One of the best things about my job at the museum, is that it is slowly growing, expanding and evolving, as the fund development program at the museum does. As a result, I have had some amazing professional development opportunities so that I can learn some of the basics, and more advanced skills, required to help create a solid base for this program, that we can then grow.

So today I am at the Canadian Association of Gift Planners conference in Edmonton. I am here to be inspired (which the powerpoints I already printed off for sessions this week have done) and to bring back to our Legacy committee some of that inspiration, ideas and knowledge.

We are so excited - through the Lethbridge Community Foundation and after years of hard work by our Executive Director, Susan Burrows-Johnson, and the Friends of the Galt Museum and Archives (mainly Mary and Martin Oordt, Glenn Coulter, Elisha Rasmussen, Allyn Mills, and their supporters), the FRIENDS OF THE GALT MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES ENDOWMENT is now real! A $15,000 initial contribution by the Friends and a wine and cheese celebration in April, kicked things off.

So now to grow this endowment, which will help ensure that the museum, under any circumstances, will have some of the financial stability that we outline in our strategic plan that we wish to strengthen.

I plan to learn everything and anything I can about taxes, insurances, marketing of this type of giving, and more. I have already laughed at one of the powerpoints where there are case studies given and one of them puts the Major Gift staff against the Special Events staff as the latter was unwilling to share their donor list with the first, as they considered them "their" donors. At least in the case of the Galt, I don't mind sharing with myself, seeing as I am the Special Events staff ;)

It is interesting, learning how ALL of the staff have roles to play in this, no matter what they do in the museum and archives.

Well time to go back to get my head filled with ideas, and my pen writing as fast as I can to keep up with the presenters. And I am excited because I keep reading on twitter about how one of the presenter groups who also are in the marketplace, give away tons of popcorn at conferences....I LOVE popcorn!!