May/June 2012 Announcements: 

Dear PGGNE Members and Friends,

We have reached the end of another successful PGGNE program year! We closed with a bang earlier this month with two great days of planned giving education and networking – our All-Day Conference and the pre-conference Fundamentals program. It was fantastic to see so many PGGNE regulars in attendance, as well as lots of new faces.

Those of you that attended the luncheon at the All-Day Conference heard me give an overview of the highlights for PGGNE in 2011-2012. It’s been a very active year with many accomplishments and advancements. Here is a brief recap:

• We began the year with the introduction of a new five-year strategic plan for PGGNE. Notable components of the plan include a commitment to expand our program offerings for newcomers, a concurrent commitment to broaden our offerings for senior m+embers, an exploration of additional networking opportunities and enhanced resources for our members, and a pledge that PGGNE will take on a more active role as advocates for the importance of gift planning to development leaders throughout the region.
• We created a new program for PGGNE – Planned Giving Fundamentals – to provide an in-depth introductory session on the basics of gift planning for newcomers and development generalists.
• We expanded the All-Day Conference to two days (with our pre-conference primer session) and added a new advanced track for senior members. Over 370 people registered to attend one of the two days of the conference, a significant increase from last year.
• We pulled together a number of innovative programs for our monthly meetings, with topics such as gifts of gold, planned giving analytics, and donor advised funds included in our curriculum this year.
• We enhanced the quality of our communications materials, including a completely redesigned conference website and updated monthly newsletter. We also saw PGGNE’s foray into social media take hold with our LinkedIn group becoming an active forum for ongoing discussions and debates.
• We extended our outreach to new audiences which led to a 5% growth in our membership.
• We continued to explore partnerships and collaboration opportunities with other organizations, including broadcasting webinars of a number of our sessions to other councils throughout New England and creating marketing partnerships.
• We have kept PGGNE in strong financial health – we tightened our belt on the expense side and developed new revenue streams, all while keeping membership dues flat in the face of rising expenses at the Revere Hotel.

Certainly a busy year for PGGNE, and the hotel renovations kept us on our toes too! All in all, we have made significant strides towards achieving the vision for PGGNE laid out in the new strategic plan. Over the next few years we will continue this quest, with a strong focus on bringing you innovative programs, continuing to explore opportunities to enhance networking and connections amongst our members, and serving as advocates to further promote the gift planning profession.

On behalf of the entire Executive Board, thanks to all for your participation in PGGNE this year, and for all you do to make PGGNE such a strong and vibrant organization.

Enjoy the summer!

Sincerely,

John Curran
President
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