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November 5, 2020 By Helen Brown Leave a Comment

The Wealthy and their Art

Want to know more about high net worth individuals and the art they hold? This week we welcome my colleague Kristina Gropper to the blog to share her insights into some fascinating reports out that cover the wealthy (including Millennials and Gen-Xers) and their collections. Kristina has also researched and shared a great resource list at the end of her article if you need to do further prospect research on art-owning constituents. Once you’re finished, visit the HBG Prospect Research Links pages where they’re all bookmarked for you! ~Helen


Kristina GropperAfter graduating from college, I moved to New York City with two suitcases and a dream to work in the arts. One of my first jobs was as a legal assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Working at the museum was a great steppingstone, and one of the perks was getting lost in the museums labyrinthine basement or finding an alternative route to the administrative offices in another wing. I experienced similar joy and delight while immersing myself in a few recently published reports that cover art and wealth. This post summarizes key takeaways that may help in researching donors and prospects for your organization.

An Art Basel & UBS Report: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector: A 2020 Mid-Year Survey

Arts Economics, a research and consulting firm focused exclusively on the art economy, produced this mid-year study in collaboration with a sociologist from Duke University. This report focuses on how COVID-19 has shaped the gallery sector and has changed interactions with galleries and the art market. The survey also reports the response of 360 collectors in three major art markets: the US, the UK, and Hong Kong SAR (China).

According to this report:

  • Despite the pandemic, 92% of high net worth collectors have purchased art in the first six months of 2020.
  • In 2020, over half (56%) of high net worth collectors spent over $100,000 on art and 16% spent over $1 million.
  • 59% of high net worth collectors experienced in increased interest in collecting.

The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2020

Arts Economics partnered with UBS to conduct this study. They surveyed over 1,300 high net worth individuals. All respondents had household investable assets in excess of $1 million, excluding real estate (see figure 6.14 for further breakdown).

According to this report:

  • Art was perceived as a haven for capital when financial markets were uncertain.
  • Global art sales hovered at $64.1 billion. The three major art hubs (US, UK and China) accounted for 82% of global art sales. The US accounted for 44% ($28.3 billion) of global art sales.
  • There were an estimated 167,349 ultra-high net worth individuals around the world. They are important consumers in the luxury market.
  • Around half (49%) of millennial high net worth collectors in the US were most likely to purchase a work of art $1 million and above. This was followed by Gen-Xers (21%) and Boomers (3%). Millennial collectors averaged a total expenditure of $3 million over the two years (2017-2019).
  • The following chart breaks down the wealth brackets of collectors by geographic area:

Knight Frank Report 2020

The Knight Frank Report utilizes The Attitudes Survey, which is based on responses from 620 private bankers and wealth advisers managing over $3.3 trillion of wealth for ultra-high net worth individuals. The survey was taken during October and November 2019.

According to this report:

  • Collectibles account for 5% of their North American clients’ investment portfolios. The report lists the following percentages allocated to collectibles (including art, wine, and cars) as an asset class:

Barclays Report from 2018

Ledbury Research surveyed 2,000 high net worth individuals ($1.5 million+ in investable assets) and 200 with more than $15 million. Respondents were drawn from 17 countries around the world, across Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. The interviews took place during January and February 2012. Ledbury Research also conducted a series of interviews with academics, professionals, and other experts from around the world.

According to this report:

  • Treasure assets, including fine art, jewelry, and antiques, comprise 9.6% of a wealthy individual’s total net worth.
  • Women’s treasure assets account for 11% of their net worth compared to 9% for men. These figures are based on self-estimated calculation of treasures that individuals own.
  • Precious jewelry is the most popular category for wealthy individuals to own (70% overall and 81% among women). Jewelry is popular due to its intrinsic value. The report explains that in some cultures there is a tradition of holding onto a proportion of wealth in assets like jewelry, which can be easily transported in the event of an emergency.
  • Collectors of classic automobiles who have already started a collection — although relatively few and far between in the survey — have invested an average $641,000 in their hobby.
  • The top motivation for collecting is enjoyment. The emotional motivations for wealthy individuals to own treasure can be grouped into three main categories: enjoyment, social, and heritage.
  • The report charts the percentage of wealth held in specific treasure assets. This may be helpful if the only piece of information you find is the value of a prospect’s wine or stamp collection:

Sources:

McAndrew, Clare, An Art Basel & UBS Report: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector: A 2020 Mid-Year Survey

McAndrew, Clare, The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2020

Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2020

Barclays, Wealth Insights Volume 15, Profit of Pleasure? Exploring the Motivations Behind Treasure Trends 2018

