As ICMA's Future of Professional Management Fund turns 40 in 2026, we are connecting with longtime donors about why they have given so much to the Fund for so long, their hopes for the future of the profession, and how the Fund can support that vision. We spoke with Peggy Merriss about her inspirations to give.

What inspired you to become a donor?

I hold a deep value that we’re here to make the world a better place, and the Fund is another way for those that want to help as much as they can—beyond my contributions to my organization or my community. When I served on the ICMA Executive Board, there was an expectation that ICMA leadership and engaged members contributed to the Fund. You can’t just call for help when your community’s form is up for a change—we all have to be ready to support each other, and a strong Fund balance is a key step.

Serving as ICMA president, and serving the profession nationally and internationally, seeing the important work professional managers do all over the world keeps me motivated. This form of government has been good to me, and it’s important to me to give back in time, talent, and resources. And if not me, who?

How do you see the role of the Fund evolving in the next decade in terms of advocacy and education around professional management given challenges of public awareness?

The Fund has promoted and defended the council-manager form and professional management for 40 years. It’s a great legacy, and I believe we should be doing more than defense and advocacy. We need to be showing how professional local management makes a community a better place in a way that people understand.

I think we need something like the spirit of Life, Well Run, but not a short campaign—a new part of the Fund’s DNA. Meaningful stories of “the how” that we can get in front of people, that our members can post on their website, state association websites, and share at state conferences and municipal and county association conferences.

A lot of elected officials don’t understand “the how” either. Easily accessible educational tools to help members explain the council-manager form and professional management to their new (and recurring) governing body officials would be greatly beneficial in moving that needle.

Today, this also goes beyond the questions of the form itself. When it’s the manager getting personally abused (I don’t have the answer, but I do have the question), how do we get support to managers with tools to address these personal attacks? How do we stand up personally for our ICMA members when they are being attacked?

What I do know is that by the time we are in reaction mode, it’s getting to be too late. We all need to be proactive, so the manager feels they are getting support from somewhere. We need to focus on supporting and defending the individual as we do the form itself.

Lastly, as we encourage more members to donate, it’s important to support member professional development, education, and succession planning; the “future” part of the Fund. Advocating for and defending the form is critical, but if there’s no one who wants to be a manager tomorrow that’s still a problem. And for my friends, when we get together to share “war stories” at conferences, don’t forget there are students listening. Remember to include why you still do the work—those inspirational gems that keep us coming back, despite the oddities.

What would you say to someone considering a donation to the Fund but unsure of its impact?

The impact over 40 years is evident and real—the Fund has helped defend, promote, and advance professional management and the council-manager form in hundreds of towns, cities, and counties, with a good deal of success. But I want new and recurring donors to think about the future of the profession, how the Fund can focus on “the good stuff” for how professional management really makes a difference, and how we can develop today’s and tomorrow’s managers. How? With new and better metrics, but more importantly with great stories of why the profession is important and how it can be multidimensional in addressing our toughest civic challenges—how there are different ways to get there, and how we all learn from one another to make the world a better place.

About The Fund

ICMA’s Future of Professional Management Fund empowers communities nationwide by advancing professional local government management. The Fund invests in advocacy, education, and leadership development — ensuring the adoption and retention of the council-manager form and professional administration to build public trust, raise public awareness, and cultivate current and future leaders. 

Contributions directly sustain research, outreach, and support for the vital work that keeps our communities efficient, accountable, and resilient. Learn more here.