Chapter Leadership Brief 9.26.18

By Craig Shelley, CFRE, Chapter Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI)

I love fundraising.  I get up every morning (ok, most mornings) excited to go to work.  I meet interesting people, I know my work matters and makes the world a better place.  I have fun.  I never miss the opportunity to tell my kids how important those factors are when it comes time to choose their life’s work or, as is more often the case, their life’s work chooses them.

But sometimes, I worry.  Am I doing enough?  Are we doing enough?  On the aggregate the world is a better place than it was 20 years ago and philanthropy certainly is among the reasons why.  But daily I know we all see inequities, things that make us mad and things that make us wonder if on some level and in some important ways we’re slipping backwards.  And then, annually, I see the Giving Report and note that despite our best efforts giving in the United States hovers at about 2% of Gross Domestic Product.  Now reports are saying the numbers of actual donors are decreasing.  Shouldn’t we be doing more, growing philanthropy more aggressively, making the world even better?  Yes!  But how?

I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I do believe AFP has a role to play in our discussing them.  Learning from each other, pooling our mental resources and collective experiences seems to be our best way to do more.  Our chapter is the perfect conduit for us to do this.  Come to an event, join a committee, write an article for this newsletter, suggest a topic for a professional advancement seminar, volunteer for Fundraising Day in NY.  Join the discussion and help make our profession better and in doing so help make the world better.

If you have ideas or suggestions for our AFP chapter please always feel free to contact me directly at cshelley@oai-usa.com.  If you’re interested in my thoughts on fundraising and news in the sector, sprinkled with the occasional picture of my kids, please follow me on Twitter @craigshelley.

Thank you for everything you do.