The Nonprofit Sector Lost Something Special This Week

Jay Love — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:08:00 GMT

Nearly a decade ago, I was privileged to be one of the founding board members of the ePhilanthropy Foundation. At that time, I had no idea where this new nonprofit would go as far as its mission and reach were concerned. My best guess was similar to my guess on the premise of helping to create eTapestry, in that I thought this Internet concept might grow rapidly and be a tremendous asset to the nonprofit world. Looking back, it was sort of a safe bet . . .

Through the years the ePhilanthropy Foundation reached out to educate the sector on the best uses of the Internet in fundraising and more importantly how to insure ethical standards were kept. Its education programs and the eTours touched so many looking for help in this rapidly changing era. Being a presenter at many of those sessions was quite rewarding for me. It was nice to give back to the sector and to so many fundraising professionals who have supported me and my related businesses over the last 25 years.

Fortunately, many of those same programs and concepts will be carried forward with the recent merger of the Foundation with the Network for Good which can be read about here.

Sure, changes will be apparent. However, change is inevitable and, in most cases where proper attention to detail is adhered to, results in positive outcomes.

One of my main reasons for helping to create and promote the ePhilanthropy Foundation is regrettably going away. From the outset, I believed an organization where the leaders of so many of the top vendors who serve the sector could meet and share best practices, promote ethics and hear firsthand the ideas of nonprofit leaders, was a splendid idea. Over the years of the existence of the Foundation my belief in those concepts truly was strengthened.

I am sad the meeting and sharing among the leaders in both vendor community and fundraising community on such a large scale will not happen several times each year. You never knew what was going to happen or be discussed in and around the actual board meeting. However, it was always topics you did not want to miss nor fail to add to! Coming together for a pause in the day-to-day competition to serve the needs of the sector for a common set of goals was neat. Perhaps such a group can be formed again in the future. If so, count on me to be another founding member and do my best to add spice and gusto to the oh-so-many fun conversations and actions!

The Jay Love Blog : Network for Good

The Nonprofit Sector Lost Something Special This Week