We all have a story, a cause, a nonprofit that speaks to our hearts. During this season of giving and gratitude, we asked each member of our team to share one of theirs with you.

Elaine Weber Nelson: I support St. John’s University, not only because my son is a junior there now, but because they are committed to both educating young people and instilling a strong sense of community in them. While every organization has issues, St. John’s has faced some of the more recent ones head-on and in doing so, has modeled positive responses to negative experiences to their students.

We all have a story, a cause, a nonprofit that speaks to our hearts. During this season of giving and gratitude, we asked each member of our team to share one of theirs with you.

Krista Harding is passionate about the work of Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. “They work extremely hard to provide much needed quality medical care and rehabilitation to wild animals. As a lover of animals big and small, it’s a huge relief to have somewhere to take an injured animal on the rare occasion when I encounter one (cue the panic!).

Eighteen months ago, the C-19 pandemic foisted the necessity of change into our lives and many of us suddenly found ourselves “moving home” to work full time or at least part time. Today, whether our teams are utilizing a hybrid work scenario or working full time either at the office or home, we’ve all encountered the challenges of ongoing change. We’ve also discovered ways to be productive and effective. We know how to adapt, but what about thriving and staying relevant in our jobs and careers? Here are some ideas to share with your team.

SCC is pleased to welcome Carolyn Scherer to our team! Carolyn joins us as a principal consultant who will focus on program design and evaluation, organizational assessment, strategy, and project work. We’d love to let her tell you a little about herself and the passion she brings to her work.

Once upon a time, a capital campaign was a major undertaking that happened occasionally. Today, it may appear that the minute one campaign is over, another begins. Campaigns are terrific methods to engage your donor base, expand your programs, upgrade your space, and generally build excitement for your mission. All good things. Traditionally, campaigns are for building or renovating a space, but endowment campaigns and campaigns for major equipment or initiatives are also possible. Campaigns are also a lot of work – before, during, and after. If your board is considering a campaign, here are a few things to ask yourselves:

Late last fall, I attended an Overcoming Racism Conference, hosted by the Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative. (FREC). I attended sessions that I thought most closely matched my personal and professional needs and those that would keep me in touch with the needs, hopes, and pain of those who have been “othered.” Now, six months later, I’m reflecting on a few things I carried away with me. Here are the top four . . .

According to Access Philanthropy, there are many new family foundations jumping into philanthropy. A third of the 48,000 small family foundations in the US were created after 2007. Very small foundations are growing at the rate of 35% every two years. This is important to understand, because now is the time to start laying the groundwork and building relationships while small family foundations are adding to their grantee list.

As vaccination rates rise and we prepare to return to some semblance of normal, it’s time to consider how our professional lives will look in the future. From the dress code – business on top, casual on the bottom – to virtual meetings, we’ve established a new normal. Employees are looking to their employers to consider different ways of doing business in the post-COVID world.

We’ve revised the schedule for our 4-part New Supervisor Training Series. The start date is now April 15. Please share with those in your network who may benefit from this interactive training series.