Chapter Leadership Brief 04.07.2023

By Jonah Nigh
Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement
The New School

“Oh! You were the diversity hire!”

 “Do you speak Mandarin?” (Spoiler alert: I do not. I am Korean and Japanese and adopted by a Russian Jew and a Texan.)

“Just so you know, I am not homophobic.”

“He’s exotic.” (Last spoiler alert: I grew up in Minnesota. It was not exotic.)

Not to get into a Misery Olympics with my fellow fundraisers out there, but I could go on and yes, these are pulled from real life moments throughout my 18 years in the business. And this is why the word “inclusion” does not give me the warm-fuzzies. Let me explain.

A couple of months ago I was on a panel at CASE presented by Aspen Leadership Group, where  I was asked, “What does inclusion mean to you?” I appreciated the question because this word–along with belonging, diversity, and equity–has been thrown around casually in the last few years. In fact, *82% of higher education institutions released statements after George Floyd’s murder, but 70% of statements with action items did not include measures of success, rendering them equivalent to a weak New Year’s resolution akin to “I will lose weight...some year.”

This is why I don’t trust DEI statements or organizations that are enthralled with their status quo; I trust actions. I want to see values, not hear or read about them on a website’s very bold and very hyperlinked diversity page.  

Every institution has to decide what these words mean as they relate to their specific context and, to go a step further, I believe every person in a leadership role has the responsibility to decide what these words mean on a personal level, recognize their positionality, and actively operationalize them. This will require standing in your personal principles, thinking critically, and making hard decisions daily. 

At The New School, diversity is a fact, equity is a choice, inclusion is an action, and belonging is a result. As a rare leader of color in our field, I think a lot about the fact that **83% of frontliners are white. I see inclusivity not as a warm and fuzzy come-one-come-all idea but through a more assertive lens–as an imperative to make a pathway for people of color. By pathway I do not just mean a seat at the table; I mean a voice, budget, and position of power. (Not incidentally, diversity in the driver’s seat attracts more diverse candidates for those who continue to blame the fake adversary known as “Weak Candidate Pool”).

I am as guilty of the field’s learned helplessness as anyone. When I was in my 20’s, I was once at a meeting of about 100 fundraisers. There was one other Asian person, and she and I clung together fast and assured ourselves the field would be more diverse in half a generation. Now in my 40’s, we have data to prove it isn’t.

But the good news is that we also have data and strategies to take this on, should we choose to avail ourselves of them. We know all too well what the barriers are: JDs that discourage out-of-industry talent, referrals from known networks, bias while screening resumes, microaggressions from hiring committees, racist workplaces, lack of career advancement, among other issues that are in plain sight. Do we have the grit to take these roadblocks on, or will we continue to be satisfied with Instagram-deep efforts?

I am hoping this is the beginning of a conversation that I can have with those of you who are as determined as I am to do this work. I can be reached directly at nighj@newschool.edu, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. In the meantime, I want to thank all of you who have advanced a culture of equity, inclusion, and social justice both at work and in your communities.

*Source: University of Redlands announcement; “What has higher education promised on anti-racism in 2020 and is it enough?” EAB; Advancement Forum Interviews and Analysis.

**Source: Data USA; Advancement forum interviews and analysis.

Chapter Leadership Brief 03.24.2023

By M. Angel Flores, AFP-NYC Secretary
Senior Vice President, CCS Fundraising

How is your relationship with money? That’s quite the personal question, isn’t it?! As fundraisers, we are constantly working in this intimate space with our donors. Yet, how many of us are comfortable with our own relationship to money?

My relationship to money is a work in progress. I recently joined a financial literacy and planning program specifically for women. As we near the end of Women’s History Month, I want to boldly elevate our collective fundraising efforts to fully embody the true meaning of philanthropy – love of humanity – for the expressed purpose of lifting up women by helping to build and increase their wealth. A woman’s wealth offers a view of her and her family’s overall financial health and how easily she can invest in her future, handle a financial emergency, and more. Sounds easy enough but first, let’s review the stats.

