Celebrating our Chapter Volunteers: National Volunteer Week – April 19-25

In celebration of #NationalVolunteerWeek, we want to say thank you to all of those who continue to give back in their personal and professional lives.

Volunteers from across the city have come together during this critical time to care for those in need and have truly proven to be the backbone of society when the most is at stake. This week, we thank and salute you along with our healthcare heroes and those working in essential services during this time.

Our Chapter would not be where it is today without the support of our members who have contributed countless volunteer hours and ideas to help us in delivering quality professional development opportunities and education to fundraising professionals and those in the non-profit sector. This week we want to take the time to recognize just a few of you…

Shannon LaHay, CFRE – Speaker Discovery Series (SDS) Committee

Shannon LaHay is from London, Ontario. She is the Executive Director of the Alexandra Marine & General Hospital Foundation in Goderich, Ontario, where she has been empowered to use her vision to lead the strategic direction, fund development initiatives, and community outreach for the Foundation. Shannon also developed and managed a $3.5 million capital campaign which exceeded its goal by over $1 million in only nine months.

Shannon is currently pursuing a Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Degree, and her pursuit of lifelong learning has led to her achieving her Bachelor of Arts, Certification in Management (CIM) and Certified Fund Raising Executive designation (CFRE). In addition to being a committee member and speaker coach for the AFP Greater Toronto Speaker Discovery Series, Shannon is a Director for the AFP London & Region Chapter and member of the AFP LR Communications Committee.

Shannon has two daughters, one with a passion for travel and one with a passion for horses, and she enjoys travelling, running and cycling. Shannon participates in events raising funds for various causes including childhood cancer research and cancer camps.

What made you become an AFP member?

AFP is really about having a community of like-minded people who truly value making a difference and supporting their fellow fundraisers/colleagues.

Do you have a favourite volunteer / SDS memory?

After coaching my first group of speakers, for the “gratitude” series, watching each of them take the stage and tell their stories made me feel like a proud “mom”.  I was almost teary for each one and just wanted to hug them after.  I totally could have been that “embarrassing mom” in the audience cheering too loud and holding up a sign!

What words of advice would you give to someone who’s new to AFP and/or thinking about volunteering?

Get involved, participate, connect and network. There are so many amazing people and opportunities in this organization.

Scott Jeffries – Speaker Discovery Series (SDS) Committee

Scott joined Stephen Thomas Ltd (ST) back in 2012 after coordinating the list business of a leading Canadian database publisher. Scott has now acquired and built upon the decades of institutional data expertise at ST and acts as the resident expert in Canada’s “list trade” marketplace – strategically managing direct mail media and data brokerage for many of Canada’s most prominent non-profit organizations. Scott is a founding member of the AFP Toronto Speaker Discovery Series (SDS) and has helped coach several first-time speakers since its inception in 2017.

What made you become an AFP member?

I wanted to become more involved in the community of professional fundraisers. And an AFP membership felt like an essential step in that direction.

What have you learned in your time volunteering?

I learned how much skill and generosity of spirit goes into the creation of AFP events. And I learned a lot about the many different career paths people take in this field.

Do you have a favourite volunteer / SDS memory?

There’s a bunch, but one of them would have to be the article that was published in Advancing Philanthropy about SDS and later learning that other AFP Chapters were starting their own SDS events.

Learn more about the Speaker Discovery Series (SDS) & listen to past podcast episodes here.

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Stay tuned to learn more about a few of our other volunteers this week!

On behalf of all of us at the AFP Greater Toronto Chapter,

THANK YOU! 💖👏👏👏