LitNYS Special Session: That Good Feeling That Comes from Giving
How to create and sustain an individual giving plan that builds and expands community
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
10:00am-12:00pm (via zoom)
Free with Registration Required
Presented by LitNYS Colleague: Michelle Kotler
Giving is more than a transaction—it’s a powerful tool for connection and impact. This workshop will guide you through the process of developing a thoughtful, sustainable individual giving plan that aligns with your values and simultaneously builds community. You’ll learn practical strategies to implement, grow, and sustain your giving efforts, including how to frame your plan, identify potential supporters, engage board members, and set realistic, growth-oriented goals.
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ABOUT MICHELLE KOTLER
Michele Kotler founded Community-Word Project in 1997. She is a graduate of the NYC public school system. She received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and her MFA from the University of Michigan, where she also taught creative writing.
She has served on the boards of The Catalog for Giving (now Spark NYC), The Association of Teaching Artists and the New York City Arts-in-Education Roundtable. She is a member of the Writers In the Schools Alliance (WITSA) and an advisory board member for SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). Her poetry has appeared in Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds, The Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose, Washington Square Review, Spinning Jenny, Painted Bride Quarterly and SWWIM.
Michele founded CWP to ensure that NYC public school students have structured time during their school day to develop their creative and critical thinking skills through art. She also wanted to provide artists the opportunity to give back to the community and support themselves by transforming their creative process into teaching tools. Community-Word Project’s Teaching Artists Project (TAP) continues to strengthen the field of professional teaching artists. She is proud to be a part of the NYC arts-in-education community and the national Writers in the Schools movement.