Multi-Gen Family Involvement

As a family-held enterprise grew, their charitable giving matured from reactive and transactional donations made from operating income, to a purposeful activity facilitated through a local community foundation, eventually settling in an independent private family foundation with multi-generational family participation. 

Our work assisted the family in defining the scope and purpose of their giving, best practices for foundation governance, and philanthropic preparations for an anticipated liquidity event.

In the course of navigating these considerations, we facilitated site visits to organizations the family had supported over decades of giving and invited second- and third-generation family members to engage with a legacy of impact they were inheriting but had never witnessed.

Non-Profit development operations

Led a two-year effort to restructure and integrate seven perviously independent development teams in a regional health system, aligning resources to support specific clinical lines of care across service areas and individual hospitals. This effort shifted programmatic focus away from special event activities and towards individual donor identification and engagement.

Integration included consolidation and upgrade of seven stand-alone donor data information systems, including the implementation of enhanced donor prospect identification and screening tools.

As a result, the system realized the two largest philanthropic commitments in institutional histories and saw steady improvements in acquisition, retention, and immediate base line revenue growth.

philanthropic leadership succession planning

A study conducted for a traditional independent day school uncovered concern among long-committed donors who wanted to see new volunteer and philanthropic leaders step forward.

Our team customized a model of fundraising leadership that enlisted new leaders and donors to serve along-side more experienced fundraising volunteers.  This plan succeeded in engaging a senior generation as mentors to a new team of Board leaders.

The excitement created through this multi-generational campaign organization resulted in the acceleration of additional campus improvements concurrent with the construction of new facilities. 

As the campaign entered its final phase, the handful of families who have led multiple fundraising efforts rallied again to support the emerging leaders and formed a “Legacy Challenge” to match every contribution towards the final fundraising gap.  As a result, the team dedicated its new facilities having completed the school’s most successful campaign to date. 

stewardship and constituency engagement

When your staff is two-and-a-half people and you have 250,000 alumnae across the globe, where do you start?  You introduce yourself to anyone who is willing to listen, you tell them your story - and you invite them to become a part of it.

First engaged by the largest women’s fraternal group in 2001, we have supported this organization over the course of 20+ years of counsel with services including strategic planning, board development, and executive coaching.

We celebrated with them the first time a donor pledged a million-dollar gift.  We were soon pleased to see others follow her example of leadership; we joined in congratulating them in 2006 on the success of their next campaign; stood with them again in 2016 as they concluded the largest-ever campaign among women's fraternal organizations; and are priveleged to support them today in their current record-breaking initiative.  

Through the tireless work of volunteers and staff (which has increased in size), and as a result of best-in-class stewardship of every gift, the donor base has grown from hundreds to thousands, the annual fund has grown from thousands to millions of dollars, and the campaign fundraising records continue to fall.