Halfway Day
Who knew that “halfway day” was a thing? July 2 marks the mid-point of the year–182 days down and 182 to go–except in Leap Years. Last week my news and social feeds were full of headlines about using the half the year remaining to do more to reach those ambitious goals set for 2026. I don’t know about everyone else, but I haven’t stopped to reflect on this milestone much. None of the stories mentioned that you could just pause and adjust your goals for the year at this point–interesting thought.
Upon reflection, these milestones, whether they are marked with a clever headline or just our own acknowledgement, can serve as a pause or as a kick in the pants to get to work. In my experience, just getting started serves as the best motivation. If there’s a huge project, I try to break out the immediate tasks and the more complex ones so that I experience easy wins mixed with some ongoing tasks. For me it works to celebrate progress where I can and prepare a plan to complete bite-sized goals to get to the big accomplishments.
Speaking of big plans–We are planning for one of our biggest projects of the year–the 2026 Conference in Charleston!
Speakers are being notified, the schedule is getting finalized and the room block is ready to be shared! We are crafting the Philanthropy West Virginia conference with you in mind! There will be music, food and fun sprinkled throughout the two days. We are almost ready to share the schedule! I’m excited and I can’t wait to do a big reveal in my next outreach email!
One last thing–next week, I may be slower to reply to emails as I will be participating in the 2026 Philanthropy Infrastructure Conference hosted by United Philanthropy Forum. It will be a hectic two days of learning, networking and thinking big thoughts! There will be lots to share when I return!
Until then, keep up the great work,
Jennifer
You’d like to sponsor the Conference? That would be awesome, thank you!
A changing climate: How can funders support community-led innovations, strengthen philanthropic partnerships and invest in long-term resilience amid a changing climate?
Join a webinar on Thursday, July 23, at 1 p.m. to explore how we can adapt and innovate in an era of continuous climate disruption, evolving from reactive response toward anticipatory and forward-looking strategies. Learn more and register here.
Philanthropy can support Census planning now
The Census Funder Collaborative (CFC) aligns funding and philanthropic strategies to promote a fair and accurate census. The objective is to address the persistent undercount of communities of color, young children, low-income households, immigrants, rural communities, and other underrepresented populations in both the decennial census and the ongoing American Community Survey (ACS). Visit this website, designed for funders, for information on why it is important to engage in the census and ACS, how funders can engage, and actions and resources promoted by the collaborative.
Opportunity to share with your nonprofit partners
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