News/Blog

Juliana M. Weissbein, Associate Director of Development Operations at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and AFP-NYC Emerging Leaders Committee Chair, was recently named AFP's 2019 Outstanding Young Professional and will accept her award at AFP ICON later this month. We sat down with her to learn more about her career in the fundraising industry.

Insight from the "30 Ways to Love Your Donors" Event held on February 14, 2019. 

One of the most powerful methods of connecting donors to your organization is though expressing heartfelt gratitude for their generosity. Your nonprofit’s relationship with a donor begins with the very first gift. If you value your supporters and wish to retain them, it is vital that your nonprofit commit to an ongoing stewardship program. The strategies listed below will go a long way in motivating donors to maintain and increase their giving. 

I have been giving a lot of thought to team-building lately. I am just over 90 days into a new job and so building my formal and informal teams has been especially important to me. I work for an acute-care community hospital that depends on strong and effective teams to fulfill our mission. Because of the critical importance of coordination and communication between the teams that are providing care to our patients, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, and the host of details they manage critical to patient care and safety, the team-work process is systematized and is constantly being evaluated and refined.

AFP-NYC’s job board has been a hugely popular resource for people seeking to hire fundraising professionals in New York City for almost ten years. As popular as it is, there is always room for improvement. And today we are very happy to announce the launch of the new AFP-NYC Career Center, an upgrade that dramatically improves functionality for employers and recruiters AND brings a host of new services to job seekers as well. 

The recent Inside Philanthropy article “Ambitious and Risk Taking.” Explaining The Shed’s Startling Fundraising Success got me thinking about the elements of effective fundraising and if the success of the new cultural center’s fundraising was truly, “startling.”

AFP-NYC recently sat down with the Emerging Leaders Committee Co-Chairs, Juliana Weissbein and Jace Prokupek, to learn more about their motivation to rebrand.

January is officially National Mentoring Month, a campaign to promote youth mentoring in the United States. It was inaugurated in 2002, and is spearheaded by the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Many leading nonprofit organizations hold local campaign activities in communities across the country, including media outreach and volunteer recruitment.  

Over the last five years the number of Donor Advised Funds (DAF’s) in the United States has more than doubled with total combined assets of more than $110 billion, which will eventually go directly to charities selected by the donors who opened these funds. An in-depth AFP-NYC Educational Program in November 2018 provided attendees with the following information regarding this up-and-coming charitable contribution vehicle.

As we head into the heart of the year-end giving season, it occurred to me how much pressure fundraisers are under to meet their goals.  After all, next year’s budgets often depend on successful year-end fundraising campaigns.   So, while we appreciate the stress, angst and anxiety that fundraisers have this time of year, we often tend to forget about the people in the back office that make it all happen.  The folks that we couldn’t do without.  I’m talking about those unsung heroes: the men and women in Advancement Services/Development Operations.

Chapter Secretary & Vice President, Development,
Phelps Hospital Northwell Health

I recently made a career move after fifteen years at the same organization.  I loved my job and the mission of the organization I served. I had a wonderful team, a strong partnership with the CEO, and the organization has an incredible board and deeply committed volunteers.