The Value Of Membership

Phil's Careers Blog The Value of Membership By Doug Puffer In 1994 many if not all the fundraisers within the Kingston space have been called to attend a seminar about deliberate giving: Lorna Somers* was coming to town. I had no concept who Lorna Somers was, what to anticipate, nor was I a present planner, but I had been to a couple of workshops about bequest fundraising and curiosity won me over. Until then, I thought that only church buildings, universities and big hospitals did deliberate giving: all that mysterious, funereal, back office property and authorized stuff. Lorna’s message was a beacon. It was enlightening. The seminar was a thinly disguised membership drive for a fledgling CAGP and apparently we had been forming a new roundtable. Whatever that meant, didn’t matter; I was excited by the prospect of belonging to this group. Twenty years later as a gift planning specialist, I see how important that call was to my professional improvement. “No man is an island, complete of itself” M ost charity leaders at present are properly conscious of the importance of professionalism to the future of their organizations however I am not so sure that they know how this equates to membership in a professional affiliation. As a nationwide director of CAGP, it alarms me after I hear that membership in skilled organizations and hence training budgets are thought of unimportant when funding falls off. This signifies that fundraisers may now not have access to the benefits that include membership: resources (usually free), reductions on priceless services and products, advocacy, access to very brilliant minds, advice, mentorship, communications, bulletins, continuing schooling credits, and dedicated education schemes. These are the very issues that fundraisers need when the going will get tough! But to me the true value of membership is about belonging. The workplace partitions between annual giving, major giving and deliberate giving are gradually coming down but the overwhelmin g majority of deliberate giving is completed off the side of the desk of a present administrator or a generalist. Where do they flip for solutions to robust questions if they are not members of CAGP? This is the primary cause that I place a high value on membership. There is at all times someone out there to speak with. “It takes a neighborhood to lift a baby” AFP and AHP have created and sustain great alternatives for fund raisers to network and learn from friends and mentors. CAGP educates the broad spectrum of pros engaged in fund elevating and strategic philanthropy and has positioned planned giving in the mainstream of fund development. “We aren't alone” The founding members of our respective Associations knew there were many notes in the musical chord of philanthropy and I will be eternally grateful that they created the means to allow widespread understanding about how these notes work collectively. So due to whomever it was that called me a few years in the past to l isten, to learn and to drink the Kool-Aid. I even have belonged ever since and given back many instances over. *Lorna Somers was one of many main driving forces in deliberate giving in the early years of CAGP and is globally famend as one of the respected professionals in university advancement. Doug Puffer is the Director of Planned Giving for Simon Fraser University. He is a recognized expert in reward planning in Canada with over 26 years in greater education and environmental conservation. His well-researched shows have been heard at CAGP, AFP, STEP & CASE conferences and he has written numerous articles and tales about strategic gift planning and philanthropy. Post navigation Fill in your particulars beneath or click on an icon to log in: You are commenting utilizing your WordPress.com account. (Log Out/ Change) You are commenting using your Google account. (Log Out/ Change) You are commenting using your Twitter account. (Log Out/ Change) You are commenting using your Facebook account. (Log Out/ Change) Connecting to %s Notify me of new feedback by way of email. Notify me of new posts through email. Email Subscription Enter your e-mail address to follow my NEW blog and keep on top of the newest career alternatives and fundraising news. Sign me up! Follow On Twitter Browse by Category Phil’s Careers Tweets Error: Twitter didn't reply. Please wait a couple of minutes and refresh this web page.