Thank You!

Thank You!

You can never say thank you enough. That’s a fundamental rule of fundraising for our donors, and it’s applicable to many things in life. And I’m going to follow that rule with my last message of 2021. 

You may have seen my short video already, thanking you for everything you’ve done for your organization and the profession this year, and wishing you a happy holidays.

And I hope you’ve read this week’s Monday Message from Marco Corona, our vice chair for membership engagement. It’s a powerful and personal piece about his reflections on the year, and he also thanks you for your work and being part of the AFP community in 2021. 

And (one more thing!), be sure to check out our special year-end, fifth issue of Advancing Philanthropy, available online here. AFP Chair Kevin Foyle, MBA, CFRE and I wanted to find a way to express our gratitude for your membership and your work this year. What better way that an additional issues of our great magazine, chock full of insights, tools and guidance you can use in your fundraising and your professional life?  

That’s a lot of thanks and appreciation, but you know what? It’s also not enough. 

Think about everything you’ve had to address this year. Think about all the challenges. Think about all the times you could have fallen down. Think about all the times you DID fall down—and got back up. Remember, its not important how many times we fall, what matters is how many times we get back up. 

It’s been a tough year, the second of two of the most unique and difficult years in recent history.

But here we are, nearing the end, with lots of research pointing to a year of increased giving. The new donors who gave in 2020 have, in general, not left, but continued their support this year. We’ve seen incredible innovations, all-new programs and gifts by thoughtful philanthropists that have left us inspired. We were able to meet in-person for a little bit and get re-energized, and although the omicron variant is bearing down on us, I’m confident we’ll get through it and continue to move forward. Thank you!

You’ve been a part of that. Your work has been instrumental. From the smallest things, like insisting on best practices and abiding by the highest ethical standards in your fundraising. To the more complex, like helping to set up your chapter’s mentor program, or ensuring that your charity is integrating inclusion and diversity into its development activities. 

All the things you’ve done have helped to advance fundraising and strengthen our community. And that’s really what fundraising and philanthropy are all about: community. Thank you!

This is your community, the AFP community. There is no other community like it. We are strong, vibrant, resilient and optimistic, and together, #OneAFP, we will find success in the future, no matter what awaits us.

Thank you for being part of our community and the fundraising profession. Good luck with your year-end fundraising and enjoy the holidays. I look forward to working with all of you in 2022.

Thank you!