What I Actually Learned at AFP ICON (And What the AI Vendors Won't Tell You)

Keith just got back from AFP ICON in San Diego, and this episode is his honest debrief. From a late-night reunion dinner with his AFP Leadership Institute cohort (including a practical tip for fundraisers who travel for donor visits) to leading one of the conference's opening sessions on making conferences actually matter in your organization, Keith shares what stuck with him and why.

He also shares what he saw in the AI sessions, and he's not pulling punches. A lot of what's being sold as cutting-edge fundraising technology is something you can already do inside the tools you have. The real value, and the real disruption coming, is somewhere else entirely. Keith breaks down where he thinks the industry is heading, including what Model Context Protocol (MCP) connections mean for how you'll interact with your CRM in the not-too-distant future.

And then there are the shoes. If you've ever felt the pull between staying small and showing up fully, the close of this episode is for you. Towanda!

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Transcript

Welcome Back And Quick Favors

Keith Greer 1:41

Hey my friends, I just got back from AFP Icon out in San Diego and what a trip it was. So much great content, so many wonderful sessions. And I got to see some friends that I haven't seen in years, which was such a delight. But even more than that, I got to meet some of you while I was out there, which was super exciting because I got to hear what was going on in your lives and your work and what the struggles are that you're facing on an everyday basis. So I actually get to start tailoring this content from this podcast and from my newsletter more to exactly what you like. So I love getting to interact with you and hear what's going on in your world. So before we get into the episode, I want to make a real quick and a super easy ask. I would love it if you would go into whatever podcast platform you're listening on, whether that's Apple Podcasts or Spotify or something else, and just make sure that you're following the show. Cause I know that there's a number of you that listen, but you haven't yet followed. So go ahead and hit that follow button. And while you're there, make sure to leave it a five-star review as well as some glowing praise so that your fellow fundraisers know exactly what this podcast is about and how it's going to relate to them and their work. Because when you leave those really great reviews as well as the high ratings, it helps the algorithms know exactly who this content is for. So help your fellow fundraisers out and help me out a little bit in the process too by making sure to go and leave those five-star ratings and a glowing review. And while you're at it, if you would like to, you can sign up for my regular newsletter at let's talkfundraising.com forward slash subscribe. I've been hearing from so many of you that you're really enjoying the newsletter. I even had one person say, Keith, I never read these things from start to finish, but yours I do every single week because it resonates so much with what you're doing in fundraising and all of the struggles and challenges that we actually face. So such great positive feedback to hear, and I really appreciate it. So I would love it if you subscribe. So sign up for the newsletter at let's talkfundraising.com forward slash subscribe. And if you're watching this on YouTube, make sure to subscribe to the channel. And because there's not the review comment, just go ahead and make sure that you are liking an episode. And if you want to leave a comment on an episode, I'd love to have that engagement too. But

