Cultivating an attitude of gratitude can get us through difficult life events, improve our sleep, and promote physical health. An April 2015 article in Psychology Today summarizes seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude. With that in mind, this issue focuses on several things I’m grateful for, and gives you, the reader, some tools to use as well. For as Willie Nelson said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”

People with visions to improve our world

It has been a pretty momentous year for North Star NP, since our client, West 7^th Community Center, merged with Keystone Community Services. They moved some services in-house while still using North Star NP tech support. Fortunately, there have been many opportunities to fill the gap, and I am very pleased to have established relationships with Camp Fire Minnesota, Free Arts Minnesota, and American Horse Rescue Network. As I make contacts and meet with various organizations, I’m amazed and inspired by the dedicated and enthusiastic people who have creative visions to improve our world. I have been posting  information on these great organizations on the North Star NP Facebook page. Take a look, and be sure to “Like” us.

Peer group support

Another thing I’m grateful for is all the support I get from people around me. Of course, I couldn’t do it without my family and friends, but an often overlooked source of support is peer group associations. I use the activities and the listserve of the Nonprofit Financial Group. NFG has provides opportunities for networking, education, and professional development for financial managers of nonprofit organizations in the greater Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area. In the area of tech support, I am organizing a group that is starting to meet regularly.. Sue Bloom, our human resources specialist, relies on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Are you using peer support?

Great employees

The employees at North Star NP bring deep experience and practical knowledge to our customers. I’m pleased to announce a new addition to our Information Technology team, Nadya Pfaiffer. Nadya is a talented IT professional with 13+ years of experience in computer systems and computer administration. She will help maintain and optimize the computer systems of our IT customers.