The Gender Pay Gap continues to be a problem despite the many studies and reports that exist on the topic. A woman earns, on average, $.82 per every $1 a man earns. Less talked about but much more damaging is the Gender Wealth Gap, where we define wealth as the value of assets minus debts, or how much women own, how much money they keep, etc. White women own $.32 for every $1 a white man owns. For women of color, it’s much worse: we own less than $.01 for every $1 of white male wealth.

Next, consider the Motherhood Wealth Tax. Two-thirds of moms are the sole or primary breadwinners, or co-breadwinners earning 25-50% as much as their partners, yet own only 20% of wealth compared to fathers. The problem starts with the leave time required to recover from childbirth and to enjoy those first few exhausting and exhilarating newborn months. We still do not mandate paid parental leave, so moms often see lower pay increases, slower (if not stalled) advancement, and other hits to their wealth because of motherhood. It continues as children grow and moms (still!) take on a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities, including time off when the kids get sick.

Moms of color face a triple wealth gap – gender, racial, and motherhood. Single moms would have to work until they are 93 to have enough wealth to retire. If you’re single mom of color, well, I’m sure you can imagine what that means.

Lastly, let’s not forget the Pink Tax – the artificially marked-up cost of items specifically because they are marketed for women.

Shockingly, the Gender Wealth Gap worsens with more education. Women are more likely to go to college and families are more likely to rely on her earnings than ever before. Yet, women are more likely to graduate with loans and earn less – there’s that pesky Gender Pay Gap again! To put a finer point on it, men with high school diplomas have, on average, $2,000 more wealth than women with the same degrees. At the graduate level, men have $51,000 more wealth than women.

If you’re feeling the situation is grim, you’re right. Because of these injustices, women are:

• Leaving school with more debt than men
• Taking jobs that pay them less than men
• Starting with a higher debt to income ratio than men
• Saving less than men
• Investing later and less often than men
• Therefore, twice as likely as men to retire in poverty.

The solution is for women to take it upon ourselves to build wealth despite this broken system. That is easier said than done.

You may be wondering where fundraising plays into all of this considering we ask for money.

We know that over 40% of donors first heard about how making a planned gift can benefit the donor – either by providing income for life, reducing taxes, or both. We also know that donors cannot make most planned gifts until they create an estate plan and will. And we know that most people would benefit from increased financial education.

Enter you and your nonprofit!

Here’s how you can help women build their wealth as part of a robust, holistic, compassionate fundraising program:

1. Offer Free Financial Literacy Workshops. Invite all donors and your entire community, especially if your organization has a direct service program component. Connect with local professional advisors – financial planners, tax advisors, estate planning attorneys – explain what you are doing, and invite them to participate.
2. Encourage Personal Finance Support. Create a list of the local professional advisors you connect with to share with women when they ask for guidance, and even if they don’t. Donor-centric fundraising means centering the donor’s needs as much as our organizations’.
3. Encourage Giving Circles. Often driven by women (but not always!), giving circles can deepen your relationship with your donors, build connections and community between donors, and provide additional benefit to your organization beyond financial support. Encourage giving circles to use your personal finance support resources. Now imagine women not only discussing how to give to your organization but also how to improve and secure their own financial future!
4. Proactively Offer Ways to Give with Benefits. Select planned giving vehicles can help a woman earn guaranteed income for life, lower her state, federal, and estate taxes, or both. Learn how different ways of giving provide these added benefits, ensure your organization can support donors to give these gifts, and share that information with all your women donors.

We work in the world of money every day. Let’s use our privileged position to improve substantively the lives of all the women we interact with. In doing so, we’ll also be supporting their families and their communities meaningfully and for the long-term. What could be more philanthropic than that?

Chapter Leadership Brief 03.10.2023

By Jennifer Moore, AFP-NYC Treasurer
Vice President of Development, DoSomething.org

Each year, March brings with it both a physical renewal in the environment and in my case a mental one as well. Perhaps it’s the combination of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day paired with the extended daylight hours, and more time outside, but I always get an extra boost of inspiration and motivation this time of year.

And even though we’re only a few days into the month, this year is no different.

