Directory

Charles Wilmoth spent twenty years as a cultural working serving as both a program director and executive director for arts non-profits, as well as writing about the arts for the Advocate, The Drama Review, Artweek and the American Book Review. More recently he joined the Hispanic Scholarship Fund as lead Development Officer for Foundation Relations working on multi-year initiatives funded by the Lilly Endowment and Lumina Foundation. Since 2007 he has served as the Associate Director of Development at the California Institute of Integral Studies with primary responsibility for foundation and government fundraising where he has secured funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, The California Wellness Foundation, and the California Department of Mental Health, among others.

Do Ask, Do Tell, and Listen: Perspectives on Major Gifts Fundraising for LGBTQ Organizations and Initiatives

As educators and administrators, we often find ourselves in a fundraising capacity as we seek to advance our LGBTQ initiatives on campus through resource development. Foundation support and individual giving represent two strategic channels for bringing resources to an educational or LGBTQ advocacy related project. After an introductory overview on major gifts fundraising, there will be brief presentations by diverse members of a 3 - 5 person panel representing foundation staff, fundraising professionals, and individual donor/philanthropists. Following a moderated Q & A dialogue with the panelists, the afternoon will conclude with two discussions groups, one focusing on foundation fundraising and one on individual major gifts fundraising. This workshop will be valuable for seasoned colleagues who need updated development training, as well as educational professionals who are new to the philanthropic landscape.

Panelists include:

Roger Doughty, Executive Director, Horizons Foundation
Roger Doughty is Executive Director of Horizons Foundation, a philanthropic social justice organization, serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community throughout the Bay Area and beyond for the last 30 years through a diverse range of programs, services, and initiatives. Prior to joining Horizons Foundation in 2002, Roger was most recently the Executive Director of Horizons Community Services in Chicago, the Midwest's largest LGBT social service and advocacy organization. During his tenure, Roger led that organization's expansion into the future Chicago LGBT Community Center. Before that he served as Director of Program Administration for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, where he oversaw the Center's 40-plus programs and services. Roger's San Francisco background includes his tenure in the law firm of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, where he specialized in refugee, immigration and asylum cases involving gender-related persecution and sexual orientation. Roger also has served as president of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance in Washington D.C. and Associate Director of the Coro Foundation. Roger serves on the boards of Northern California Grantmakers and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Roger has a BA from Williams College, a Masters of Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley, and a JD from U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.

Chuck Forester, Philanthropist
A long-time philanthropic supporter of the LGBT community, Chuck Forester is Wisconsin raised, Ivy educated and has lived in San Francisco since 1971. He is the author of Do You Live Around Here?, a memoir. His poetry has appeared in ZYZZYVA, and he is currently working on a novel. He is a father, grandfather and a spiritual humanist who wears T-shirts and jeans. His webpage is www.etrouble.net.

Ruth E. Herring, Fundraising Consultant
Ruth has 27 years of non-profit experience as a Grants Officer, Development Director, Deputy Director and Board President in organizations including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Lambda Legal, New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and NARAL Pro-Choice California. As Development Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights she helped expand the budget from $500,000 to $3.3-million by building volunteer and staff leadership in event and major gifts fundraising. In her non-profit consulting, she specializes in building the capacity of organizations to raise funds from individual donors. Coaching Executive Directors, development staff and Board members is central to her work. Clients in the LGBT community include the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, Openhouse, Spectrum LGBT Center and the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University.

Nathaniel "Toby" Thompkins, Vice President, Tides 21st Century, Tides Foundation
Nathaniel "Toby" Thompkins brings to Tides over 20 years' of experience working across nonprofit, for profit, and international development sectors as an executive coach, organizational development consultant, journalist and best-selling author. Prior to joining Twenty-First Century Foundation powered by Tides, Toby served as founding principal of a global professional services firm that offered executive search, leadership coaching, organizational development, strategy, branding and communications services to socially conscious for-profits, nonprofits, foundations, governments and leaders. Toby is an innovative, collaborative and results-oriented leader who possesses an extensive background in leading large-scale organizational change initiatives that refocus and revitalize the people, culture, policies and systems of an organization or community against a compelling shared vision. Toby has a B.A. in psychology and political science from the University of Delaware, and a Masters in Public Administration from University of Hartford.