Leadership Institute Reunion And Connection

Keith Greer 4:01

before we dive into what we learned at Icon, I want to share a little bit about one of the dinners that I had before the conference began. Back in October of 2024, I participated in the AFP Leadership Institute, which was a pilot program they were running. Uh and it was four cohorts. I was part of the fourth group that went through the program. And I got to meet 23 other really amazing fundraisers from across North America, the US, and Canada. And we got to have some really vulnerable moments and really develop our leadership capabilities, which was such a blessing. So the night before the conference, we had a great reunion, which was so much fun. And if you are a fundraiser that travels for work and you're always looking for restaurants to meet fundraisers at, here's a quick tip for you. Sign into the Michelin guide. I know some of you are thinking, Keith, we don't have a budget for a Michelin restaurant. And I'm totally with you, and I got you on this. When you're in the app or you're on the website, go down to Distinction and choose a setting called Bib Gourmand. Those are specifically restaurants that have phenomenal food, phenomenal service, but are also designated at a reasonable cost. I think it means that their maximum price is going to be about $35 for an entree. And where we ended up going out to dinner, most of our entrees were in the $15 to $20 price range. So you can absolutely find reasonable Michelin restaurants through their website. So great tip for you. But one of the things that was so nice with this group, with us meeting there, is that a lot of our spouses or our family came with us and people showed up with their full lives this time. Whereas when we met in Atlanta for the cohort, it was just us. And it really gave us an opportunity to dive in and get to know each other. But now we actually got to know each other on a much more personal level. And one of the things that I just thought was so interesting was one of the brothers of somebody in the group, they actually made an observation after that, didn't they say, I can't believe you guys have only met each other once, some of you guys twice. Uh, you act like old college friends who used to live in the dorm together. Like that's how well we got to know each other in this program. And I think the bond for that program is so real because the Leadership Institute created space for us to show up as full humans. We were not just our job titles. Throughout the process, there was structured vulnerability in a genuinely safe and supportive environment. And that's where we built the foundation of who we are as leaders, how we want to show up. And I think that's really rare in professional settings because so often we have this filter of professionalism over everything that we do. And so that minimizes our voices, that quiets our expression. That means that we don't get to be completely honest in everything that we're doing, right? But when we show up and we set ground rules right from the start around how we're going to engage with each other, what we want to have as an outcome of the session, it creates an entirely different atmosphere. And I think that's why that connection stuck between us and why it's so important. Not to mention, we also had a little bit of trauma bonding because on the last day of the session, uh, a hurricane actually came through Atlanta. And so I don't think that the trauma bonding is exactly why we bonded so strongly together, because the other three cohorts, they also did not go through a hurricane and they report similar types of experiences. But I think that the deepest professional relationships aren't necessarily built through networking. They're actually built when people feel safe enough to be real with each other, to seek feedback, to give feedback, and to know that that's coming from a place of love and support and kindness, even when the feedback is really hard.

A Framework To Use Conferences

Keith Greer 7:58

And so when we started getting into the AFP icon, I was super excited because I got to lead one of the very first sessions to open the conference. And it was about how to make conferences actually matter in the work that we're doing. Because I think so many of us have had the experience where we go to conference and we are enthused and energized and we come back with a fire and a passion to change everything in our organizations. And then two weeks go by and we are right back into those same ruts that we were before the conference. We're doing the exact same things that we've always done. And it's because there's so much organizational momentum and inertia that if we're not intentional about the work that we're doing, it's easy to fall back, right? It's kind of like if you think about the rudder on a ship. Our rudder as an individual is only so big and the organization can be massive. So we have to make sure that we're leveraging our rudder and the rudders of others to the best of our ability. And so I taught a very simple framework and it begins with identifying what are the things that you want to do in your organization before you even look at what the sessions are. Identify what are your pain points, what are the things that you want to learn as a professional as well. Uh, but then also make sure that you're finding out what are the things that are gonna make your organization better. Once you have those locked down, talk about them with your supervisor, your leadership, or your teams that are attending conferences, and then have them start looking through what sessions are gonna be there. How can they leverage what they're learning at sessions to actually come back and do things that there is organizational buy-in to change? Because there's nothing more frustrating than going to a conference, coming back with great ideas, and the organization saying, Yeah, that's not really what we want to do. So you feel kind of like you've lost everything that you just learned, and that's not a great feeling. But also, there's some people that show up and they go, I'm going to change everything in my organization. And you don't have to do that, and probably you can't. So pick two to three things and do them really well and let them take root within your organization before you decide to change them again. And in my session, the people who are part of my cohort, they showed up for my session and they were right there in the front row and they were cheering and applauding me on. And it makes such a difference when you have people that can be your champions in everything that you're doing. And then