I had the delight in participating in one of my favorite AFP-NYC activities this week-one of our Professional Advancement Committee meetings. We took a few moments to catch up with colleagues and meet a few new members of the committee before diving in together to examine the gaps in our field and how we can support fellow fundraisers on their career trajectories through our education programming. The inspiration from my fellow committee members comes both from the trust and vulnerability we share with each other and the impact we’re working to make in the world through our day jobs as fundraisers. While planning and brainstorming, challenges we’re facing on a daily basis and collective solutions trickle out and are sprinkled into the conversation. That energy is then infused in our program offerings and also back into our organizations and work. I know I can wax poetic for my love of the Professional Advancement Committee, but for the past 10 years that group has been a lynchpin to my creativity, inspiration and commitment to my work as a fundraiser.

March also seems to be the time of year when things really start to get into full swing at work (although there never does seem to be a slow season anymore) and leaning on the collective support and impact of my fellow fundraisers is what gets me through. Our work as fundraisers can be increasingly complex and nuanced and sometimes disheartening. However, I try to soak up every drop of motivation and community I can on the hard days. Whether or not joining an AFP-NYC Committee is what you need right now or not, I do encourage you to leverage your community for support. As the weather continues to give us more options for sunshine and daylight allow yourself some time in nature and think of it as part of your own spring and renewal!

Chapter Leadership Brief 02.24.2023

By Melissa A. Benjamin
Director of Development
Fiver Children’s Foundation

As we near the end of Black History month, I decided to revisit one of my favorite writers, Langston Hughes.  His poem, “Mother to Son” has always resonated with me, but in reflecting on the past fifteen years of my fundraising career, it feels even more poignant.  If you’re not familiar with this poem, see below:

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
 

If you ask anyone who does fundraising for a living, they will tell you that it isn’t easy.  The inherent challenges of convincing an individual, company, or foundation to give your organization money comes with many late nights, lots of writing and editing, crafting plans for board members, and so much more.  Even when you do your very best work, you still might not get the donations you are seeking.  However, over the course of my career, I have found that these experiences were just an added layer to much larger elephants in the room—imposter syndrome and difficult relationships with money, just to name a few.

I felt like I was the only person I knew who did fundraising for a living.

I spent most of my formative years as a working fundraising professional feeling alone.  None of my friends did what I did for a living, so when I would try to explain the challenges I encountered, they didn’t understand. Several even encouraged me to apply for different jobs in the for-profit sector. My family thought I should stop fundraising and try wedding planning or other kinds of event work instead of pursuing my master’s in public administration.  I didn’t have a network of fundraisers of any kind, let alone fundraisers who looked like me.

Organizations like AFP in theory seemed like the natural place to solve that issue, but the cost of membership meant that I couldn’t be a member unless my employer paid for me.   So, with little support from those around me, I forged ahead, attending grad school at night while working my full-time special events role at a nonprofit during the day. 

Fundraising Makes You Confront Your Own Relationship with Money.

There’s a challenging dynamic for many fundraisers of color when it comes to money.  For most of my career, the organizations I’ve worked for served Black and Brown communities here in New York City who have been systemically under-resourced in a variety of ways—from lack of access to educational resources, food insecurity, lack of access to legal representation, etc.  It was easy for me to identify with our clients because my family was one of those clients.  As an alum of a mentoring youth development organization myself, I am living proof of the positive impact organizations can have on a young person’s life.  The intervention of local nonprofits supported my single-parent household, and connected us to several resources as I applied for and got accepted to college. 

As a child of an immigrant mother, money was something we didn’t discuss often, and when we did it was because we lacked it oftentimes.  The taboo nature of money meant that for years I was afraid to discuss it and was uninformed on how to best manage it once I began working.  When I began fundraising, I was surrounded by and asking for the very thing I was raised to not ask questions about. 

Imposter Syndrome Interrupted My Confidence.

The wealth I was around at work was daunting at times.  Board members would host meetings to plan a gala in their palatial and well-appointed Upper East Side homes (I’d be there to take meeting minutes while my director led the agenda), and then I’d travel back to my cramped basement apartment deep in Brooklyn.  Neither space was bad, but one was certainly nicer.  I recall a time when the organization I worked for was comped two tickets to a foundation funder’s gala at The Plaza Hotel.  I had just paid rent, student loans, and utilities, and was told the event was black tie.  I probably should have told my manager I couldn’t attend, but I was embarrassed to admit I couldn’t afford to buy a dress for the event.  I went to JC Penney, bought a dress, and tucked in the tags.  For the entire night, I felt the tags scratch the inside of my arm, a reminder that the dress didn’t belong to me, and that I didn’t feel like I belonged in that space.

