Dear Giving Institute Members,
Happy New Year! I hope this message finds you well, happy, and not snowed in as we begin 2019. January is such a time of planning, as we move forward from the season of giving and embrace the ways we will each help our customers and our communities thrive in this new year. I hope you are doing this feeling refreshed and rested from time with family and time for reflection.
I spent much of this week celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as I expect many of you did, as well. My husband and I walked in the MLK Day Parade along with about 50 of my colleagues and their families. It is a favorite event of ours, walking through Charleston and feeling the collective spirit that brings us together and drives us to be our best selves.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Points of Light (POL) Corporate Service Council meeting in Washington, D.C., during which the life and legacy of Dr. King and POL founder, President George H. W. Bush, were both celebrated. We spoke a lot about the need for kindness, dignity, and humanity in how we engage with others. It was heartening to see that spirit alive and well at a time when the media brings to our doorsteps, televisions and iPhones a different sentiment. At the end, we were all given a book of Dr. King’s quotes, and I want to share one of my favorites that touches the world we live and work in every day:
“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”
We are all in the business of helping philanthropy happen, in some way or another. And we are all in the business of driving impact. Thank you for how that focus manifests itself through your personal and professional work.
I hope to see you at our March Meeting in Nashville, which will include an opportunity to understand some of the work happening in the local community, as well as to get to know each other better. I especially hope many of you who are newer members join us so we can help you identify ways to get involved. And it is not too early to mark your calendars for Summer Symposium, July 11-13 in Seattle.
Thank you, as always, to everyone who is contributing to making this organization so special.
Rachel Hutchisson
2017-2019 Board Chair
VP, Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, Blackbaud, Inc.
