President's Keyboard

Dear Colleagues,

As you know, "Leadership, Change, Resilience" is the theme for my presidential year. As Cincinnati change management consultants Kate Nelson and Stacy Aaron say in "The Change Management Pocket Guide", "People naturally resist changes to their comfortable routine. New ideas and mindsets about how to work and an individual's role within the organization can create uncertainty and stress."

Earlier this summer, several members of the GCPGC Board participated as delegates at the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (PPP) Leadership Assembly in Indianapolis.  At the Assembly, we gathered for discussions on a wide range of gift-planning topics related to council administration, programming, community partnerships, government relations and other national initiatives.

A topic of particular interest at this year's Assembly related to the ongoing affiliation talks between PPP and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). As noted in the July PPP Gift Planner Update, "all of the comments from the robust and productive focus group discussions held during the Assembly are being considered by the PPP Board of Directors and other leaders who are participating in the continuing discussions with AFP." AFP-Cincinnati Chapter President, Frank Fletcher and I, and our respective executive committees, are continuing to explore the collaborative relationship that our organizations have enjoyed locally to date, as well as implications of decisions being made at the national level.

At the Assembly, I was pleased and proud to be invited to participate as a panel member on the topic of "Conducting a Fundamentals Program" where I shared the success of GCPGC's Planned Giving on the Run program. Attendees were particularly impressed with the mentoring component of our program, and we have received inquiries from other councils regarding ways they can implement a similar program in their community. We were also proud to witness the election of GCPGC Board member Jeff Lydenberg, Vice President of PG Calc, to the national PPP Board of Directors. Congratulations, Jeff!

I am always interested in feedback. We would love to hear your stories of how the tools, experienced colleagues and information available through GCPGC have had an impact on the gift planning success of your organization. Together, in a time of  uncertainty and stress, we are improving the effectiveness of GCPGC and helping our organizations and those we serve in making charitable giving most meaningful.

If you would like to share a story, or have questions or comments about our Council in general, I invite you to contact me at zerhusenkk1@nku.edu 

Enjoy the remaining days of the summer!