I don’t have an answer for how to not feel that way anymore.  Even as my salary has increased over time, I sometimes still feel that twinge of imposter syndrome reminding me that while I may be in a leadership role today, that somehow I’m still less than and inadequate.  

I’se still a climbin’.

I decided to share this lived experience because I know many fundraisers like me have had to battle with (and maybe still battle with) similar experiences in order to do this work.  I don’t share these experiences to seek pity or apologies, rather, I want to highlight these inequitable and at times painful experiences because this sector needs to be a lot better to the people who serve it and help to resource it, especially BIPOC/LGBTQ+ and other underestimated identities. 

I do see changes that make me feel encouraged.  I have worked for the past four and a half years at Fiver Children’s Foundation, where me and my colleagues’ professional development is a priority of my Executive Director.  And the same AFP chapter I couldn’t afford to join years ago is now a place I am starting to call home.  My organization sponsors my membership, and I am a member of the chapter’s board of directors, serving on the professional advancement and audit committees, and volunteering as a career mentor to a fellow fundraiser. My hope is that through my involvement, our chapter will continue to evolve and support all fundraisers, but especially those who look like me and come from similar backgrounds.  I no longer feel alone in my career and have made a personal commitment to supporting fundraisers who are new to the field so that they don’t feel the way I did when I started in 2007.

There’s still a lot that can be done, but I encourage anyone in the space of supporting fundraisers of color to listen, leverage your privilege where you can to advocate for equity and inclusion, and support efforts to spotlight the expertise and knowledge that exists in fundraisers like me.

Chapter Leadership Brief 2.10.2023

By Crystal Fields-Sam
Chair IDEA Committee
AFP NYC Board Member

The feeling that you get when you have told the right story to the right person at the right time is nirvana. That feeling is the perfect combination of knowledge, experience, skill, luck, and magic called Fundraising. Fundraising is the vehicle a worthy cause utilizes to traverse obstacles which would otherwise prevent it from being heard.  Black History Month, the creation and celebration of it, is such a cause and proof that a powerful story can change the world!

In 1915, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, Alexander L. Jackson, William B. Hartgrove, George Cleveland Hall, and James E. Stamps told their story and changed the world by founding what has become Black History Month. It is well known in America that Black History month is celebrated for the entire month of February but, did you know it was created by a Fundraiser! 

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, with funding from several philanthropic foundations, told the story of African American history and the largely overlooked achievements of Black Americans which were not available to the public.  Now Black History month is celebrated all over the globe.  Every year African American History month has a new theme.  This year the theme is resistance. Defined as the refusal to accept or comply with something, this year's theme of resistance can apply to so much..too much.  

When you think about why everyone should celebrate Black History month and why rewriting history to exclude the African American's place in it is so perfidious, its founder said it best, "If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." Carter G. Woodson. 

When thinking about how you can celebrate African American History month this month and throughout the year, remember that poet Toi Derricotte said, "Joy is an act of resistance."  I suggest you look to some literary greats who not only captured the relevance and significance of the African American life but lived extraordinary experiences themselves like, Ida B. Wells and Zora Neal Hurston.  Continue to get inspired by watching the movie Hidden Figures which features brilliant women like Dorothy Vaughn who used mathematical formulas to launch John Glenn into space.  Round your celebration out by listening to your favorite R&B, Rock, or Country song knowing that those genres were derived from the melodious sounds of Jazz.

Then, think about the direct service work you do with your organization.  Extrapolate how the actions I have outlined above may impact the way you write an appeal letter or organize a campaign. Last but not least, I offer you the opportunity to be inspired!  Come and join me and my colleagues on the AFP NYC IDEA Committee where we not only embrace inclusion, diversity, equity and access but we further these ideals within the Fundraising profession through planning, collaboration,  implementation, and of course…Joy.

