“There are few individuals writing and working in the philanthropic sector today who approach complex, controversial issues with more thoughtfulness, moral clarity, and ardor — qualities that are rarely found sympathetically aligned — than Al Cantor. In particular, his work raising alarms about the rise of donor-advised funds has been a vitally important civic service.”

“Al’s well-honed development experience and innate interpersonal intelligence are unparalleled. He provided an insightful assessment of where we had been and where we should go at a time when we needed to engineer a culture shift in development practices. His insights generated quick and complete engagement from our board and volunteer leadership for our new initiatives.”

“Faced with a challenging fundraising goal well beyond my previous experience, I feel so lucky that we got connected with Al Cantor. He was able to understand our project and donors, and before I knew it, we had a strategy and plan to execute it. Al’s patience and humor made the whole project not only successful, but manageable and even fun. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking to improve their fundraising experience.”

“Al’s guidance helped turn our organization around. Thanks to his recommendations, we have seen improvements on our board, staff, systems, and tools. We then hired Al two years after his initial report to give us a sense of our status since we first worked with him, and his perspective re-propelled us into a new level where the word ‘growth’ is no longer a dream, but a reality.”

“Al invested the time to get to know the people behind our mission and guided us in creating a strategic framework that uniquely fit our organization. He was wonderful to work with and brought out the best in our staff and board. He helped us identify our key strengths and a shared vision for our future so we can evolve our programs while staying true to our values.”

“Al Cantor is one of the most insightful commentators on philanthropy today. I never fail to learn something new and interesting when I read his columns.”

“Al facilitated a critically important two-day board retreat, where we wrestled with two very big issues. His work, both in preparing for the retreat and in conducting it, was outstanding. My board members were delighted. All are experienced, having served on many boards, and all shared their happiness with the planning retreat and its outcomes. One expressed that this was the single best meeting he had attended in all his years of board service.”

“Al has become my go-to guy for sage advice delivered with kindness and humor. Last year, we bolstered ‘all things’ planned giving, and we couldn’t have done it without him! Recently, a donor approached a board member by surprise about establishing a large estate bequest. With our newly completed planned giving guidelines in hand, the board member felt comfortable and confident during this meeting. Al guided us through the process, and we ended up right where we needed to be.”

“My copy of Al’s report is well worn from use and reuse. His work continues to inform our development activities and our strategic planning process. Al did a great job of helping us take a hard look at how we could improve, and it never seemed painful or threatening. He brings so much curiosity, wisdom, and fun to the process that it feels like a privilege to be involved.”

“Al Cantor worked wonders at our board retreat. We had a challenging structural governance issue to address and we were able to resolve it effectively. Best of all, the board members felt comfortable with Al’s leadership. His sense of humor, enthusiasm and ability to keep the conversation on track made the experience of working through the problem a pleasure.”

“Minnesota’s nonprofits are eager to address critical issues facing their organizations, and seek out learning opportunities that address both the how and why of their work. Al Cantor’s keynote address to our Nonprofit Finance and Sustainability Conference hit this objective perfectly: new information, hard numbers, ethical challenges, inspiring examples and a persuasive call to action. On the ‘new information’ scale Al was a ‘10,’ presenting an exceptional and singular perspective that is too rare in the fields of nonprofits and philanthropy, which actually goes back to the roots of why we do this work in the first place.”

“As a young organization, we needed a consultant who could help us develop our fundraising infrastructure.  Al walked us through everything from donor forms to Board education, ensuring that we developed a system that worked for our size organization.  We have just embarked on our first ever campaign and would never have gotten to this point without Al’s support and guidance.”

“Al led our Board of Trustees and staff in a strategic planning session that couldn’t have gone better. Because he is so personable, we all felt comfortable in our discussions. Not only did we come together as a group under Al’s leadership, we have a very workable plan going forward.”

“Al Cantor speaks fearlessly about key issues in the nonprofit sector. His work is always meticulously researched and provocative. His voice is critical to advancing the conversation about the future of nonprofits.”

“With remarkable insight, Al Cantor has helped our organization level up. Al understands scale, and was able to survey our key stakeholders, assess our operations, and recommend organizational improvements that have worked like a charm.”