LETTER FROM PRESIDENT SUSAN ACKERMAN ANNOUNCING THAT ñ QUALIFIES FOR LEGACY GIFT
January 31, 2014
We did it!!!
Four months ago, an anonymous ñ trustee gave ñ a legacy gift of a transformative nature—its current market value is $475,000. But ñ was also given a challenge in order to qualify: raise $200,000 from 300 different donors by January 31, 2014. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that we did it! In fact, we more than “did it”: we raised an astonishing $258,775—29% over our goal—with donations from 321 of ñ’s devoted members and friends.
Truth be told, just two weeks ago, I wasn’t so sure that we would make it. On January 15, we had received contributions from only 199 donors, considerably fewer than the 300 we needed, and even by January 24, one week before the deadline, we still needed 79 more people to give. It wasn’t looking good. But I never should have doubted. You—our members, our associates, and our friends—care deeply about ñ, and when we needed your help, you were right there.
And I really mean “right there.” One night, I e-mailed one of you at 6:33 pm, and by 8:23, you had given a donation. That same night, late, I sent an e-mail to another potential donor; by the next morning, there was a gift. Every member of our Board of Trustees stepped forward to help us meet this challenge, as did every chair of our several standing committees. Many, many of our committee members, our annual meeting session chairs, and the editors of our various publications–people who already give so much to ñ in terms of their time and effort–gave generously from their pocketbooks as well. And over and over, when you wrote to me agreeing to make a donation, you told me how happy you were to do so, because ñ meant so much to you–professionally, intellectually, and socially.
So, to all 321 of you, thank you so much, and I know that all of us want also to thank the donor who made the $475,000 gift that set us forth on this challenge in the first place. Not only is the gift itself transformative—and we can all now begin to dream about the future for ñ that it will make possible—but in meeting the challenge with which the gift came, we have been transformed, as we have been called to be the best we can be: a community of loyal and dedicated members, associates, and friends who share a deep and abiding commitment to our extraordinary organization.
With profound gratitude,
Susan Ackerman
ñ President