Chapter Leadership Brief 01.27.2023

By Jill M. Scibilia, CFRE
VP, Development, Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health

Today we have the privilege of honoring our late AFP-NYC board colleague Michele Hall-Duncan with the Ralph E. Chamberlain Award at our 2023 Annual Meeting. The award is given to a fundraiser for a lifetime of service to our fundraising community.  We lost Michele much, much earlier than any of us would have wished when we lost her to breast cancer six months ago. Her legacy of wisdom and service will live on and be a source of inspiration for all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Michele believed in living life to its fullest. I am going to borrow some words of wisdom she shared with us just one year ago, when she wrote our Chapter Leadership Brief to congratulate the 2022 Ralph E. Chamberlain Award Recipient. Michele encouraged us to renew our commitment to AFP and to invest in ourselves and our careers. https://nycafp.org/News-Events/News-Blog/renew-your-commitment-to-afp

Investing in yourself seems obvious, but that does not mean it is easy. 

I under-invested in myself early in my career. I thought because I worked at an under-resourced not-for-profit that it was important for me to spend every minute of my working hours fully devoted to that organization. That meant being in the office or meeting with donors. Training and Continuing Education were not part of this equation because they cost money and time. I told myself the training and continuing education could come later when we were doing better as an organization.  I thought I was putting my mission first.

I learned about Fundraising Day in New York from a colleague who encouraged me to attend. I am sorry to say I did not attend the first year I learned about it.  Thankfully, I did the next year.  I have never looked back. Fundraising Day in New York and all that AFP offers opened a whole new world for me. The continuing education and opportunity to meaningfully engage with other fundraisers was a game changer. 

I learned that sometimes we need to step away from the organization we serve to do our best work. Doing this allowed me to learn from others’ experiences. It gave me new ideas and tools. Most importantly, it gave me an infusion of new energy to do my best work. I became more involved with AFP, serving on committees, on the board, and as a speaker. I found that every hour I invested, I got at least one back (and often more).

It was important for me to spend my working hours fully devoted to the mission I served. What I did not initially understand is that a critical part of this is making the time to invest in myself. My organization benefitted once I started doing that.

Michele understood that.  She was the CEO of enCourage Kids, and she invested her time in AFP-NYC and in other organizations. She took enCourage Kids to new heights, including presiding over a $1.2 million EKF gala in the final weeks of her life. She also encouraged her team to pursue continuing education.

So I encourage you to join me in following Michele’s lead. Invest in Yourself in 2023.  Don’t wait. Remember that you are an investment worth making. 

Looking for ideas on how to get started? Learn more about AFP-NYC’s fundraising community and ways you get involved by visiting: https://nycafp.org/Get-Involved/Join-Now

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to professional fundraising.

With gratitude,
Jill

Chapter Leadership Brief 01.13.2023

By Susan Shapiro, AFP-NYC Mentorship Committee Co-Chair
President, Shapiro Associates

As the sector transitions to a generation of leaders that are younger and more ethnically and racially diverse, AFP’s Mentorship Program provides a singular opportunity for these new leaders to increase their fundraising capacity, working with experienced fundraisers in a supportive environment.

The Mentorship Program is designed to help participants clarify their career vision, develop new skills, and gain confidence in the skills they already have. The 2023 Program will be in full swing when it kicks off in late January, with twelve sets of mentors and mentees that have been matched, based on mentors’ skill sets and mentees’ preferences and goals. Take a peek at the 2023 Mentorship Look-Book on the AFP- NYC website to see the full complement of this year’s participants. 

Additionally, in this year’s recruitment, we were committed to ensuring that mentors, mentees, and committee members were a member of one of the following traditionally underrepresented communities:  people of color; LGBTQ; women; staff at organizations with annual budgets < $5M.

To continue to build the program’s leadership in cultivating and nurturing the next generation of fundraising professionals, the Mentorship Committee made several enhancements to add greater efficiency and serve more of the sector’s fundraisers.  For 2023, the program was redesigned to accommodate a two-cohort model, with each cohort of mentors and mentees meeting for five months; the second cohort is scheduled to start in July.  To facilitate collaboration and learning, a mid-year convening is scheduled for each cohort to share challenges, outcomes, and opportunities.  

