Charitable Consulting: "Helping Donors Do More"

Another growing aspect of the arena of corporate philanthropy is philanthropic consulting. In the St. Louis region, one of the leaders of charitable counseling is the Gateway Center for Giving (GCG). Its vision, "a thriving St. Louis region in which a strong philanthropic community and effective nonprofits collaboratively advance the quality of life." It's work, to "strengthen philanthropy and promote community impact by providing programming, research, technical assistance and professional development opportunities to grantmaking organizations in the St. Louis region." Gateway Center for Giving sponsors include several prominent local grantmakers such as Peabody, the Monsanto Fund, Maritz, Trio Foundation of St. Louis, and Commerce Bank. Grantmakers through the GCG meet regularity to discuss upcoming philanthropic projects, and to review grant proposals. Any member of the community, representative from a non-profit organization, representative from a business etc. can share an idea with the center and ask it to consider a certain charitable cause. The majority percentage of recent grants granted through the Gateway Center for Giving has gone to human services (28%), education (17%), and arts & culture (14%). I just love that an entire organization is built upon the collaboration of the "haves" in order to enhance cross-corporational philanthropic projects to help the "have nots." Teamwork is so important in making a difference on a large scale, and I think it is amazing that regions across the country have institutions like St. Louis' Gateway Center for Giving in order to strengthen "quality of life." The GCG has a really awesome blog as well, and I cannot wait to keep updated on some of the outstanding work the center is doing in the St. Louis area. My favorite quote from the blog so far is "The Gateway Center for Giving has allowed us to raise our philanthropic IQ, and that I believe has made us better funders in the community." Feel free to click on the link below to find out a little bit more about St. Louis' own Gateway Center for Giving, and to learn more about philanthropic consulting on a larger scale!

http://www.centerforgiving.org/AboutUs/OurGivingCommunity.aspx#.UwLXnShCfap