Plenary session with Vu Le, Thursday, May 4th 9-10:15 a.m.

Just a few comments on Vu Le's speech, since others have commented:
 - He coined the term "Bizsplaining," based on "Mansplaining."  It describes businesses telling nonprofits how they should run their organizations, because they're successful, make a lot of money, and thus know better.  He argued that nonprofits have a much harder job than businesses.  His example was a customer purchasing an iPhone from Apple and stipulating that they don't want any more than $25 of their $700 to go to the CEO, no more than $100 for design, etc.  Businesses don't have to deal with this.  Nonprofits do every day.  Another example: For Apple, their outcome is that they sold 100,000 iPhones and made a huge profit.  If they were a nonprofit, investors would say "Well, selling iPhones is great, but it's not really an outcome.  We need to know how many people used those iPhones to post online resumes and get jobs."  He spoke about overbearing board members who think they can tell nonprofit CEOs how to run their organizations.  He tells them "your hobby is my profession."  Overall, one of his major messages was that you have to stand up to donors, and not let them change your mission or dictate how you run your organization.

He also mentioned that fundraising in not always a zero-sum game, and that he has worked with donors who not only donated to an allied organization but increased their donation to his because they appreciated the collaboration.

He's currently working on a website called grantadvisor.com, which is like Yelp for donors and foundations.  Nonprofits can review and add comments and tips about seeking grants and funding from donors.