Cohort Champions And Speaker Wins

Keith Greer 10:32

we all showed up for each other in every session that we were leading across the entire conference. And I've got to say, like there were a lot of us that were leading sessions and not just small sessions where the room had like five or 10 people in them. They were big sessions, which I was so impressed with. One of my cohort members, her name is Alice Marlowe. And this was her first time ever presenting at a conference. And she was amazing. Like, she did what AFP Icon calls a laser session. It's a 20-minute session uh that's done as part of the exhibit hall. So it's done when everybody else is looking at the exhibitors and the vendors and everything else. And so there's a lot of distractions and a lot of competing priorities that are happening in those rooms. And she was leading a session on imposter syndrome. And so when it started, there were maybe 30 to 40 people in kind of our little corral. And she just led it with such conviction and her voice never stuttered, it never cracked. She commanded that room. And by the end of the session, I looked around and there must have been 200 people, like standing around the edges, listening and hanging on to every single word that she had to say. It was amazing. And she didn't flinch, and I was so impressed with everything that she did. And then I had my friends Casey Tyrion and Leanne Baumel. Um, and they did a session on engaging volunteers as donors. And they were brilliant as always. They've I've gotten to present with both of them at LEED before, but this was the first time getting to sit in and watch one of their sessions and brilliant, brilliant takeaways. Both of them have organizations that rely on volunteers to do a lot of their work. And so they got to really connect with their audience that also was there to figure out how we can engage our volunteers as donors. And I got to tell you, their session was so good and so powerful that afterwards they did not just have a like your typical line of people waiting to talk to them after the session. They actually had to move it to the hallway because they had so many people wanting to talk to them that the next session was getting ready to start and we got kicked out. So it was like super great. But the thread connecting all of this is that the people who do their inner work, who what we did through AFP's Leadership Institute, that self-evaluation, that critical work that only happens when you show up in a safe place to be able to do it, we show up differently afterwards, whether that's within our organizations, that's within the teams that we lead, or it's on stage at conferences like AFP Icon and AFP Lead. So all of us are phenomenal presenters. And if you want to hire any of us for your conferences coming up, feel free to reach out to me and I'm happy to connect you with anybody from the AFP Leadership Institute, Cohort 4, which we're also known as the Quad Squad.

AI Sessions And Vendor Reality Check

Keith Greer 13:32

So let's get into some of the sessions that I attended while I was at Icon because I attended every AI session that I could get into. And what I actually saw was kind of a mixed bag of things. There was disappointment, but there was also some really critical new viewpoints that I was able to lean into. And a lot of the disappointment that I felt was that a lot of these sessions were kind of soft pitches for the software as a service or SAAS tools. And they're being positioned as cutting edge tools for fundraisers. And I was in there with somebody who actually went through the pilot program that I led last summer on AI for major gifts. And she leaned over and she goes, Keith, isn't this what you just taught us how to do in Chat GPT last summer? Yes. Yes, it is. Like it was exactly what I teach in module one and module two of the fully formed course now at this point, which is launching today. But the important nuance that I'm pulling away from this AFP icon is that I think that a lot of these vendors kind of have the idea wrong. Because I think what's happening, and I think where the future of this is going, is that these tools that they're trying to sell us for hundreds of dollars a month or thousands or tens of thousands of dollars a year is not where the value's at. Because if we can build these within Chat GPT ourselves, very simply, because I am not an IT person, I do not have a coding background. I'm just a fundraiser who figured out how to use these tools. The value is not in the AI. The value that they're bringing is going to be in the data that they own, the proprietary data, whether that's their wealth screening tools or the giving history to other organizations, to other nonprofits, so you can see where their giving priorities lie. That's where the value is, is within that proprietary data. But if you don't need access to those data points, you can actually do everything that they were building with AI yourself, right in the AI platforms that your organization has already approved. So where is this all heading? And the biggest shift that I see is that I think the future, right? We're not there yet, but the future is that we're going to be heading into a time where AI is going to be our primary interface. It's not going to be just another tool that we use to write an email or review something. But I think that as we start to have these connections and these integrations through an MCP protocol, which is model context protocol, it allows you to connect your AI tools to your data set, whether that's your CRM, whether it's the wealth screening tool, or it's going to be through any of those other data points that you need. Your AI is going to be able to talk to all of those. And so we're not going to be logging into our CRM, our data points, our multiple data points anymore. It's all going to be filtered in through our an AI front system. And so it's going to pull all of that data into one place without having to manually switch between systems. And so I think that we might be seeing in the future, not right away, but the death of logging into a CRM every single day. And it's going to be replaced by an AI dashboard that surfaces what you need and that pings us every day. Here's what you need to do today. Here's what you need to do this week. And I think that we're going to start seeing a lot more people integrating some local AI models. Organizations that want full control over their data, they are starting to build AI systems that live entirely within their own networks. So that means that it's not connected to the internet. So no more cloud-based AI, no more having to go to Chat GPT or to Claude or to Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini anymore. It's all going to be built within a proprietary system that we have strung together a series of computers to allow it to have its own brain, for instance. And so what does that mean for things like data sovereignty? And so what it means is that you know exactly where your data is, which laws are governing it. Because there's a question right now that if your data goes through a California server, does that mean that it needs to be governed by California laws? If your data goes through Europe, does that mean that your data needs to be governed by the European laws? But if you have all of your data in one place that's not networked to the internet, you know exactly where it is. It also reduces the exposure risk from cloud vulnerabilities. Cloud computing companies have some incredible encryption tools and data protection tools. But, you know, like anything that's connected to the internet, there's always a risk. And so when you start having these local models of AI built on your own servers, on your own computers, and where you're not sharing data, you're no longer dependent on a vendor's security practices. You know what your security practices are. And so there's some confidence that comes with that. Or if you have really bad security practices, maybe it's better for you to stick with the cloud companies. But the trade-off today is there's a cost and a technical expertise to build all of that infrastructure for a local AI platform. But I think that window is closing faster than most people think. So maybe by 2030, maybe sooner than that, I think so many organizations are going to have their own internal AI programs.

