Making Strides Against Breast Cancer & Creating Connection Through a Common Cause

November so far, has been a month of travel and connection and while it's been super busy, it's been a joy.

In this month's newsletter I'm sharing my reflections on shared connection and how we can create strides of change when we come together for a common cause.

It started with a quick trip to Los Angeles to attend the ProVisors Group Leader Summit.?What a great couple of days of networking, meeting professional colleagues from across the country, and focusing on the organization’s mantra of “Know, Like, Trust, Refer”.?

PV is a networking and referral organization, but more than that, it also cultivates real relationship building among consultants.?If you should ever need an attorney, CPA, banker, insurance professional, wealth manager, etc., let us know – we probably have a good resource for you.

I followed that up with a trip to Reno and the “Women Who Count” annual conference, sponsored by the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA).

As a past National President of that organization, it’s always great to meet up annually and see my sisters from across the country. This year, Miles Consulting Group was not only a participant, but also a sponsor and a speaker.

You may have seen the post I shared on LinkedIn a couple of weeks back about the fun I had getting my presentation to work, but what conference doesn't run into a few technical challenges. ??

In general, COVID has been tough on membership organizations, as people seem less inclined to get out, and get involved, and join boards. I would love to see people becoming more joined again.?Really, seeing talented women in finance get together reminded me of the importance of getting together again.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, we walked in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer – Silicon Valley. Miles Consulting once again sponsored the event, as well as fundraising for individual contributions. All in, we raised our stated goal of $12,000.?Thank you to so many of you who did make a contribution to the cause.

This year marks my 25th year walking in the event. And in those years, I’ve raised over $290,000 in contributions.?Not from large corporate donations, but from individuals!?

During the month of October, I send many, many requests for contributions because I believe so strongly in this cause. My mom is a two time breast cancer survivor, and remains my biggest inspiration. And along the journey, I’ve met many more survivors and thrivers (and some who have lost the battle), and that’s why I keep fighting the fight.?

I’ve personally witnessed that the money we raise helps researchers find better solutions to a breast cancer diagnosis. And the funds also go to helping patients with things like a 24/7 hotline they can call whenever they need to; rides to treatments if they can’t get there on their own; and access to wigs and classes for how to look good and feel your best when treatments seem to rob you of your basics.

And there’s nothing more inspiring than seeing over 10,000 walkers (like at this weekend’s walk through Great America in Santa Clara) in pink supporting the cause.

I’ve also learned that while very rewarding, fundraising can be hard – even when the cause is a very worthwhile one. Why?

??It’s hard to ask people for money. Money is very personal – as it should be. And the way people spend it is personal as well.?Philanthropy is personal, and there are many good causes.?

??Technology can be challenging. We send out several emails – some may go into spam, some are ignored because they look like solicitation, and some just never are read for whatever reason

??E-mail volume – if you’re like me, you get over 100 emails in a day.?Mine is in there somewhere asking you to take a few minutes to do something.?I get it. You WANT to help and you’ll get around to it, and then life happens and you forget.?I always tell my fellow fundraisers – “Don’t assume it’s a NO, until someone tells you no. Otherwise just remind them that they probably want to help you.” Because generally people do want to help.

??You may not know where the dollars go!?Here, they go toward research for a cure (and we really have made progress…I’ve seen it), patient services (like helping to drive patients to treatment, offering wigs and other “feel better” make-up and other items, and a 24/7 hotline), and advocacy.

So, why tell you all this? It’s not to ask for a donation (although, if you’d like to, there’s still time!), but to share with you both the kinds of things that your donation to an organization like ACS can do, and the importance of individual donations in general.?

Know that the people asking you for your donation are doing so humbly and with the best intention of supporting a cause that’s important to them.?And I believe that we can all do just a little more to help our world be a more giving place.

Thank you for reading!?And more importantly, thank you for your continued support.?Here’s to hitting the $300,000 mark next year!

About?Monika?and?Miles Consulting

Monika is President and Founder of Miles Consulting with over 21 years of experience in multistate tax consulting (sales tax, income/franchise and credits & incentives), plus a few more in federal tax! Before starting the firm in 2002, Monika was a Senior Tax Manager at a Big 4 firm.

Miles Consulting Group is a professional services firm specializing in multi-state tax solutions, which addresses state and local tax issues, including general state tax consulting, nexus & taxability reviews, audit support, voluntary disclosure agreements, and other special projects.

We also specialize in SaaS and other technology industries. For more information, visit?www.milesconsultinggroup.com?and to contact us please call us at 408-266-2259 or email?[email protected]