Virginia Association of Fundraising Executives

Letter from the President

Dear Friends,

As I write this letter, my son Finn is about to turn five-years-old. I can’t believe yet another year has come and gone! “It does fly by in the blink of an eye, I shouldn’t have to tell you,” a song lyric once sang out.

It’s truly been an honor to get to be the president this last year. It’s not just an honorary position - it’s a lot of work, but so worth it. I’ve learned much about leadership, made wonderful new friends, and best of all, it’s comforting to know the local community has such incredibly talented nonprofit professionals nearby. The future is in good hands here.

So much is happening at VAFRE and in the nonprofit landscape in our community: capital campaigns were launched, comprehensive campaigns were met, folks entered the next steps in their careers at new organizations or received promotions at their current ones, and fantastic and driven individuals fresh out of college or new to the field stepped up to usher in the next generation of nonprofit leaders. It’s been really cool to watch that play out in real time.

Meanwhile at VAFRE, we’re bucking the national trend of a general decline in membership at professional development organizations. VAFRE is, in fact, growing! And this last year, the new Community Outreach Committee intentionally continued the important work of connecting with students, raising the profile of the development profession, and ensuring that diversity and equity are top priorities and achievable for VAFRE.

We hosted wonderful member meetup events, not just in Richmond, but in Charlottesville as well. The feedback I received is that fellowship and networking is incredibly important to fundraisers throughout the Commonwealth, and VAFRE helps fill the void.

We completed a much-anticipated Compensation Survey, which we’ll go public with this summer. We hope the study will help as you consider the next step in your career, as well as advocating for yourself in your current role.

Most importantly, we’ve continued to build a network of nonprofit, fundraising, and marketing professionals that is so needed in our field. We all do incredible work. But incredible pressures come with it. We need a group of committed friends, colleagues, and mentors to help us meet our challenges at work, reach our career goals, and help us maintain work/life balance and our mental health in a challenging occupation.

One last thought I’ll leave you with: don’t let perfectionism ever become an obstacle to getting started! Keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Signing off, thank you all so much again and best of luck in all you do,

Will Glasco
VAFRE President

P3 Graduation Celebration

All past P3 participants and team leaders are invited to join us on Tuesday, June 25, from 4-6 p.m. as we celebrate the eleventh successful class of VAFRE’s Professional Partnership Program. There is no fee to attend, but we do ask that you register in advance.