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

In addition to key points from these recent reports, here is a list of resources that cover the art market:

  • Artnet (www.artnet.com) $450/year is a paid subscription database that lists the price of fine art using illustrated auction sales results.
  • ArtMarket Monitor (www.artmarketmonitor.com) includes free articles, a fantasy art collecting game, and a podcast that explores the mysteries of the art market.
  • ArtNews (www.artnews.com/top-200-collectors/) includes a free list of the top 200 collectors in 2015-2020. Entries include net worth, source of wealth, top acquisitions, and collecting interests.
  • Artsy (www.artsy.net) includes free biographical information on artists and auction sale prices for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips. Artsy also has an informative four-part series on the art market (fairs, galleries, patrons, and auctions).
  • Blouin Art Info (http://www.blouinartinfo.com/– note: page currently under maintenance) free limited access and $30/year is a global source of news, information, and expert commentary on art, artists, and the business and pleasure of making, buying, and understanding art.
  • Christie’s (www.christies.com/results) allows one to search results on their website for free and lists estimate and price realized.
  • Larry’s List (www.larryslist.com/about-us.php) $589/year Larry’s List Art Collector Database contains over 3,500 profiles of art collectors from more than 70 countries – based on the most comprehensive research ever done on art collectors. The database provides information on private art collections including artists and artworks collected, collectors’ ranking positions, and their activities on the art market. It is a practical tool for professionals and art enthusiasts presenting a detailed and comprehensive portrait of today’s contemporary art collectors.
  • Sotheby’s (http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/lots-archive.html) has a free sold lot archive. Like the Christie’s and Artsy resources, the buyer is not listed.

Filed Under: Researching Individuals Tagged With: art, HNWI, Kristina Gropper, wealth

February 6, 2020 By Helen Brown Leave a Comment

At your service

This week we welcome HBG Senior Researcher Rick Snyder to the blog. One of the things I really appreciate about Rick is his ability and interest in looking beyond the obvious to see the hidden details of wealth that makes his research…well…richer. In today’s article, Rick shares some of those hidden details with all of us. ~Helen


Something that surprised me when I first started in research – and that I’ve continued to enjoy over the years – is the vast array of topics that I’ve had to educate myself on. Whether it’s estimating compensation for the owner of a civil engineering firm or determining the costs and profits of fast food franchises, I feel like I’m always learning something new. For me – and most likely for all of you – these learning opportunities go a long way toward keeping the job interesting and satisfying.

One learning moment I recall, although I remember few of the precise details, came while reading an article in Vanity Fair in the early 2000s. It was about some of the newer waterfront homes in Greenwich, CT, that owners were building on the sites of older, multi-million-dollar homes that had been razed to make room for something bigger and better. The article was interesting throughout, but it contained one piece of information in particular that gave me an aha moment – namely that in one of the homes mentioned the curtains in one room alone cost $50,000.

I found that figure to be staggering. I also felt somewhat foolish that such a thing had never occurred to me. Rather than missing the forest for the trees, I realized it was the trees that I should have been looking at. Up until that time I would ooh and aah and marvel over the spectacular homes that I’d come across, but I never thought beyond the overall value of the home to consider what it cost to decorate, furnish, maintain, and in some cases, staff the place (or places, since many wealthy people have multiple homes).

It set me off on a binge of researching the cost of numerous luxury items. And while I went down a rabbit hole in pursuit of $20,000 AGA stoves and $41,500 Meneghini La Cambusa refrigerators, one of the things that I never researched was cost of staffing a home. I recently decided to rectify that oversight.

I’ve always been intrigued by domestic staff. The popularity of shows like Downton Abbey tells me that I’m not alone in this. Who hasn’t dreamed of having someone to cook for you, do your laundry, or make your bed? Although having a butler at your beck and call may seem like a thing of the past, there are many wealthy families that employ personal assistants, nannies, drivers, and the like, and it seems that understanding more about it could come in handy in our work.

What I’ve recently learned is that this kind of work, dubbed “wealth work” by MIT economics professor David Autor, is one of the fastest growth sectors in the US economy. The Associated Press estimates that “there were 3.2 million wealth worker jobs in 2017, up from 2.8 million in 2010. They have grown faster than such traditional occupations as sales, education, manufacturing and office administrative work.” Although any employment is great news for some, these jobs don’t tend to come with the security or benefits they once held.

