Deborah Kaplan Polivy, Ph.D.

I loved having the opportunity to work with you on this wonderful and exciting project. Your insight, wisdom and experience are a tremendous asset and compliment my work beautifully.

— Maxine Stein, Director of Development, National Yiddish Book Center

Deborah Polivy’s article It’s Time to Review Your End of Year Mailings appeared recently on eJewish Philanthropy.

Here’s an excerpt:

Over the past month I am sure that you, like me, have read many blogs and articles about end of year giving. Most of these suggested ways that you might convey a message so as to ensure a response, and a generous one, on the part of the recipient. Now, at the beginning of 2013, we are already starting to receive recommendations as to how to increase donations for the coming year. I’d like to propose one idea. … [Read more…]

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has signed a contract to publish Deborah Polivy’s new book, Donor Cultivation and the Donor Life Cycle Map: A New Framework for Fundraising. The book will be in print sometime next year. Stay tuned for more details!

A recent article by Deborah, “The Donor Lifecycle Map as a Useful Development Planning Tool,” appeared in e-Jewish Philanthropy on July 12, 2012.

Deborah continues to serve as a coach for the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) and she is shown here at the July Summer Intensive Development Workshop.

A recent article by Deborah, “The Donor Lifecycle Map as a Useful Development Planning Tool,” appeared in e-Jewish Philanthropy on July 12, 2012.

NeighborWorks America assigned Deborah to work with Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services on board development and fund raising.

TheaterWorks in Hartford, Connecticut is her most recent client.

Deborah presented a workshop sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Rockland County on donor cultivation to the volunteers and staff of both Jewish and non-sectarian organizations.

I thought it was the best donor cultivation presentation I’ve ever heard. It was very clear that you had real life examples from the wealth of experience you shared with us.

— Nat Wasserstein, President, Jewish Federation of Rockland County

Thank you for your presentation the other night.  We have had tremendous positive feedback …

— Diane Sloyer, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Rockland County

Deborah Polivy leading a workshop at the Jewish Federation of Rockland

Polivy’s article “Three Thank You Templates and You’re OUT!” was recently published at eJewish Philanthropy. She analyses a specific series of thank you note templates sent to one donor and explores issues and approaches to donor correspondence.

Because I coach so many fund raising professionals, a friend called the other day to ask my opinion of the way in which she was thanked by a nonprofit organization. Within a short time she had received three template letters and wondered if that was “normal”. She described the scenario as follows…[read more]

Here’s an excerpt from an article about planned giving recently published by Deborah Polivy:

Why don’t we use the correct language when speaking about endowment building? Why don’t we say building an endowment to ensure ongoing resources for our Jewish communities and organizations? We often use the terms “planned giving and/or “legacy giving” when what we really mean are contributions that will be placed into an endowment fund, either currently or at death, the distributions from which will be made according to some Board or Finance Committee spending formula…

Read the rest of the article at eJewishPhilanthropy.com.

Deborah Polivy’s article “Annual Gift, Endowment Gift, or Both?” appeared on Page 1 of the December issue of Planned Giving Today.

Planned Giving Today is the premier monthly resource serving the planned giving community and connecting readers to leading professionals in the field since 1990.

December Issue of Planned Giving Today

Deborah has been hired by Ohr Torah Stone Colleges and Graduate Programs in Efrat, Israel to help the organization establish an endowment program in honor of the 70th birthday of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin.

Rabbi Riskin founded the institution in 1983 with the mission to  “work toward the unification of the Jewish world by promoting a Judaism based on tolerance, openness and inclusion”.

cover of the Ohr Torah Stone brochure

Deborah was just appointed as a consultant for NeighborWorks America, “a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts.”  Her first assignment was to provide board training on effectiveness and fund raising for the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, Inc.

Here are some quotes and pictures from the workshop:

“I thought last night was terrific!  You were terrific and the board actually showed some spark.  They seemed very responsive to you and you were so direct and no nonsense.  I’m looking forward to next week’s workshop.”

“Another great session.”
-Julie Trachtenberg, Resource Development Specialist, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, Inc.

Workshop participants at the Neighborhood Housing Service of New Haven