News/Blog

By Craig H. Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Group

As the weather warms up it’s making me think of all those Friday afternoons in June, we’ve spent together at the Marriott Marquis for Fundraising Day in New York.  It was always a great place to reconnect with the people and ideas that make our work so special as fundraisers.  Heaped upon all the sadness of the last year is the fact that Fundraising Day won’t happen this year. Again.

Thankfully the chapter is going to replicate as much of the experience as we can virtually with PhilanthroCon. 

by Vikki Jones, CFRE and Victoria Shadle / AFP-NYC Government Relations Committee

AFP-NYC’s Government Relations Committee has been traveling to Albany and Washington, DC for years for Advocacy Days. Advocacy Days are essentially a state-wide coalition of fundraising professionals that annually meets with our elected officials to discuss matters of importance in our profession, the nonprofit sector, and the communities we serve. 

By Jennifer Moore, AFP-NYC Board Member, Co-Chair Professional Advancement Committee
Vice President of Development, SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education, Inc.

Year after year, our members tell us that the education and networking opportunities from AFP NYC are invaluable, and I couldn’t agree more. As a result, the Professional Advancement Committee spends months planning our programming and networking opportunities for fellow fundraisers to improve their skills and build their networks. However, we felt that we could do even more for our colleagues.

By Michele Hall-Duncan, AFP-NYC Secretary, CEO and President of enCourage Kids Foundation 

As the vaccination effort intensifies and there is a sense of Spring and optimism in the air, I find myself reflecting on the past year. At my foundation, we lost revenue, laid off staff, and restricted programming just like many others. It was a year of loss, both personally and professionally and the lessons learned will stay with me for quite some time.

By Jill Scibilia, CFRE, AFP-NYC President-Elect
Vice President, Development
Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health 

March 11, 2021 was the one-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a global pandemic.

I will never forget those early days of the pandemic.  There was an energy fueled by a mix of adrenaline, courage, fear, grit and heart—especially heart.  There are a few moments that will always stand out to me from those days.

First…On my drive to the hospital where I work, I realized my car was the only one on what was suddenly an eerily quiet road.  

By Steve Jacobson, AFP-NYC President and CEO, JCA, Inc.

This past Wednesday, the AFP-NYC Chapter signed onto an amicus brief prepared by our friends at the Nonprofit Alliance for two cases now in front of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) addressing some states' overreach to obtain donors' private information.  New York is one of those states (California and New Jersey are the other two), thanks to requirements tucked into the 2020-21 state budget legislation by Governor Cuomo last spring during the onset of the pandemic and economic crisis. 

By Craig H. Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Group

It’s a cliché to say the world is different than it was a year ago.  The funny thing about clichés is that they are true, so here we are in a very different world.  As we all adapt every facet of our lives to this difference, the organizers of the conference that was historically Fundraising Day in New York had a realization. Trying to recreate this iconic annual event, which has drawn nearly 2,000 fundraisers together for a day of learning and networking each June, in our current environment was a fool’s errand.  Fundraising Day in New York will return when we’re all back to gathering in large groups and complaining about hotel chicken (what I wouldn’t kill for a mass-produced hotel meal right now!). That won’t be June of 2021.

In late January had the privilege to join three powerhouses in the NYC nonprofit sector to discuss the impact of the events of last year on fundraising and what the 2021 forecast looks like.  Victoria Bailey of TDF, Asha Curran of Giving Tuesday, and Tony Hillery of Harlem Grown discussed the resilience nonprofits have shown and the innovations that are changing how organizations reach their audiences.  Tony shared that “having a team to pivot on a dime during a pandemic and not missing a beat in serving our community is one of my proudest moments."  This resilience and innovative approach to the challenges we faced prove how strong our sector is and how important we are for the communities we serve. 

The new year is a great time for a restart. Whether it’s setting goals for one’s health, personal life or profession, this is the time of year when we refresh and recommit to our goals and start anew. It is only fitting, then, that the chapter’s Mentorship Committee seized the moment to launch its program with a new design and a fresh cohort of mentors and mentees.

AFP-NYC is proud to present the 2021 Ralph E. Chamberlain Award, honoring an area fundraising professional for a lifetime of service to the fundraising profession, and to AFP and our Chapter, to John Hicks, Principal and Founder of DLBHICKS, LLC.