Dear Giving Institute members,
Happy Spring! It was great to see so many of you in Nashville for what was a truly stellar few days at the March Meeting. Although I said this in the board meeting, it bears repeating: Angela Hodson and the Program and Education Committee did an exceptional job lining up a series of meaningful educational sessions, raising the bar for future gatherings! I can’t decide which was my favorite, between The Beat of Life presentation on using music to build connection and heal some of Nashville’s most vulnerable citizens and the Nashville Public Library Foundation’s tour of its Civil Rights room (and insights into the city’s role in peaceful protests). These sessions, along with the good work we accomplished in our meetings and the fellowship, are why I try my best not to miss an event.
Our next time together will be at Summer Symposium this July in Seattle, which is led this year by Kate Roosevelt of Campbell and Company and supported by a highly engaged committee. You should have already received a notice in your inbox that registration is open. What you should know beyond that is that the Summer Symposium promises to provide a way to get to know Seattle – by boat, during a site-visit session to the waterfront, and from within our session rooms. So much is going on in the city from a philanthropic perspective that our content promises to be excellent.
On behalf of the Giving USA Foundation Chair Rick Dunham, I want to remind you that we have some important dates coming up around this year’s report. Please mark your calendars for June 6, when we will hold the member-only briefing. For our new members, this is an important opportunity for you to get a chance to absorb the rich information in the report under embargo – and plan how your firm will share the information – a few weeks before it goes live. Launch date for this year is June 18 and will again feature a virtual press conference at 9:00am central time, which is the official timing for when the report goes live.
As always there’s much happening before we see each other again in person, unless we cross paths at one of the many events happening in the industry, beginning with AFP this coming weekend. I don’t know about you, but seeing my Giving Institute colleagues out and about is always a bright spot of my travels.
My very best to you,
Rachel
Rachel Hutchisson
2017-2019 Board Chair
VP, Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, Blackbaud, Inc.
KEY DATES
SUMMER SYMPOSIUM 2019
July 11-13
Seattle
GIVING USA 2019 RELEASE DATE
June 18
Virtual press conference & embargo lifts at 9:00am central time
NOVEMBER MEETING
November 5-6
Chicago
