North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 682)
Mark Wilkison and Wes Wicker, both partners and principals at Columns Fundraising Consulting joined host John Ray to chat about nonprofits and nonprofit fundraising. They discussed the needs they see when they engage with a client, some of the common issues nonprofits face, the state of giving in the current economic climate, and much more.
North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
Columns is a strategic business and organizational development firm comprised of seasoned executive level professionals with first-hand experience in non-profit organizations and private sector businesses. Their expertise provides the ability to quickly assess clients’ challenges and opportunities, develop and execute customized solutions, and deliver exceptional results.
With a specialized focus on healthcare, higher-education, health, and human services, independent schools, membership-based and fraternal organizations, community foundations, and associations, they design and activate strategic plans, including capital campaigns, sustainable major giving programs, and feasibility studies across a wide-range of clients.
Columns’ integrated services include c-suite executive level search, interim advancement staffing, non-profit merger facilitation, brand positioning, marketing and communication plans, public-private partnerships, nonprofit fundraising, and grant writing as well as leadership coaching and training for boards, executives, and middle management staff, including front line sales teams, development officers and volunteers.
Unlike other firms where senior executives focus on acquiring clients but are not engaged in providing day-to-day service, Columns clients always have senior executives intimately engaged in plan execution. They’ve walked in your shoes, so they have the knowledge and experience to accelerate and drive completion of your business objectives by providing the leadership and resources required to achieve your goals.
Your mission is to change the lives of those you serve. Their mission is to support you in that important work.
Mark Wilkison, Principal and Partner,
Mark has extensive expertise in major gifts, planned giving, feasibility studies, execution of capital campaigns, strategic planning and visioning for organizations, and executive search.
A graduate of the University of Vermont, Mark has more than 35 years of consulting and fundraising experience, including serving as Vice President – Development for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Chief Development Officer at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Chief Development Officer for the International Life Sciences Institute, and as Executive Vice President of Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation. Mark’s additional Phi Gam work included serving as a Field Secretary for the Fraternity and as Director of Graduate Services.
He has served as President of the Atlanta Peachtree Rotary Club, and has also been involved with Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Georgia Education Advancement Council (GEAC), Georgia Association of Development Professionals (GADP), and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (PPP).
He enjoys spending time with his wife, Shari, and his two grown children, and playing an occasional round of golf.
Wesley K. Wicker, Ed.D., Principal and Partner,
Wes has more than thirty years of experience in higher education and development, and nine years as a non-profit consultant. Wicker began his career in Admissions, and then in Alumni Affairs at Georgia Southwestern State University. He also worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, and as Vice President of Advancement at Kennesaw State University, and concurrently as Executive Director of the KSU Foundation. He also served as Vice President of Major Gifts for United Way of Metro Atlanta and held a similar position with United Way of Central Indiana (Indianapolis).
Wes has a B.A. in History from the University of Alabama, an M.Ed. in History from Georgia Southwestern State University and an Ed.D. from the University of Georgia in Higher Education Administration.
Wicker has served on the boards of the Fulton County Schools Foundation, the Georgia Planned Giving Council, United Community Bank of Marietta, and the Georgia Education Advancement Conference. He served as the Senior Director and later as President of the Theta Chi National Fraternity Foundation. He currently serves as President of the Norwich Housing Corporation. Wicker is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed on an alumnus of Theta Chi. Wes and his wife, Kay, have two adult daughters, and live in Big Canoe, GA.
Questions and Topics in this Interview:
- Tell us a little bit about your company?
- Given the economy, what is the state of philanthropy and nonprofit fundraising in the United States right now?
- How does charitable giving in Georgia compare to charitable giving across the country?
- With government playing a larger role in funding social programs and societal issues, why should people continue to support non-profit organizations?
- What are the common issues facing non-profit organizations today?
- What are the most advantageous ways to make a charitable contribution?
North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
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