Whether volunteering as a Mentor or applying as a Mentee, participants report multiple personal and professional benefits from their engagement.  For some, it’s gaining the confidence needed to pursue a new role or providing a space outside the office to further develop their skill set as a fundraiser.  For others, it’s sharing years of experience, strategies, and tactics that can benefit someone newer in the industry.

Stay tuned throughout the year for invitations to apply or volunteer for the Program.

Chapter Leadership Brief 12.16.2022

By David McGoy, CFRE
Founder and President, ASSIST Development Consulting
Director of Governance and Board Placement, Robin Hood Foundation

Over the past year I’ve had discussions with CEOs, Development Officers, and board members representing 75 nonprofit organizations and provided training for over 300 more, and it’s hardly a spoiler alert to say that fundraising continues to be a major pain point for boards.

You’ve heard it all before: Resistance to and confusion about fundraising is rampant. There is a lack of clarity, and in some cases a lack of transparency, around fundraising expectations. In many cases board members are well intentioned but are not sure exactly what to do. Discomfort with asking is common, as board members grapple with their own awkward relationships with money, fear of rejection, and a perception that soliciting donations poses a risk to relationships that they value. There are even board members who don’t believe that fundraising is their responsibility.

This underperformance in fundraising is a source of frustration that is voiced at development department in every corner of the nonprofit sector. “I wish they would…” or “Why don’t they…” or “where can we find board members with giving capacity and strong networks, and a willingness to solicit?” But this latter wish for a rainmaker is a kind of fool’s gold. Having a deep-pocketed development committee chair only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. The real problem is a lack of professional fundraising knowledge, skill, and experience in this critical leadership role.

It is almost unthinkable for an established nonprofit to have a Finance Committee Chair who lacks subject matter expertise. Governance Committees are typically run by people with prior board experience or a legal background.  And yet, when we look at the Development Committee Chair, what we often find is a well-intentioned, possibly deep-pocketed, individual who sadly is out of their depth because they don’t have the training, education, or real-world experience that they need to do it capably.

And this is where we come in.

Fundraising management – raising money through the efforts of other people – is absolutely a part of our job description, but we know the limits of managing up all-too-well. What is needed is people with our expertise leading the Development Committee, which would create a dynamic where the board can recognize fundraising expertise in one of their peers. In this way, they would be more likely to follow their leadership in the same way that they trust the CPA who runs the Finance Committee or the lawyer who’s in charge of the Governance Committee. 

This would be a game changer for many boards that are struggling with fundraising. But it’s not without its own roadblocks. For starters, development professionals don’t necessarily have the deepest pockets or the monied networks that CEOs crave. But in this age of equity and inclusion, this matters less, or at least it should. One encouraging that I’ve witnessed recently is that more and more boards are moving away from the “one size fits all” give/get fundraising policy to one that also places value on skill sets, lived experience, and voices that have been missing from the table for too long. Maybe there is a place for fundraising professionals in this new model.

A bigger part of the challenge, I think, is that after 40 hours per week of developing and implementing strategy, chasing down gifts, and nudging a team of solicitors, precious few of us are willing to dedicate our free time to doing the same. I’ve heard much the same from lawyers who are reluctant to join nonprofit boards for fear of becoming pro-bono, in-house counsel. 

So what is the solution? Whatever it is, it has to involve us. We’re the ones with the knowledge and skill that boards are lacking. So whether it’s a chapter-wide effort to encourage development professionals to join boards, a sweeping fundraising training and coaching initiative for Development Committee Chairs, both, or something else entirely, we need to be creative and vigilant in addressing this critical leadership gap in nonprofit governance. And soon.

Chapter Leadership Brief 12.02.2022

By AFP-NYC Board Members and Professional Advancement Co-Chairs
Anne Townsend, Principal, ART + Strategy
Mindee Barham, Chief Philanthropy Officer & Interim Co-Executive Director, Scratch Foundation

As we enter the last month of the calendar year, we give thanks to YOU, the fundraising community - our friends and colleagues who we work alongside, helping our organizations raise the funding needed to deliver mission-driven programs in NYC, across the United States and around the world.

