Reiko from The Non-Profit Toolbox sat down with author and keynote speaker Diane Darling for a quick interview about what some of the points are going to be for her keynote speach at our next mini-conference. Diane speaks all over the world on effective networking and is known in the Boston area for her networking group, Drinks Above Tiffany’s.
A transcript of the interview is below the interview the video.
Reiko: Hi I’m Reiko Beach and I’m with the Non-Profit Toolbox. We’re here with Diane Darling whose going to be our keynote speaker at our February 10th event that we are very excited about because Diane knows a lot about networking. We feel it’s important for non-profits to learn and enjoy networking.
Diane: Yes, thank you. It will be a please to be there. I look forward to it.
Reiko: Why do you think it’s important for non-profits to learn more about networking?
Diane: Well networking does three things: it saves time, money or it gets you money, and it creates energy. I think non-profits particualy have a tougher situation because not only do they have to make sure they balance their books, but they have to honor their mission. Where the mission for a company is just to make money. So I think that for non-profits it’s a really tough thing. So if they can create the network to support them they can get so many things done faster and help a lot of people more.
Reiko: You promote networking physically but also online.
Diane: Oh absolutely. I call it hybrid networking, you want to do both, the online and face to face. What’s terrific is you can meet people face to face and continue the relationship online, you meet people online and you finally meet them face to face and it’s great fun.
Reiko: What are some of the points you think you are going to make in your keynote speech?
Diane: Well, I think a couple of things I’m going to talk about is really what is networking. Many people don’t understand what it is. My quick answer is that it’s building relationships before you need them. It’s not going off and making a list of all the rich people you know and asking them for money, which is what is what a lot of non-profits do. It’s building those relationships and it’s making those connections and sustaining those connections. I’ll talk a little about some of the best practices face to face and some of the best practices online. We’ll talk a little bit about best to use your database or how to best stay in touch with people without kind of stalking them or being weird.
Reiko: Great. I look forward to seeing you there.
Diane: Thank you, me too. It will be a pleasure.
Want to learn more about networking? Join us at our next non-profit mini-conference.
