News/Blog

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. 

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.

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.  

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.  

By Adam M. Doyno, MPA, CFRE
Executive Director, CUNY SPH Foundation
Director of Development, CUNY SPH Graduate School

As our profession emerges from the pandemic and its consequences to both nonprofits and many of the constituents we serve, it is time to rethink the wartime moniker of the “frontline fundraiser” in favor of a more equitable and accurate term.

For one thing, it implies that the lead fundraiser is a swashbuckling rainmaker enabling all the other functions of an organization - from researchers and grant writers to program managers – to exist.  This creates a hierarchy that runs counter to the culture many nonprofits seek to build as we work towards common goals.

By Derrick Denzell Spencer
Fundraising Consultant

I was raised by a single woman. My mother is tough, and I’d often joke as a child that she was a man when it came to emotions. She doesn’t cry often, but when she does, it is usually because of death or something equally as serious.

Nonetheless, my mother is an OG, which worked to my advantage growing up without a present father. And because I understand that the world we live in - the society that we fundraise in - thrives under the protection and financial security of father-led families, I am particularly invested in exploring the betterment of matriarchal families. I also understand so many families like mine were forced into matriarchal ones for a myriad of reasons.

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

“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” —Stephen King

This time of year can be a scary season; not only because Halloween is upon us, but we also have the midterm elections looming in less than three weeks, we’re putting the final touches on our end of the year giving campaigns and we’re all trying to understand what is our new normal in a post-pandemic world. 

By Marilyn Alexander
Development Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Over the course of the last three years, in the wake of George Floyd and other ongoing current events, I have participated in a number of conversations about why diversity in philanthropy and fundraising is important. Time and time again, it has been established that diversity and inclusion create access to new networks, broaden an organization’s reach and increase their chances of success in donor engagement and retention. Diversifying fundraising teams leads to more understanding and better and broader perspectives in donor engagement strategies. But has anyone thought of how it can also help promote fundraising as a valid career choice to the next generation of philanthropists while in an attempt to attract a more diverse and inclusive talent pool?

Deb Brown, CFRE  (She/Her)
AFP NYC Emerging Leaders Co-Chair 
Senior Major Gifts Officer, The Ali Forney Center 

Live in the now. Advice I’m sure we’ve all heard before, but as a fundraiser, I don’t think I’ve ever truly allowed myself to take it. There’s always a campaign, event, budget season on the horizon. The calendar says October but my brain is currently trying to jump to December. And this year, I think I’ve felt that more than ever. Year end is looming and, like all of us, we have big plans for it. 

By Erica Joy West
Co-Vice Chair Communications Committee, Transformational Coach, and Consultant

At the start of the pandemic, like many professional women, I left the workforce. At the time, I was a full-time caretaker for elderly family. Although I’m not a parent, caretaking is caretaking, just replace online classrooms with telehealth appointments and everything else is pretty much the same-- including the days when ice cream for dinner is good enough.  Caretaking was a second full time job, so taking a break from fundraising seemed like the right decision.