UI Foundation/UI Advancement Weekly Update 05.28.21
Dear Team:
When I first came to the Midwest to attend college, I remember how predictably unpredictable the weather could be, and today is certainly is proving that point. What a difference a few days can make! For those of you sitting in Central Illinois enjoying the 50-degree temps and rain, hang in there.
With the start of the Memorial Day weekend and June 1st just around the corner, I am also reminded that we are quickly approaching the end of our current fiscal year. When the clock seems to be ticking faster or the days appear to be flying by, we often start thinking about the need to get things wrapped up and finished. Since this is the weekend of the Indianapolis 500, you might even say it’s time to “put the pedal to the metal.” In the race to the finish, work can get hectic, so do your best to plan for the impending flurry of activity over the final 30 days of FY21.
Each of us has a list of goals, priorities and to-do’s, and I suspect some things will be easy to complete while others may be a bit of a stretch. For me, my “bell lap” includes the Spring UIF Board of Directors Meeting, thanking some of our donors for their end-of-year gifts, reviewing several time-sensitive legal documents, and finalizing budget and planning documents in preparation for the new fiscal year. You may be working to close a gift, checking in with donors, or completing all manner of end-of-the-year reports and paperwork. Whatever it is, keep your annual professional and personal goals in sight and push to the finish line. I’ll stop with the “race references” and simply say, hang in there, and thanks in advance for the great work you are all doing and have done throughout this extraordinary year!
With any luck, our plans for FY22 will involve more facetime with one another, our donors, and our extended family and friends. The data is promising and suggests we are trending in the right direction, and the virus is being managed. Keep taking care of yourself and doing your part to ensure we continue to progress toward a healthier community so we can avoid future disruptions from COVID-19
Enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend, and don’t forget to remember the thousands of veterans whose service to protect our country over the past 244-plus years provides us with the freedoms we enjoy. I coincidentally spent some time recently at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, and it was a great reminder of the price paid for freedom, as well as the possibilities of overcoming incredible adversity when we are truly united.
All the best,
Jim