As we mark our 25th anniversary at Venture for Fund Raising, I cannot help but reflect on how much Venture has influenced my life. I am who I am now because of Venture.
My first encounter with Venture was in the early 2000s, (please don't do the math!) when I attended the Basic Course on Fund Raising. I had just been assigned by our president at Miriam College to oversee its 75th anniversary fund raising campaign to raise the seed for an endowment fund that will support scholarships and faculty development, and a capital fund to renovate our Marian Auditorium. Immediately thereafter, the school became one of Venture’s early consulting clients, since we recognized that we needed help in organizing the campaign. As we were working to raise our target, I made sure I attended pretty much all of Venture’s training courses and developed a friendship with the team at that time, and would consult them on the many fund raising-related challenges I faced.
Fast forward to 2007, when I was invited to serve as one of Venture’s Program Directors. Three years after, I returned to Miriam College at the request of our president to help ‘finish the campaign’, which had slowed down when I left. When word about how we surpassed our fund target got around, I was re-invited to join Venture in 2012, and so many years later, I’m still here!
Throughout this 24-year relationship with Venture, I learned so much, not only about fund raising, philanthropy, and non-profit management, but more importantly, how, when one is committed to a mission, one becomes resilient, and learns to be creative in overcoming obstacles and challenges.
I learned how important it is to earn and value the trust, faith, and consistent support of our Board, who have guided Venture through the best and the worst of times, and celebrated numerous milestones with us along the way.