by Kristine DelMonte, Development Specialist
 
This week I am attending a virtual conference from my makeshift (and yet somehow more and more permanent) office in my dining room.
 
It is an annual conference for fundraising professionals hosted by Blackbaud, the platform Easterseals uses to manage donor data.
 
Initially, I wasn’t super excited to be glued to my computer for Zoom Keynotes and Zoom breakout sessions and Zoom networking (what even is that?). That PLUS my regular Zoom meetings seemed like maybe too much zooming.
 
Then, the people at Blackbaud scored Amy Poehler as a keynote speaker.
 
(If you don’t know Amy Poehler’s alter-ego Leslie Knope from the long-running TV show Parks & Rec, you *must* go right now and binge-watch it on Netflix. It is a definite pandemic pick-me-up.)
 
#BBCON, you had me at Amy Poehler.
 
Leslie Knope is known for her commemorative scrapbooks and detailed event binders, her dedication to her job, and her enthusiastic encouragement of absolutely everyone to be their very best. She is the ultimate development professional: nothing gets her down, she can always find a way to work around a “no,” and she has never-ending energy.
 
(I kind of love Leslie Knope.)
 
But it was the actress, not the character giving the keynote, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
 
Turns out, Amy Poehler is her own brand of Leslie Knope, having recently started “Amy’s Smart Girls,” a nonprofit “dedicated to helping young people cultivate their authentic selves.”
 
She was amazing.

 
She talked about the physicality of doing her voice work as the character “Joy” in Disney Pixar’s Inside Out. She talked about the world right now, about finding happiness in uncertainty, and about philanthropy.
 
Two things she said stuck out to me.
 
First, she said “Do work you are proud of with your talented friends.”
 
CHECK. I am proud of the work we do at Easterseals. It’s SO hard right now because of COVID pivots and uncertainty, but I know that what we are doing makes a difference in the lives of the kids and families we serve. And boy do we have some amazing talent. From our teachers and assistants to our PT/OT/Speech and Music therapists to our Assistive Tech Department and even accounting, we have staff that work here because they love it, and it shows.
 
Then, when talking about philanthropic giving, she said “Giving is self-care.”
 
It feels good to do good.
 
Leslie Knope couldn’t have said it better herself.  
 
As we approach the season of giving, I don’t want our donors to “give till it hurts.”
 
I want to help our donors learn more about what we do, about how we serve people with disabilities, and how we continue to serve families through COVID. I want donors to get Leslie Knope-level excited about our mission. I want them to understand why their gifts are so critical (especially now), and to see the absolute joy on a child’s face when they achieve a goal… a goal made real in part because of our donors’ gifts. 
 
I want our donors to give until it feels good.
 
I’d even be willing to make a scrapbook to commemorate the occasion.