Not only did we bring together more than
165 nonprofit gift planners, professional
advisors, and philanthropists, we also garnered
our first major media publicity with a spot
on Channel 4 News! And the year just kept
getting better!
As in past years, our Luncheon
Programs continued to bring in quality
national speakers such as Margaret May Damen
and Jane Peebles. Our Brown
Bag Series experienced enormous growth,
with attendance averages increasing over 50%.
Kudos to our excellent stable of local speakers
- Katherine Swank, Jim Gumpert, Michael Donegan,
Gordon Smith and Bud Sexton for volunteering
their time and expertise to engage and educate
the growing number of CPGR members who appreciate
a review and discussion of the basics. Gordon
Smith has done a tremendous job with Membership,
which has increased an additional 20%, bringing
our total membership to almost 400 individuals.
Our Technical
Series continues to offer another opportunity
to learn from local experts, and, for the
fourth year in a row, our Summer
Symposium was a sell out! Many thanks
to Gina Taranto and Nancy Thauvette for turning
this now two-day conference into what is widely
considered one of the best planned giving
conferences in the country.
In July, the CPGR Board Executive Committee,
Philip Keenan, Dan Harris and I, attended
the National Committee on Planned Giving's
Delegates Conference. Representatives from
councils across the country come together
to discuss issues, share challenges and celebrate
successes. We were pleased to discover that
not only are we one of the top three councils
in the country in terms of number of members,
but we also offer more educational and networking
opportunities than any other council! I believe
this is something we should all be proud of.
One of our greatest successes this year has
been our new Outreach Program. We recognize
that we are the Colorado Planned Giving
Roundtable, and are anxious to serve gift
planning professionals throughout the state
of Colorado and the Western Region. We have
tested a Webex system for broadcasting the
audio portion of our programs simultaneously
with the PowerPoint presentation of our speakers.
Next year, we plan to expand this program,
partnering with community foundations throughout
the state to offer this service. Check our
website in January for complete details on
our Outreach Program 2007.
Of course none of this would be possible
without the support of our sponsors and of
course our dedicated volunteers. With only
one staff person, our volunteers are the lifeblood
of CPGR. A recently retiring Director of Development,
Linda Alumbaugh, forwarded a letter to the
Roundtable extolling the talent, professionalism
and kindness of two CPGR veteran volunteers
who "…greatly influenced my view and presentation
of planned giving." Linda added "I can't imagine
I would ever have become the Director of Planned
Giving without the wonderful education provided
to me through the CPGR."
Comments like these make it all worthwhile
- knowing we have had such a positive effect
on someone's career. I would like to extend
my personal thanks to all of our volunteers
for their hard work and contributions to the
Roundtable. It has been a privilege to lead
such a dynamic group of gift planning professionals
during this past year. Happy Holidays! See
you next year!
Sincerely,
Sara M. Knowles
President, Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable
development@asld.org
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