We are thankful to our AFP NYC community for all it does to support our fundraising sector throughout the year. We are thankful to the IDEA committee for their dedication and support in helping us lift up and ensure the tenets of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access are at the core of everything we do at AFP NYC.  

We are thankful for the mentorship program that ensures people in the early stages of their fundraising career find support, mentorship and partnership as they navigate their first job and all the new learnings that come with entering the amazing world of fundraising.

We are thankful for the team of dedicated people who are part of the AFP Program Committee who plan and offer multiple professional development opportunities throughout the year.  We are also thankful for the many panelists and subject experts who say YES to participation on a panel or at an event.

We are thankful for the membership committee that reaches into the field to support fundraisers at all stages of their career and engages them to take advantage of the many opportunities to learn, network and volunteer.

We are thankful for our communications committee that amplifies our work and helps to build our membership and audiences for our educational events and workshops. 

We are thankful for the many members of the Fundraising Day New York team who have pivoted, reimagined, and rethought this important day numerous times over the past three years to put on FRDNY, our largest, single-day fundraising conference of the year. 

We are thankful to the AFP board members, many of whom lead or serve on AFP NYC committees, are mentors, attend AFP global conferences and serve on other AFP boards as thought leaders and ambassadors, helping to create the strategy and new initiatives as the chapter prepares itself for the many years ahead. 

None of this important work would be possible without willing and dedicated volunteers ready to be part of and lead this community.  As you think about the coming year, we invite you to join us at AFP NYC and participate on a committee, attend a session, and join us at FRDNY. We look forward to seeing you there!

Chapter Leadership Brief 11.18.2022

Jill M. Scibilia, CFRE
VP, Development, Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health
& Alexandra Natale
Director, Individual Giving, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York

Did you know that the AFP-NYC sponsors a Mentorship Program?  This robust program is one of the benefits of engaging in the AFP fundraising community in New York City.  I had the opportunity to serve as a Mentor in the 2022 Cohort.  Alexandra Natale was my mentee.

The AFP-NYC program includes an application that is completed by prospective mentors and mentees, which are reviewed by the mentorship committee, so mentees can be matched with mentors who can help support them in their goals.  It is one of the best activities in which I engaged all year.  Even though I was technically the mentor, I certainly learned just as much, if not more, from my mentee.  

I was interested in hearing about Alexandra’s experience in the program. Here is what she had to say:

What prompted you to apply to be a part of the mentorship program? 

I applied for the mentorship program because I was transitioning from a role focused mainly on events into an individual giving position. I was excited to make this shift and wanted additional support to excel in my new role. Additionally, as a fundraiser, I'm always interested in learning best practices from my colleagues.

Talk about the experience.

Being part of the mentorship program provided me a space outside my office to further develop my skill set as a fundraiser. It gave me confidence as I pursued a new role. I was able to bring specific situations to my mentor and think of new ways to connect with my donors and structure my time.

Did it meet your expectations or was it somehow different?

I think AFP NYC does a good job of preparing participants for the program. You get out of the program what you get into it. Being able to meet virtually is great-- as fundraisers we all have busy periods and this flexibility allowed me and my mentor to meet more consistently than if we had to find times to meet in person.

Would you recommend this program to others? If so, who?  Meaning at what stage of their career?

Yes. I would recommend this program to anyone looking for additional support in their career, or a way to generate new ideas and approaches to their fundraising work. I work on a wonderful, highly collaborative team, and I still benefited from an additional space to hear from my mentor about how she approaches her work. I especially benefited from this program at a career transition point, but I can see it also being beneficial for people who are just starting out in fundraising or looking to move into a more senior role.

What does the term “fundraising community” mean to you?

Fundraising community to me means a group of people who are committed to helping each other and our profession. As fundraisers, so many of us get into this work because we care deeply about community. I'm inspired by my cohort's commitment making fundraising more welcoming, inclusive, and reflective of our values. 

Interested in learning more and getting involved in AFP-NYC’s fundraising community?  Click Here

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to professional fundraising.

With gratitude,
Alexandra and Jill