ANN BEDSOLE NAMED 2004 OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER FUNDRAISER

Feb 17th, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP eWire – Feb. 17, 2004) – The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has named Ann Bedsole of Mobile, Ala., the 2004 Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser. She will be honored at the Awards for Philanthropy Banquet during AFP’s International Conference on Fundraising on Tuesday, March 16, in Seattle.


Bedsole was clearly surprised by the honor. “I do not consider myself a fundraiser,” she noted. “But, if you believe in a cause, you give it all you’ve got.”


Indeed, Bedsole has a long and impressive history of supporting nonprofit organizations and leading charitable fundraising campaigns in her hometown of Mobile. In 1998, the mayor asked her to lead the efforts in preparing a celebration of Mobile’s 300th anniversary in 2002. To devote the kind of time it would take to lead such an effort, she resigned from almost every board she was serving on at the time.


She was the chief recruiter and motivator for the 2,300 volunteers who took part in the Mobile Tricentennial. She personally raised nearly $2 million in contributions for the effort, named and led a fundraising committee that raised another $1 million, and secured another $2 million in in-kind services. The town’s yearlong celebration was the result of nearly five years’ work by Bedsole and her committee.


Legislative and Charitable Leadership


Bedsole also has enjoyed a distinguished career in civic leadership and government. In 1978, she became the first Republican woman ever to be elected to the Alabama House of Representatives. At the next state election, she was elected to the Alabama State Senate, becoming the first woman ever to join that body.


While serving in the Senate, Bedsole passed legislation authorizing the establishment of a statewide magnet school for outstanding math and science students. Although the school receives funding from the state, its specialized programming is far more expensive than most public schools. To bridge the funding gap, she has raised millions of dollars during the past 10 years and has personally given generous gifts.


Numerous organizations have benefited from Bedsole’s leadership. She is a board member of the Business Innovation Center, Mainstreet Inc., the Mobile Area Education Foundation and the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. She has served as the founding chair of the Alabama Forest Resource Center and founded the C.I.T.Y. program, an alternate school to rehabilitate juvenile offenders.


“Ann Bedsole is the very model of what a volunteer fundraiser and leader should be,” said Paulette V. Maehara, CFRE, CAE, president and CEO of AFP. “She clearly has a tremendous ability to reach out to others and connect them with the vision of her cause. Her action, in turn, inspires others, and any charity would be extremely lucky to have her as a donor, volunteer, advocate and leader.”


AFP's Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser award goes to the individual who not only gives to charitable organizations, but also demonstrates exceptional skills in coordinating and motivating groups of volunteers for fundraising projects. Bedsole was nominated by the AFP Alabama, Gulf Coast Chapter.

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