Hello, Friends in Fundraising!
It is my privilege to serve once again as your Chapter President for AFP Southern Minnesota, especially during an anniversary year! Our 20TH anniversary is a special one. It says something about the continued need for excellent professional development opportunities in our region as well as the value that AFP Southern Minnesota continues to bring to fundraising professionals. I think back on the early days of hosting audioconferences in 2003, when we were talking about chapter formation. So much has changed, yet so much remains the same: the importance of our relationships and our learning together!This year I look forward to working with the board on a strategic plan to take us into plan period 2024-2026 with gusto and purpose.
This year we are wrapping up our commitment to the last strategic plan, and we will be asking for your feedback, as we always do, for what brings you value. I have asked Mark Neville to assist me with this effort.
Gail Dennison will lead our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and I am proud of the work done last year to achieve the IDEA Champion designation from AFP Global, which allowed us to welcome Miguel Garate as a new member under membership scholarship! Welcome, Miguel!
Speaking of membership, Kristin Mannix will continue to lead our membership efforts, and I’m counting on all of you to look around and see who is missing. We want to invite new fundraising professionals to our chapter as well as people who might have forgotten about AFP during the pandemic. You will recall that we’ve been actively providing virtual programming throughout the entire pandemic, and recently we have started some more in person gatherings. It would be great to see more people join us to benefit from our 2023 line up.
We will continue our January – June and September – October chapter meetings, with a special November gathering for National Philanthropy Day. We are also going to feature some summer programming you won’t want to miss, and I am hosting Fourth Fridays for Fellowship and Fundraising at 8 AM in person as many times as we can, all year long. Mark your calendars for:
- 2nd Tuesdays, 3:30 PM for chapter meetings
- 4th Fridays, 8:00 AM for fellowship and fundraising topics
- June 13, Time to be announced, Joint Meeting of the Chapters and Celebration of the Upper Mississippi Valley Chapter sponsoring the Southern Minnesota Chapter of AFP
- July 21, morning workshop presented by Karla Williams, ACFRE (If you haven’t heard Karla speak, you won’t want to miss this. If you have heard Karla speak, you know you don’t want to miss it.)
- Date TBA, Planned Giving Essentials workshop presented by Craig Wruck, an expert in the field
- November 14, National Philanthropy Day workshop and Awards for Philanthropy Luncheon (This event will be spectacular!)December – Chapter Holiday social
We are bringing back the chapter newsletter, so you’ll hear more from me and our board members, plus committee chairs, all in the spirit of serving you, bringing you value, and advancing philanthropy and ethical fundraising in our region. Thanks for all you do to support this important work.
Gratefully,
Stacey
Stacey Vanden Heuvel, M.A., Philanthropy and Development
Chapter President, AFP Southern Minnesota Chair
Professional Development
Vice President, Marketing and Philanthropy, Olmsted Medical Center and OMC Regional Foundation