President's Pen

Dear Colleagues,

Since my last message to you, the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council has continued to provide excellent examples of "Leadership, Change, Resilience", which is the theme for my presidential year. Together we are improving the effectiveness of the Council and enhancing our ability to help those we serve in making charitable giving most meaningful.

I can point to two successful experiences where the collaborative leadership efforts of our Council and the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) resulted in high-quality educational programming for our respective members.

In March, the "Raising O' the Green" conference offered informative breakout sessions on a variety of topics. Opening keynote speaker, Barb Culver, motivated us to transform our conversations, making them "relational, connecting, generative, empowering, having a human face, and surpassing ourselves." She also challenged us with the idea that "The new Giving of Inspired Philanthropy requires our organizations and us to move out of a scarcity and fear-based place into a space of gratitude and abundance." Luncheon speaker, Cammy Dirking, reminded us of the importance of creating balance in our family, career and life-and shared tips and ideas from her powerful personal experience.

In April, GCPGC's premier Coffee and Conversation program presented planned giving industry expert Larry Stelter, who shared insights and research about important changes in our field-particularly about the phenomena of  the "secret giver" and cutting-edge strategies for reaching them. His conclusions captured in a helpful PowerPoint enabled all of us to rethink how we interact with prospective donors in all "life stages". We invited our AFP friends to join us at this event which resulted in an energized crowd.

AFP President Frank Fletcher and I will continue to explore "synergistic interactions" between our organizations and ways to capitalize on the strengths of GCPGC and AFP working together while maintaining our unique organizational identities and services. Your involvement with GCPGC will assure that you have tools, experienced colleagues and information readily available for gift planning success in your organization.

If you have questions or comments about these collaborations, or our Council in general, I invite you to contact me at zerhusenkk1@nku.edu 

Happy Spring! appy Hap

Karen

Karen Zerhusen Kruer
President, GCPGC