Volunteer Spotlight: Stephanie K. Murphy

Stephanie K. Murphy
Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship
Worcester Polytechnic Institute 

What inspired you to volunteer with ADRP?

It’s really a combination of things. Having attended several international conferences, I have been inspired by how much work our colleagues on the planning committees put into curating the educational content and attendee experience. When I see others stepping up to serve, my own personal sense of service and desire to pay it forward start to kick in. ADRP hosted a breakfast gathering in Boston last spring, and when folks started expressing an interest in getting regional programming going, I couldn’t resist raising my hand to get involved. And on a more practical note, my institution can’t always send everyone on my team to the international conference every year, so I had a personal interest in creating some accessible educational programming for my own team to experience.

Please tell us something about your current volunteer role, i.e., the duties you perform, etc., and any other volunteer experience you’ve had with our organization.

We are in the process of formalizing volunteer roles in the New England region, but I somewhat organically became a co-chair of the regional program planning committee we’ve got going. That mostly means coordinating effective planning meetings that keep us to task on our goals and help maintain momentum for the local programming we want to provide. I also ran point on our first educational program this January – a breakfast panel focused on retention!

What is your favorite ADRP memory?

I loved attending my first international conference in Memphis in 2015. That’s when I realized the incredible value that this organization provides to us as donor relations professionals. I was blown away by the abundance and relevance of the conference content, as well as the approachability of this wonderful community of colleagues who are driving best practices in our field. Of course, the blues and barbeque were awesome, too!

What do you find most fulfilling and/or challenging about your ADRP role?

Finding the time to do justice to a volunteer role will always be the biggest challenge. We’ve all got full-time jobs and lives outside of work, so the risk of burnout is real. It’s also been interesting trying to figure out how to structure volunteer roles and opportunities and to decide on what kind of programming to offer in the New England area, but we’ve gotten some great insights from our wonderful colleagues who are involved with veteran regional groups. Seeing that there’s an appetite for local programming and being able to provide value to our colleagues through networking and education has been incredibly fulfilling so far, and I can’t wait to see how the New England Donor Relations community grows and tightens as a result.