News/Blog

By AFP-NYC Board Members and Professional Advancement Co-Chairs
Anne Townsend, Principal, ART + Strategy
Mindee Barham, Chief Philanthropy Officer & Interim Co-Executive Director, Scratch Foundation

As we enter the last month of the calendar year, we give thanks to YOU, the fundraising community - our friends and colleagues who we work alongside, helping our organizations raise the funding needed to deliver mission-driven programs in NYC, across the United States and around the world.

We are thankful to our AFP NYC community for all it does to support our fundraising sector throughout the year. We are thankful to the IDEA committee for their dedication and support in helping us lift up and ensure the tenets of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access are at the core of everything we do at AFP NYC.  

Jill M. Scibilia, CFRE
VP, Development, Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health
&
Alexandra Natale
Director, Individual Giving, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York

Did you know that the AFP-NYC sponsors a Mentorship Program?  This robust program is one of the benefits of engaging in the AFP fundraising community in New York City.  I had the opportunity to serve as a Mentor in the 2022 Cohort.  Alexandra Natale was my mentee.

The AFP-NYC program includes an application that is completed by prospective mentors and mentees, which are reviewed by the mentorship committee, so mentees can be matched with mentors who can help support them in their goals.  It is one of the best activities in which I engaged all year.  Even though I was technically the mentor, I certainly learned just as much, if not more, from my mentee.  

By Adam M. Doyno, MPA, CFRE
Executive Director, CUNY SPH Foundation
Director of Development, CUNY SPH Graduate School

As our profession emerges from the pandemic and its consequences to both nonprofits and many of the constituents we serve, it is time to rethink the wartime moniker of the “frontline fundraiser” in favor of a more equitable and accurate term.

For one thing, it implies that the lead fundraiser is a swashbuckling rainmaker enabling all the other functions of an organization - from researchers and grant writers to program managers – to exist.  This creates a hierarchy that runs counter to the culture many nonprofits seek to build as we work towards common goals.

By Derrick Denzell Spencer
Fundraising Consultant

I was raised by a single woman. My mother is tough, and I’d often joke as a child that she was a man when it came to emotions. She doesn’t cry often, but when she does, it is usually because of death or something equally as serious.

Nonetheless, my mother is an OG, which worked to my advantage growing up without a present father. And because I understand that the world we live in - the society that we fundraise in - thrives under the protection and financial security of father-led families, I am particularly invested in exploring the betterment of matriarchal families. I also understand so many families like mine were forced into matriarchal ones for a myriad of reasons.

By Jennifer Moore, AFP-NYC Treasurer
Vice President of Development, DoSomething.org

“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” —Stephen King

This time of year can be a scary season; not only because Halloween is upon us, but we also have the midterm elections looming in less than three weeks, we’re putting the final touches on our end of the year giving campaigns and we’re all trying to understand what is our new normal in a post-pandemic world. 

By Marilyn Alexander
Development Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

Over the course of the last three years, in the wake of George Floyd and other ongoing current events, I have participated in a number of conversations about why diversity in philanthropy and fundraising is important. Time and time again, it has been established that diversity and inclusion create access to new networks, broaden an organization’s reach and increase their chances of success in donor engagement and retention. Diversifying fundraising teams leads to more understanding and better and broader perspectives in donor engagement strategies. But has anyone thought of how it can also help promote fundraising as a valid career choice to the next generation of philanthropists while in an attempt to attract a more diverse and inclusive talent pool?

Deb Brown, CFRE  (She/Her)
AFP NYC Emerging Leaders Co-Chair 
Senior Major Gifts Officer, The Ali Forney Center 

Live in the now. Advice I’m sure we’ve all heard before, but as a fundraiser, I don’t think I’ve ever truly allowed myself to take it. There’s always a campaign, event, budget season on the horizon. The calendar says October but my brain is currently trying to jump to December. And this year, I think I’ve felt that more than ever. Year end is looming and, like all of us, we have big plans for it. 

By Erica Joy West
Co-Vice Chair Communications Committee, Transformational Coach, and Consultant

At the start of the pandemic, like many professional women, I left the workforce. At the time, I was a full-time caretaker for elderly family. Although I’m not a parent, caretaking is caretaking, just replace online classrooms with telehealth appointments and everything else is pretty much the same-- including the days when ice cream for dinner is good enough.  Caretaking was a second full time job, so taking a break from fundraising seemed like the right decision.

Why You Should Apply for AFP-NYC’s Mentorship Program
By Victoria Shadle Williams

Last fall I was excited to see that AFP-NYC was once again hosting a mentorship program for members. When I applied to be a mentee the previous year I was not selected, so I was thrilled to be invited to join the program for 2022. While I’ve been working in development for a handful of years and had informal mentors before, this would be my first time in a structured mentorship program and it came at the perfect time in my career.

By Craig Shelley, CFRE
President-elect, AFP-NYC Chapter; Partner + Chief Growth Officer, Orr Group

It’s hot.  It’s humid.  I’m tired of showing up during my rare in office days looking like I took a shower.  I’m ready for the Fall.

That’s sort of a weird thing for me to say out loud.  As kids, the Fall meant carefree summers became a memory and you were back to the grind of school and activities.  As fundraisers, it means the busiest of times is coming, which is saying a lot now that all times seem busy.  That said, I think I’ve come to look at the Fall as, yes, a time where I will be at my busiest, but also as a time where people will have unprecedented opportunities to give and contribute to the things they care about.  And, lucky us, we get to help them do it!