New to the Houston Tessitura Community

Dear Fellow Houston Tessitura Users:

As a newbie to using Tessitura and Alley Theatre staff, I am thrilled to have been included to the Houston Community learning and network opportunity hosted yesterday at MFAH. Although I was not able to participate in the program discussion, I did connect with an informative and knowledgeable bunch in the café afterwards. Below is a bit of the information that I shared with Meredith and leadership.

I look forward to being an active member, learner, and doer in the group and learning each of you. And, a special shout out to Neda and all those at MFAH who shared their remarkable space with us and gave us special access to the museum.

Fondly, Jordan

==

Jordan Faires

Senior Manager Foundation and Government Grants

Alley Theatre

Meredith J. Long Theatre Center

615 Texas Avenue

Houston, Texas 77002

713.315.3342

jordanf@alleytheatre.org

++++

Dear Meredith and Houston Tessitura Leadership Team:

I'm thrilled to receive y'all's email and invitation. I will RSVP and plan to attend, connect, and learn from all y'all and others.

Although I'm new to The Alley, Tessitura, and somewhat to professional fundraising, my career is centered in philanthropy and mostly on the grantmaking side. In my earlier days as a grants manager, I was first exposed to PC-Gifts that evolved to Gifts for Windows, then Gifts, and then Blackbaud (Raiser's Edge) bought it; today, I believe that piece of software in Blackbaud's hands isn't doing so hot. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, PC Gifts and then Gifts were the it piece of software for grantmakers. Tessitura seems to be the it software for tax-exempt organizations that have ticketing and are involved in fundraising plus all the other CRM stuff. What I hope to learn and further develop at The Alley, in concert with Mary Opdahl, Michael Bell, and others, is how to make Tessitura sing for our institutional (corporate, foundation, and government) grants. Connecting with y'all and others can further promote Alley Theatre’s success in doing so. Coincidentally, one power user that I recently met, Richard Jackson at the Symphony, and formerly with the Alley, has been accessible and helpful to me.

I'll be looking forward to connecting on September 15.

Fondly, Jordan