SFNet Foundation Fundraising Chair, Bethani Oppenheimer of Greenberg Traurig and the 2021 Corporate Fundraising team have a big challenge to match the results generated during the recently concluded Individual Campaign. Thanks to the hard work of Andrea Petro and others, 2021 individual donations were up 26% over 2020.

“I’m confident the Corporate team will do a great job and increase contributions from member firms and service providers this year,” said Foundation Chairman Charlie Johnson. Bethani’s team kicked off their efforts in mid-July with email messages to all prior-year corporate contributors, many of whom have already responded with a positive indication of support this year.

“The Foundation has a great story to tell,” said Johnson. “Over the course of the past 12 months, the Foundation has not missed a beat, as reflected in the high marks we received in our member survey. We have expanded our Guest Lecture program to new colleges and universities with an eye to benefiting even more students. We launched our Hall of Fame/Past Presidents Mentoring Forum as part of our quarterly Member Forums. Our first On-Demand Education series has been a success and we plan to release the next series this year. We have engaged a new vendor for our quarterly and annual industry surveys in order to provide more robust data and insights. We’ve begun discussions with state legislators to develop a lending program for underserved communities. And we are in the planning stages for an exciting virtual 40 Under 40 Awards celebration in September.”

“The Foundation is dedicated to the continued development and improvement of these programs and for that we need everyone’s help,” added Bethani.  

In addition to Charlie and Bethani, the Corporate Fundraising Team includes: Bill Brewer (Winston & Strawn), Rich Gumbrecht (SFNet), Wade Kennedy (McGuireWoods), Rob Myers (Republic Business Credit), Bobbi Acord Noland (Parker Hudson), Lee Podair (Hahn & Hessen), Howie Rein, and Marshall Stoddard (Morgan Lewis).

As part of the 2021 Corporate Campaign, team members will be making individual calls asking for support again this year to reach and hopefully exceed the overall goal of $350,000. Please do all you can to help the Foundation reach its goal. All contributions will be acknowledged immediately. Individual and Corporate contributors will also receive recognition in The Secured Lender, at various SFNet events, and on the Foundation’s website at https://www.sffound.org