President's Letter to Members

Dear Members,

The CARA board had a busy and productive spring and summer. At APRA's 24th International Conference in late July, we organized two social events for members attending the conference in Austin. After the conference, CARA members met in three locations around California to share and discuss what they learned. Over the summer, the board also planned Fall Conference Days, to be held on Nov. 4 in San Francisco and Nov. 18th in San Diego. Your board also began preparing for the June 2012 statewide conference. Additionally, CARA members voted on candidates for the board, returning three current officers and electing two new members. Preceding all this, we promoted the value of research in a seminar at Cal State Fullertons Gianneschi Summer School for Nonprofits.

In late June, CARA was invited to hold a 3-hour seminar on Investing in Prospect Research at the Gianneschi Summer School for Nonprofits. I joined President-Elect Paul Goyne and former CARA board member Cristi Hendry to deliver a 3-part presentation to staff from small nonprofits throughout Southern California, many whom had never heard of prospect research before. It was a rewarding and well-received experience, and we gained several new CARA members from among the Gianneschi attendees.

July brought APRA's 24th International Conference to Austin, TX, which was the eighth APRA International Conference that I have had the privilege to attend. I found this conference to be among the best I've ever attended due to the strength of the programming, the solid turnout of registrants, and the stellar location.

My favorite sessions were Cathleen Parsons-Nicolics talk on cloud computing, Is Your Organization Working in the Clouds; Gregory Dukes session on Using Excel for Analytics; and the joint presentation by Ilana Lester Moreno and Michele Whitney on The Role of Research in a Database Conversion. I continue to learn and take away so much from attending APRAs International Conference that I look forward to celebrating the 25th Anniversary of APRA in Minneapolis next summer.

While in Austin for the APRA Conference, CARA held two happy-hour events where folks were able to unwind, network, and have some fun with fellow members, as well as colleagues from other state chapters. At B.D. Rileys Irish Pub, attendees competed...Click here to read the balance of Kimberly Ordunio's message as well as the latest issue of 221-B Baker Street.

The CARA 2012 Statewide Conference

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Thank you volunteers and mentors!

Anna Asker
Sara Boretz
Vanessa Boyle
Vladimir Foronda
Ryan Frank
Shirley Gottschalk
Paul Goyne
Lisa Johnston
Gary Lance
Natalie Larmon
Sandra Lofgren
Anne Magill
Jo Ann Manuccia
Maggie O'Brien
Kimberly Ordunio
Stephanie Petty
John Rivett
Christopher Shields
Eric Siegel
James Vermillion
Trudy Zimmerman

To all of you who helped volunteer or mentor at the CARA Conferences in San Francisco and San Diego our deepest thanks!

The CARA Board