Dear Fellow GI Members: 

After a short lull following the Summer Symposium in July, Giving Institute activities are back in full swing! Here are some of the highlights of what is happening:

• We have seven new confirmed members of GI! Since July, the following firms have joined our association: Publishing Concepts, Forrester Fundraising, Endowment Partners, Orr Group, Inc., Burcham Solutions, Boomerang and Parisleaf. We have had one other firm approved for membership, McAllister and Quinn, who have delayed their start date to January of 2023. This represents unprecedented activity within our membership committee and a record number of member firms for GI. Our work in the industry, including the work of Giving USA Foundation, continues to bring attention to our association as a great place for firms to collaborate toward strengthening generosity and how we run our businesses. Congrats to all of you for your great work in advancing our association!

• Speaking of the membership committee, our two co-chairs Aly Sterling and Todd Bayliss have announced they will step down at the end of this year. We are working to recruit new committee leaders and also make sure we address the onboarding needs of our new members. Please join me in thanking Aly and Todd for their extraordinary leadership over these past few years. If you are interested in becoming involved in the membership committee, please let me know.

• Lee Ernst of Johnson, Grossnickle & Associates has agreed to serve as a co-chair of the 2023 Summer Symposium. Lee brings substantial experience as a SS committee member to this role and comes highly recommended from many GI colleagues who have worked with her on many GI related fronts. We are now working to round out our SS leadership, build the committee and identify a location for 2023. Please be in touch with Erin Bergeron, me or Lee with any input you have. Thank you for stepping up Lee!

• Paul Koreen is leading an effort to substantially update the GI Code of Ethics. Those of you who attended the Summer Symposium saw Paul give a short presentation on this process, which has been thorough. The task force will present its recommendation to the board at our November meeting in Chicago.

• Special thanks to Grants Plus for its work in helping the Generosity Commission identify potential funders to help us raise the final funds needed for the Commission to complete its work. Dana Textoris (congrats on being named GP CEO!) attended the September Generosity Commission meeting in Washington DC to present the work completed by Grants Plus.

• Dr. Gloria Chance, who joined our spring meeting in Scottsdale and led a highly rated interactive session on DEI for GI, will join us for another interactive session in Chicago next month. The DEI committee is excited to have Dr. Chance with us again.

• Don’t forget to enroll colleagues in the Mentor Series in Chicago on November 2 in Chicago. Jim Bush of Winkler Group is working with colleagues to put together a great program for newer members of GI firms. Thanks to Jim for his great work!

• Finally, please join us for board meetings November 2 (beginning with dinner) and November 3 in Chicago. We look forward to seeing you all!

That’s it for now. Thank you for your ongoing effort to make GI a great association.