Chapter Leadership Brief 6.18.2020

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

That’s it.  That’s the leadership brief for this week.

I’d considered an essay on how the dominant white culture so evident in our major gift pipelines and boards of directors serves as an obstacle to the sector changing systemic racism.  I’d contemplated a call to action for the chapter to play a role in breaking the homogenous nature of our profession.  At its core that homogeneity contributes to philanthropy’s inability to direct capital to organizations most proximate to the challenges we seek to solve.  I can tell you those things are important to me; those words will come and more importantly I commit to do better personally and as a leader in this chapter to ensure not just diversity but racial equity.

But at a time when actions will speak louder than words, there is nothing more eloquent I can add to the dialogue than to echo the sentiments of so many and the rallying cry of a movement whose time is way overdue, black lives matter.

Chapter Leadership Brief

By Michele Hall, AFP-NYC Secretary 
President & CEO, enCourage Kids Foundation 

First and foremost, I hope that each and every one of you are safe and sound. The past several months have been a very difficult time for New York City and the nation. Through it all we have forged even closer bonds with one another. Moving Forward Virtually is the theme of our 2020 Fundraising Day in New York. In these unprecedented times I pray that we continue to find a way forward together, as a profession and as a society.

I want you to know that your AFP-NYC Chapter Leadership has been working diligently to continue uninterrupted support to the membership and fundraising community at large. Through fireside chats, webinars and members-only events, we continue to facilitate the sharing of ideas, offer support, and advance the profession.

Within the next few days, we will officially open our 2020 Fundraising Day in New York. While we cannot be together in person this year, the FRDNY committee has created a powerful lineup packed with dozens of educational sessions to help you move forward in your fundraising career. With your full conference registration, you get access to this content as soon as it’s online—45+ sessions in all! Starting next week, other options will be available to purchasers as well: choose a single session, or 4 sessions from a track of programming.

All purchases include the keynote address by Alicia Guevara, Chief Executive Officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. Ms. Guevara has rooted her life’s work in pursuit of social justice issues of access and inclusion for young people. In these tumultuous and transformative times, her voice will surely be a welcome one.

So please join us as we kickoff the virtual version of Fundraising Day in New York, the largest single-day conference on philanthropy. Today is your last chance to sign up in advance and get bonus incentives, but don’t worry if you miss it!  For the first time in history Fundraising Day extends way beyond the single day. The educational content will be available for purchase for the rest of 2020. Find all the details at frdny.org.

I hope to “see” you all there!

As a professional association of fundraisers, our members have been on the frontlines during this incredibly difficult time in America. For fundraisers of color, and in particular Black fundraisers, this time has been extremely hard. We must lift up our colleagues now and in the future.
 
We affirm that systemic and institutionalized racism permeates every corner of our society. From discriminatory hiring practices and limited opportunities for advancement to micro and macro-aggressions hurled at our colleagues - unfortunately, our profession is not immune. The pandemic, financial crisis, and murders of Black people across the nation compound all of this. 
 
AFP-NYC is in solidarity with the peaceful demonstrations happening in support of Black communities. We reaffirm our commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and access, and we continue to make efforts and strides to be the organization we want to be. In 2018, AFP-NYC established the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) Committee to recognize inclusion as essential to the vitality, creativity, innovation, strength, and impact of our organization. Furthermore, that inclusion involves respectful environments intentionally open to all, values and welcomes the contributions and equitable participation of every individual, and reflects and represents those they serve. And as a result, we have made changes to the way we program and what we offer to members. We encourage everyone to be a part of this historic and monumental movement and we hope that you will be on the journey with us. 
 
On behalf of the Board and the members of AFP-NYC, we have made donations to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (NAACP - LDF) and Black Visions Collective in Minnesota. We hope that you will join us in supporting them and other organizations working to build an equitable future for Black communities.

Chapter Leadership Brief

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

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a ZOOM coffee hour with AFP NYC’s IDEA Committee. 

If you don’t yet know what IDEA is -- it stands for: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access.  It is a key value of AFP International and our New York City Chapter.  I have the honor of serving on our local committee.

The first portion of our ZOOM call was about connection and community.  We did not cover any business during this segment—this was by design.  We were each invited to share how we were coping and managing our current “new normal” of work—and how we are taking care of ourselves.

