April 2009 Chair, FRDNY 2009 Message
Stephanie Thomas
When I was chosen to serve as Chair of Fund Raising Day in New York (FRDNY), I felt a little like Obama must have felt on election night—it was a great honor and I looked forward to serving, but I secretly wondered why it had to happen this year, with all the difficulties facing the nonprofit sector. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Madoff, bailouts, bonuses, more bailouts. Bad news is everywhere. Our colleagues are asking, “How do we survive?” “What can we do differently?” “What is working for others?” We constantly hear that we have not faced such challenges in decades. While that is certainly true, I choose to believe that we also have not faced such opportunity! For the first time in a long time, I see evidence of a return to the basic tenants of fundraising with some new twists brought about by technological advances.
Now is the time to learn how to become better at what works. It is the time to learn more about the next frontier of fundraising. This is the year to share ideas. It is more important than ever to network with one another. This is the year for inspiration.
FRDNY is truly the one place you can go to be surrounded by nearly 2,000 likeminded people. The FRDNY Committee has been working overtime to put together sessions that will help all of us do our jobs better: the control and use of reserve funds, managing the new 990, handling staff reductions, learning how to effectively use social networking sites, winning unrestricted support, creative uses of in-kind support, using modeling to acquire new donors, successful succession planning, making the most of your major gift program, achieving high end events on a limited budget, contemplating collaboration. There is something at FRDNY for everyone. I don’t know what lies ahead, but I know we are all in this together and there is no finer group of professionals!
For more information or to register, please go to www.frdny.org. |