Data Sovereignty And Local AI Models

Keith Greer 19:02

But also, one of the things that I absolutely loved about icon was that people were showing up in their most authentic, most expressive fashion: lavender suits, florals for men or women, and the most extraordinary brooches that you've ever seen. And so before I left for icon, I actually decided that I was gonna step into that part too. So I brought some wonderful party shoes, I brought uh some embroidered velvet loafers, a beautiful brooch that my partner had given me, and a beautiful jacket, as well as this floral shirt that I'm wearing on camera today. So if you're watching on YouTube, you get to see it. If you're listening to the podcast, check it out on YouTube. But every morning in the pit of my stomach, I was thinking, you know, is this too much? Am I going to be drawing attention that I don't really want? And that feeling, it comes from growing up in an environment where staying small and being quiet was survival. Visibility felt dangerous because it was. And in my work over the last couple of years, whether it's doing the podcast, speaking at huge conferences, delivering keynotes, it all felt a little risky, right? Every single step felt like there was a cost to it that I might be paying. And in those moments, I think there's a balancing act that we have to do, right? Because we have a goal that we're trying to get to, but there's a risk that comes along with that, whether that's a real risk or it's a perceived one. And so I talk about this before when you're afraid of something, but it's something that you really want to do and you're feeling like, oh, I'm really anxious, I'm really scared about this. There's the brain receives the same chemicals, whether it's fear or it's excitement, right? It's just the context that shapes how your brain is absorbing those chemicals. And so when it comes to public speaking, I had to train myself to be like, I'm not scared, I'm not anxious, I'm actually excited. I'm excited, I'm excited, I'm excited. And over the process of telling yourself that, your brain starts to reinterpret those chemicals in a very different way that's not fear-based. But I couldn't really feel that same adjustment between the anxiety of public speaking and showing up in a way that was fully authentically myself. So I had to come up with a battle cry, so to speak, something that wasn't me just saying, I'm excited to wear these fancy, fabulous clothes, but something that was just like, I'm gonna go forward and do it anyways. And so if you guys remember the movie Fried Green Tomatoes with Kathy Bates back in the day, fabulous movie. You've got to watch it. My battle cry every morning just became Tawanda. And I would put on the clothes, I'd put on the shoes, I'd put on the brooches, and I would show up fully authentically myself. And I'm gonna just show you guys these shoes real quick here on camera. Like, aren't those, oh, let's see, aren't those fabulous? Ah, I love them. Just black velvet with some embroidered fireworks on them, fantastic. But when you give yourself permission to take up space, even when your stomach is saying don't, it's incredibly uncomfortable until it isn't. That pit in your stomach never fully goes away, but you get better at managing it. And I got to walk through the exhibit hall and people were like, fabulous shirt. And I was like, thank you very much. And then posting the pictures up on LinkedIn. People were commenting more on the shoes than on anything else. And so, like, that's true that you have to be able to push past our uncomfortableness, whether that's in our work, in our daily lives, whatever it is that makes us uncomfortable, those are things that we have to be able to manage within ourselves and move forward. And so it's true about having an honest opinion where this industry is going too. And I think that there's some big changes that are coming up ahead.

Taking Up Space And Closing Ask

Keith Greer 22:59

So I want to thank you for being here, my friends. Remember, if you are not already subscribed or following the podcast, please make sure to like, subscribe, leave a five star review, and leave a glowing comment on whatever platform you're listening to because it helps other fundraisers find this podcast as well. Until next week, I'll see you later, my friends. Bye bye.