When it was my turn to share, I had to admit that I was not taking the best care of myself.  I have been laser-focused on my hospital’s response to the crisis, to championing our front-line healthcare heroes and to securing support for them.  It has been a marathon and a sprint all at once.  I am honored to serve my hospital and I love my job.  I also know that to do my best work, I need to take better care of myself.  This community and the connection I felt to them gave me permission to admit this to them and to admit it to myself. Thank you.

Back to IDEA…I am proud to say that the New York City chapter of AFP is committed to leading the fundraising sector in achieving inclusion, diversity, equity and access.  Each AFP-NYC committee is playing a key role in this. If you are not yet serving on one of our committees, I encourage you to become engaged and join our community.     

I believe that the world will be a better place when all of us have the opportunity to engage and realize our full potential. We know this is not the current state of the world, nor is it the current state of the fundraising sector.  However, each one of us has an opportunity (dare I say responsibility) to work towards this ideal. Imagine for a moment how different the world could look when more of us…all of us have the opportunity to reach our full potential. 

So, how am I doing?  Better….I spent last weekend gardening, which is a balm for my soul, and I started planning a victory garden.  I intend to spend most of Memorial Day Weekend doing exactly the same.

Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place.  Wishing you and yours a Happy Memorial Day Weekend.   For all those who have served or who are remembering loved ones who served, thank you for your service and sacrifice.

Chapter Leadership Brief

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

Yesterday, I had the distinct honor and pleasure of participating in a webinar with two other AFP chapter presidents.  Why was this webinar so special, you might be wondering?  After all, webinars are everywhere these days and, yes, I’ve been on a number of them.  Well, it wasn’t just one thing; it was a number of things. 

It started with an invitation from Steve Ragan, the president of the AFP Greater Detroit chapter.  He thought that it would be great to get together the chapter presidents from New York City, Detroit and New Orleans, three of the cities hardest hit by Covid-19.  We could talk about the cities, where we are in recovery and how our fundraisers have adapted to the new normal.  I immediately said to count me in.

As we started our more in-depth planning, we realized that our cities had more in common than just the coronavirus.  Each of our cities had suffered through a catastrophic event.  New Orleans had had Katrina, New York had had 9/11 and Detroit had had a gut-wrenching, wallet-busting bankruptcy just five years ago. We remarked that each event was essentially local, but the support we had all received had been national.

But, this time it’s different.  The catastrophe is national in scope, but the experience is local.  As such, we now share a common bond where we understand each other’s pain from a first-person experiential perspective.  But, we all realize that it’s just a bit different given the varying make-up of our communities, the inherent safety nets we have and the different lifelines available.  The one constant across all three cities is the indomitable, unbreakable spirit of our fundraising family.  Whether it’s being on the front lines with our health care workers, helping to load food onto trucks or opening up our wallets, we share a spirit of selflessness.  No matter how bad things get, we just dig down a bit deeper, drawing on the resolve we’ve steeled from the past catastrophes we’ve each endured.

One of the questions raised on the webinar was: What does the short-term and long-term future look like for fundraisers?  We were quick to answer that, overall, the future is hard to predict, but the one constant that has come out of each catastrophe is that philanthropy will endure.  The spirit of giving that we have seen time and time again here in New York is not based upon some fleeting thoughts.  No, it’s ingrained in each of us.  It’s what we do. It’s what makes our fundraising community strong.  It’s what will carry us through these challenging times and whatever lies ahead on our path forward.

So, remember, as we try to unwind from another frenetic and stressful week, we’re doing purposeful, meaningful work, and that your AFP family in Detroit, New Orleans, New York and elsewhere is right there with you.

Have a good weekend and stay safe!

Chapter Leadership Brief

By Craig Shelley, CFRE
AFP-NYC Treasurer & Managing Director, Orr Group 

Earlier this week AFP-NYC member, colleague and friend Thomas Moore, the Director of Individual Giving at New York Road Runners, posted on LinkedIn about the importance of being grounded in community right now and how he’s been grateful to find that in AFP-NYC.  Thomas hit on exactly the value our chapter can and hopes to add during the COVID-19 pandemic and all the time.

