by Mary Moss, Founding Partner
In last month’s newsletter, Susan Ross let you know that she and I are stepping back from most of our client work as of April 30th. I have been on a gradual step-down for the past year to ensure continuity and high-touch service as batons were passed.
Gratitude for this community. As I told our internal team almost a year ago, I have a full heart and huge gratitude for the extended community that embraced the need for top-level nonprofit expertise when we launched the firm in 2009. I was worried the phone would not ring, and boy, did the phone ring. We have grown our vision to extend from one end of the state to the other by expanding our team as the need demanded. We never wanted to grow for growth’s sake, but only for the sake of our clients. Along the way, we expanded our services and deepened our bench. The Triangle area will always be our birthplace, but our reach is now well beyond the boundaries of what Susan and I envisioned nearly 18 years ago. If you have heard me say (more than once) that the most important factor in successful fundraising is relationships, then you will appreciate that respectful relationships have guided our business practices as well. We thank you for asking us to be your thought partners.
Appreciation for this team. I have watched new colleagues join our team at varying levels of experience, some eager to transfer skills in a new way and some bringing years of direct fundraising experience; some who wanted part-time roles and some who wanted full-time careers. We met them where they were, and we still do. The talent within the firm now leaves Susan and me in awe, and we are grateful every day to have a state-wide brain trust that our clients need and embrace. Thank you to our team, especially the partners who are running it now. They are doing a marvelous job, without skipping a beat.
Vision for the future. No one is more excited to see the next iteration of moss+ross than Susan and I. The need for nonprofits to fulfill their mission has never been greater, and the work has never been tougher. We built the firm on creative and nimble solutions, and that will never change.
What an honor to have a shared vision with a partner like Susan. Together, we were able to fulfill our dream of building a company that has impact that matters in a place we love. People are now asking me what I loved the most and will miss the most in my career, and it’s the hard work, the ability to work alongside others to make an impact where impact is needed. This work has been the culmination of all I ever wanted to do, and the work is the joy and the reward, for the past 48 years. I hope to keep doing as much as I can for as long as I can. Going forward, I have a new title – Founding Partner and Of Counsel – that retains my lifelong connection to this wonderful firm.