A Note from our Chapter President

In my opinion, the greatest responsibility of the Board of Directorship for the Greater Wichita Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals is the planning and implementation of our professional development sessions. A small but mighty committee of three work tirelessly to ensure that each session is of great value to our members. The topics must be ones that appeal to a broad level of fundraising professionals, those new to the field and those who have spent their entire professional lives promoting philanthropy. The speakers must be not only experts, but authentic and entertaining in their delivery.

And then there is the work of the hospitality committee. Another small but mighty committee of three who connect with the venues and coordinate the catering. The locations in which the sessions are offered must be easily accessible, with lots of parking and the latest in audio and visual capabilities. And the food . . . well, we certainly don’t want attendees to leave feeling hungry.

It takes months of planning to ensure that each session achieves everything that is expected by our members. And yet, the most difficult thing faced by the committees is making sure members make reservations on time. I’ve often told colleagues that Wichita is a last minute town. We’ve all experienced that with our own special events. You fear no one will attend your gala and then just days before the event there is a flurry of last minute ticket sales. You frantically arrange for more chairs and more food. Somehow it all works out . . . but the additional stress takes some of the fun out of it.

So, do me a favor . . . RSVP for our professional development sessions on or before the suggested deadline. It will ensure our committees can provide you with the best training experience possible. And it will allow them to enjoy the session knowing they achieved a job well done!

Check out some of the latest job posts:

Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland: Development Manager

Kansas Policy Institute: Development Director

Click here to post a job for your organization.

AFP Greater Wichita New and Renewed Members for January

Thomas E. Borrego; Christopher D. Collins; Amy R Hopper; Shannon Koehn; Annika Morris; Laura Roddy, MA; Jessica Treadwell, MS

Interested in becoming a member? Click here!