AFP-NYC is designed to be a place where each of us as fundraisers can find our peers and learn, grow and commiserate.  In all times and for all professions that’s important.  But as fundraisers, which can be a lonely profession with many of us toiling in one-person development shops and all of us hearing no more than we hear yes, it is more important.  Right now, when all of us are facing a circumstance none of us have ever faced before, it is more so.

The chapter is reacting and adapting as quick as we can to provide the support and camaraderie that has always been our hallmark in new ways.  In the coming weeks our professional advancement programs will migrate online.  Fundraising Day in New York will be offered in a new virtual format that will deliver great content while being more accessible and flexible than ever; this may prove to be an instance where we’ve allowed these challenges to help us find a better way than the way we’ve become accustomed to.  We’ve also offered two free webinar discussions with our chapter officers.  Each officer brings a diverse perspective and the feedback on these conversations has been positive as it has allowed fundraisers to access expertise and ask questions.  Details will be forthcoming on a third session like this which will be held on Monday, May 11; I hope you’ll join us and we remain committed to offering this forum to share ideas for as long as the crisis persists and/or there is interest.

If you have other suggestions for how the chapter can meet your needs as a fundraiser right now or just want to talk, please feel free to reach out to me at cshelley@orrgroup.com.  Together we’ll get through this.

Recorded webinar and discussion

As the COVID-19 crisis persists, increasingly fundraisers are working under a “new normal.”  Solicitations must continue but are now doing so in an entirely new environment and manner.  How should we individually and collectively navigate our relationships with donors and need to advance our missions through philanthropy? The leaders of AFP-NYC bring their diverse perspectives and experiences to a conversation that explores these and the other realities we're all now facing. 

Click here to access the recording. Free to all, on demand.

AFP-NYC Chapter Leadership Team

	PRESIDENT Steven G. Jacobson President & CEO Jacobson Consulting Applications, Inc.
	IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Gary Laermer Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Pace University
	PRESIDENT-ELECT Jill Scibilia, CFRE Vice President, Development Phelps Hospital Northwell Health
	TREASURER Craig Shelley, CFRE Managing Director Orr Group
	SECRETARY Michele Hall President & CEO EnCourage Kids Foundation

Steven G. Jacobson, President

April 15, 2020

Fellow AFP-NYC Members:

I hope that you are all safe and in good health as we continue to isolate ourselves to combat the spread of the coronavirus.  These are difficult times, both personally and professionally, and it can be a real challenge to stay positive and effect change for the better.  As fundraisers, you are the torchbearers for your organizations and you carry a tremendous amount of responsibility to provide the financial resources to fund your organizations’ missions.  But, these days, it may seem that the hill is too steep to climb, that the demands are just too great to bear.  Please know that you are not alone.  Your AFP-NYC chapter is here to help.  Whether it’s guidance on how to succeed in a crisis or a forum to share your concerns, we are there for you.  Here are a few of the things that we’re working on.

As we have been hinting at over the past few weeks, it’s now official: Fundraising Day in New York is going 100% virtual.  While our esteemed FRDNY committee is hard at work hammering out all of the details and logistics, I’ll just give you a brief overview of the format.  Over 40 of the conference sessions and the keynote will be recorded ahead of time. “Virtual attendees” will be able to select a package of sessions that they are interested in – or the entire conference.  Yes, you’ll now have the option of experiencing the entire session line-up from the comfort of your own home at a time of your choosing! We are really excited about all of the educational possibilities that this will afford us. Watch your email inboxes for more details in the near future. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank our good friends and longtime partners at the Marriot Marquis for hosting us for Fundraising Day these past many years.  We certainly look forward to being back in-person at the Marriott in 2021.

On Monday, April 20^th, at 12 noon, the AFP NYC leadership will be hosting our second virtual fireside chat.  Please join us for an hour’s worth of insight and interactive discussion.  So, grab some lunch and saddle up to your screen on Monday and join our moderator, Craig Shelley (treasurer), and fellow chapter officers Steve Jacobson (president), Jill Scibilia (president-elect), Michele Hall (secretary) and Gary Laermer (immediate past president).  We will make sure that we leave plenty of time to answer your specific questions. Register for free here.

Please stay safe.  We hope to see you virtually on Monday!

Chapter Leadership Brief

By Michele Hall, AFP-NYC Secretary 
President & CEO
enCourage Kids Foundation

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

I believe that everyone is familiar with this quote from Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. In this current climate, it applies more than ever to everyone on the front lines battling this pandemic.

