As a fundraiser, I understand how crucial year end gifts are to the survival of nonprofits. As someone with a mailbox, I understand how the end of the year can be overwhelming with the number of letters asking for gifts for favorite organizations.
This year, I feel very fortunate to have enough money to give gifts to my favorite nonprofits. I have chosen the following five for the positive difference they make in my life. I am grateful for the work that they do.
- WORT-FM : A community-supported radio station with the best music programs around (including an African music Saturday show) and that has a bike traffic report. I am grateful to WORT for always having something worth listening to on the radio.
- Sun Prairie Public Library Foundation: The SP Library is one of my favorite places in the world. They have an amazing collection of popular media – music, movies, audio books. If they don’t have something I want, I can order it and then an ordinary day becomes like christmas or a birthday with a gift waiting for me to pick up! I am grateful to them for the audio books that make my commute more interesting.
- Wisconsin Humanities Council: They put on the WI Book Festival each year. This is my favorite event of the year; I look forward to it for months. I am grateful for them bringing world class writers and bibliophiles together right here in Madison.
- Sun Prairie Education Foundation: Not only has working with them been a great learning experience on how to build a new foundation, but they give generous grants to teachers in Sun Prairie. I am grateful to them for their strong support of education.
- Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Foundation: My involvement with the Madison chapter of AFP has been such a blessing. Networking with colleagues keeps me passion for work alive. My involvement in this year’s Peer Learning group is what motivated me to give. It has given me the best professional development out there, and a group of 10 colleagues I now consider friends. I am grateful for the opportunities to continue to learn that AFP offers.
What a great gift it is to be able to support these organizations!