valuation, personal visits & targets, fundraising goal & their percentage achieved, etc.). Their institution emailed these reports monthly to the fundraising team, and thereby improved their accountability measures. The best part of the conference is connecting with other researchers, and attending sessions where best practices, strategies, and methodologies are shared by industry peers.    I am grateful for this fantastic professional opportunity. Thank you APRA!