AFP members, we are also the helpers. For many of us the vast majority of our careers have consisted of moving resources from where they are to where they are needed. This time is no different.

Here in NYC, the current epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not unfamiliar with crisis. The people of this city have rallied and rebounded from 9/11, destructive hurricanes, and other historical pandemics. But in every recovery I’ve ever seen, the power to rebound was generated by an incredible feeling of connection - connection that feels dampened by our current reality. 

One of the most important roles we have in moments like these is to communicate. It is our job to remind people that there are still ways to stay connected to causes they care about.

Speaking personally as the CEO of a team dedicated to helping sick children, the themes that have bubbled to the surface during the Covid-19 crisis have hit close to home. Speaking about sickness and the prospect of death – and how we meet the challenges they present - is a conversation most people do everything they can to avoid. Speaking about what happens when resources run low, or how to maintain morale in the face of a formidable foe is rarely top of mind for most people in the general population. For many AFP members, these are salient themes in our work. When advocating for our missions, we must understand the scope and scale of our challenge, somehow summon the guts to be hopeful about them and exercise the discipline to craft a playbook to get others to buy into that hope.  Many of us have spent years pouring over facts, figures and anecdotes that could easily generate fear, apathy and despair – were it not for OUR ability to refine these narratives into invitations to act.

However, “acting” looks a little different than it looked a few weeks ago. For most people the most radical action they can now take to help improve the lives of others is to stay home. People who built homes while using their vacation days, or passed out meals en masse to the homeless on weekends, supported medically challenged kids, or read books to seniors, are all being asked to stay inside, away from the communities they have steadfastly supported.

You can confine a person, but thankfully you cannot confine their energy. People who have never hesitated to invest a bit of sweat in the change they believe in are still looking for ways to reach out, improve, and connect to the causes and communities they love. You are all working to help guide them now more than ever.

Your superpower is that you have trained your entire career to help people harness their resources and energies in the ways that generate maximum benefit for the missions they love. You have the knowledge and the power to help the helpers feel less powerless, and more involved than they might have ever imagined. You have the power to guide the conversation about how we continue to build towards the futures our communities deserve, even as we weather this storm. We have spent years learning how to convince people that even in the face of intimidating challenges they can individually and collectively be agents for change. That is why we must lean in now more than ever.

Lastly, continue helping each other and looking to one another for support, advice and opportunity. Your AFP-NYC Chapter is dedicated to continuing to provide professional advancement and fellowship opportunities for its members and the fundraising community at large. Together, we will meet this challenge as only we know how.

Steven G. Jacobson, President

Fellow AFP-NYC Members:

As many of you know, the chapter sends out our NYC Fundraising Matters newsletter on a bi-weekly basis. In normal times, this frequency seemed to be fine.  We didn't bombard you with content while it gave us the time to generate the appropriate content for you. However, these are not normal times. We are all in crisis mode. So, we hope that you'll appreciate the chapter leadership's commitment to provide more frequent communication with you.

Sometimes, this communication will take the form of emails like this one.  Other times, we will be letting you know of other opportunities for an interactive exchange of questions, insights and ideas - as we did with our recent Fireside Chat, which, by the way, engaged more than 380 people in our fundraising community. We're also in the planning stages of bringing our top-notch professional advancement curriculum online. To say that we're excited about this would be an understatement. No longer will we be bound by a set day, time or place to get you expert advice on your critical fundraising issues.  Stay tuned for more info.

Now, to a really important matter: the $2.2 trillion economic relief package that the federal government has put into law. Today is April 3rd, the first day for small businesses, including nonprofits, to apply for a loan under the Payroll Protection Program. While the banks have balked at participating until clearer guidelines were in place from the US Treasury and the Small Business Administration, it now looks as if they are satisfied and online applications should be able to be processed shortly on your bank's website. I can't stress enough how important this lifeline can be for you. While there are plenty of websites out there that can give you much more complete descriptions of the program, I will just say that this is an opportunity for you to obtain a forgivable loan for an amount equal to 2.5 times your monthly payroll. There is $359 billion available, but the program is being administered on a first-come, first-served basis, so you need to apply now! Read more here.

I hope that you, your colleagues, family and friends are in good health. Stay safe and be well!