Kent Weimer is Senior Director of Gift Planning in the department of Development and Alumni Relations at Lake Forest College, located in Lake Forest, Illinois. A Sharpe client, the college recently made national headlines when it received a multimillion-dollar gift from an unexpected source. Here Kent Weimer shares with Give & Take the story behind …Read More

The starting point for any donor relationship or stewardship program is an effective communication plan. This “nuts and bolts” component of your marketing plan can directly impact your fund-raising results. When designing how you intend to communicate with your donors, keep these two critical factors in mind: what do you need to communicate (the “message”) …Read More

The 29th Conference on Gift Annuities was held in New Orleans April 28-30. It was particularly timely in light of ongoing economic developments and how they have come to impact charitable gift annuity programs. Since its inception in 1927, the central message of the American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) has been “Building Responsible Philanthropy.” …Read More