Kay Sprinkel Grace, CFRE, is a San Francisco-based organizational consultant, providing workshops and consultation to local, regional, national and international organizations in strategic development planning, case and board development, staff development, and other issues related to leadership of the fund raising process. Recent clients (2006 – 2008) include: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Internews; KQED; Kronos Quartet; Family Violence Prevention Fund; Sutter Health Foundations; St. Joseph Health System Foundations; California Council of Land Trusts; St. Dominic’s Church, San Francisco; Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula; Loma Linda University and Medical Center. From March 2004 to June 2007 she was principal external consultant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Major Giving Initiative. 110 public television licensees participated in the program which included the development and delivery of webinars, on-site consulting, and facilitation of national meetings.
Her B.A. (Communications-Journalism) and M.A. (Education) are from Stanford University, where she served as the first woman Volunteer Chair of the Stanford Fund. She has received Stanford’s highest award for volunteer service, the Gold Spike, as well as their Associates’ Award, Outstanding Achievement Award, Award of Merit and Centennial Medal.
She speaks frequently at regional, national and international conferences including CASE, AFP, AHP and DMA. In recent years she has been a featured presenter at the Fundraising Institute Australia, the Swedish Fundraising Council and the International Fund Raising Conference in The Netherlands. In 2007 she organized and co-presented the first seminar on philanthropy for NGOs working to create civil society in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, and in 2008 she participated in the first Fundraising Festival in Prague. In 2008 she presented National Philanthropy Day programs for chapters in Ohio, Texas and California, and delivered programs at AHP/Chicago and other professional conferences including Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS), California Council of Land Trusts, Big 12 Development Conference, IFC in The Netherlands and a conference for NGOs in Moscow. She was honored as "Outstanding Fund Raising Executive" by the Golden Gate Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (now AFP) in 1992.
She is the author of five books. Beyond Fund Raising: New Strategies for Nonprofit Innovation and Investment (John P. Wiley, 1997; second edition, 2005); High Impact Philanthropy: How Donors, Boards, and Nonprofit Organizations Can Transform Communities, co-author, with Alan Wendroff (John P. Wiley, 2001); Over Goal! What You Must Know to Excel at Fundraising Today (Emerson & Church, 2003 and 2006); The Ultimate Board Member’s Book (Emerson & Church, 2003 and 2008); Fundraising Mistakes That Bedevil All Boards (Emerson & Church, 2004); and co-author of the booklet, The Nonprofit Board’s Role in Mission, Planning and Evaluation (Board Source, 2008). She is a regular columnist for the bi-monthly publication, Contributions and has contributed chapters to several books including both editions of Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising by Henry A. Rosso and Associates (1987 and 2003), Taking Fund Raising Seriously, and Taking Trusteeship Seriously. A sixth book, The AAA Way to Fundraising Success will be published in 2009 by Whit Press of Seattle.
She serves on the Advisory Board of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University, and on the national board of the Alliance of Artists Communities. She previously served on the boards of the Djerassi Resident Artist Program (Woodside, CA), the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, and the Advisory Board for the University of San Francisco Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management. She lives in San Francisco and is passionate about philanthropy, writing, travel and her photography.