Mission & History

In January 2008, eight philanthropy leaders in Charlotte got together to develop a program to help educate nonprofit leaders about how to cultivate individuals for major gifts. Their work resulted in the Institute for Philanthropic Leadership and its inaugural program, the Leadership Gift School, in 2010.

We offer a model for developing major gifts by providing hands-on, practical instruction to help nonprofit leaders learn how to cultivate individual donors and understand their motivations and their desire to make gifts that are meaningful.

We also work to engage nonprofit board members in fundraising in a meaningful way, and to give nonprofit executives the tools and knowledge to create a culture of philanthropy in their organizations.