A few weeks ago, I was delighted and surprised to discover that my staff and close to 100 friends had planned a celebration for HMA's 20th anniversary.
 
I remember walking into the room with my wife, thinking we were going out for our 19th anniversary dinner. And as I faced a throng of clapping people, I had no idea why I was there, until they told me it was the company's 20th anniversary.
 
I was delighted to see a lot of old friends, former staff, clients and colleagues. And afterwards, to recognize that our company is probably in the 3% of companies that survived this long. Moreover, we are thriving and growing.
 
But what delights me even more is the fact that we've helped raise hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars for great causes: cancer research, environmental protection, women shelters, social services, international development, hospitals-  virtually every area of fundraising.
 
As a marketing guy-it is hard to resist saying this: In the last two years we've dramatically increased the number of services we offer clients. From legacy marketing to social marketing campaigns, viral videos and online work. (Ok. HMA promotion is over.)
 
In addition, one of the things I'm most proud of is that we share ideas with others. Since the early days of the company myself and other staff have spoken at conferences, led webinars, teleconferences, etc., so we could share what we've learned with other fundraisers. This year at least five or six of our staff have spoken at fundraising events to share ideas and tips with other fundraisers to help them do a better job.
 
We've also created a lot of resources over the years. A six part video series with the wonderful Ken Burnett, which I hosted. How to fundraising videos, a CD on How Today's Rich Give, and four books including  The Power of Giving: how giving back enriches us all which went to number one on Amazon.ca, number four on Amazon.com, and number one in Barnes & Noble: the world's biggest bookstore. Penguin has sold the rights to eleven countries worldwide in ten different languages.  And we hope it will inspire many people to give much more.
 
My book Hidden Gold-- the first book on monthly giving -- has been used by thousands of organizations globally and many people have told me that it has helped raise many millions of dollars for their cause.  Look for an updated edition out early next year.
 
Additionally, our managing director Lynn Boardman and I are working on a new book which should be out in the fall of 2010.
 
Over the years we've had some wonderful staff members.  I'm happy to say they are still good friends, and many of them were at the party. I have to say that I think our current staff component is our strongest ever. As part of our growth, I'm delighted that we have both Toronto and Vancouver offices, and have seen staff move between offices.
 
While I have the opportunity, let me thank the wonderful people I work with. You're smart, funny, committed and serve our clients well and I thank you for that.
 
Lastly, I still love what I'm doing and I thank all our clients through the years for making me feel this way. So, let me invite you in advance to our 40th anniversary party.
 
And if you can’t wait that long for a party, and have read this far, let me invite you to our 13th anniversary holiday party that we co-host with a bunch of friends in Vancouver. It's happening Saturday, December 5 from 8 PM to 2 AM at Smiley O'Neills: 921 W.Pender in Vancouver.  Hope to see you there!