Today’s “servant economy”—as The Atlantic’s Alexis Madrigal has called it—is vastly superior to that of the late 19th century (to say nothing of the slave economy that preceded it). The nannies, house cleaners, and cooks of the past had little to no recourse, not even in name, to the protection of the law if their employers maltreated them. But their work was also less anonymous; the hired help tended to live with their employers, where they would cook, clean, and care for children. These workers were integrated into family life in a way that is unthinkable for the anonymous wealth workers of the modern world.” –The Atlantic

Unfortunately, it’s been very rare in my research to read anything about an individual employing domestic staff. Perhaps it’s a social faux pas to discuss your butler, yet we know they exist. A glance at a floor plan from some of the top buildings in New York reveals that many of them have rooms for staff, so we may presume that the owners employ help, but beyond that we’re left largely empty handed. This is where we need to employ our frontline staff as researchers. We need them to pepper their contact reports with details like what artwork was on the prospect’s walls, what sorts of rare collectibles they own, or the fact that they employ a personal chef and house manager. This is where we come along with a second wave of research to help determine what these wealth indicators are worth.

So, what does it cost to staff your home(s)? It should come as no surprise that the salaries cover a broad range. Not only does it vary by location, but the job duties differ considerably. Some job listings combine the duties of several people in a single position. One recent posting for a housekeeper/nanny in Raleigh, NC, listed the some of the following responsibilities:

  • Managing and providing full-time care of the family’s residence, hands on role, up your sleeves approach
  • Planning prep and oversight of dinner parties and other household events
  • Preparing and cooking meals as needed upon requests
  • Personal shopping, running errands, stock procurement and special requests, etc.
  • Heavy organization throughout the home including pantries, kitchen, closets, etc.
  • Ability to work in tandem with vendors, contractors, other domestic staff, etc.
  • Driving the principals as needed upon request

This position is live-out, requires caring for a 5-year-old, pays $60,000-$80,000 a year, has a 5-day schedule, includes 3-4 weeks of vacation, and entails spending 3-6 weeks in Maine each summer. That’s decent money and it could be quite interesting, but it also sounds like a lot of work.

Staffing agencies will often suggest that you hire more than one household staff member rather than combine so many responsibilities. As one said, “In many instances, a family will hire a housekeeper, but expect them to act as a nanny, personal chef and cleaner rolled into one. This can burn out a single person, and often involves tasks that don’t fall into their skill set anyway. This is why households need to consider hiring multiple domestic staff to handle the various roles they require.” [source: Colonial Domestics]

Hire Society, an agency owned by a former butler/estate manager, covers New York, the Hamptons, and Palm Beach. It provided the figures below to Business Insider. The salaries run considerably higher than those in other regions. Some of their current job openings can be found here.

POSITION                                      SALARY RANGE

  • Chief of staff                                 $200,000-$500,000
  • Estate manager                            $150,000-$300,000
  • Executive house manager            $100,000-$150,000
  • Assistant house manager             $90,000-$120,000
  • Office manager                            $100,000-$175,000
  • Butler                                            $85,000-$125,000
  • Executive assistant                       $90,000-$200,000
  • Junior executive assistant             $65,000-$90,000
  • Personal assistant                         $85,000-$150,000
  • Junior personal assistant              $65,000-$90,000
  • Head chef                                     $110,000-$225,000
  • Sous chef                                      $80,000-$100,000
  • Cook                                              $75,000-$90,000
  • Executive housekeeper                 $75,000-$100,000
  • Housekeeper                                 $65,000-$80,000
  • Ladies maid                                   $75,000-$85,000
  • Laundress                                      $75,000-$95,000
  • Baby nurse                                    $300-$1,000 per day
  • Nanny                                            $65,000-$185,000
  • Family assistant                            $65,000-$90,000
  • Governess                                     $100,000-$250,000
  • Driver                                            $80,000-$100,000
  • Executive protection                     $90,000-$125,000
  • Domestic couple                           $130,000-$300,000
  • Tutor                                             $100,000-$150,000
  • Houseman                                     $75,000-$125,000

For comparison, here are several others:

  • Monicare provides salary guidelines for the Chicago area.
  • Deb’s Domestic Agency primarily covers Texas and New Mexico. Some of their current listings can be found here.
  • Colonial Domestics is based in Beverly Hills.
  • Home Staffing Network International provides numerous resources for staff and employers.

Knight Frank, publishers of several wealth research reports, recently released their biennial Estate Staff Salary Survey for the UK. My favorite position listed is that of ghillie: a person who acts as an attendant on a fishing, fly fishing, hunting, or deer stalking expedition. And when I looked that up, I discovered that in days past there used to be a ghillie-weetfit, a ghillie whose duty it was to carry his master over streams.

While there was no salary information in it, an article in Modern Luxury Palm Beach revealed that a polo playing couple employs a traveling veterinarian when they play in other parts of the world. I include it here as an indicator of the variety of positions some people employ.

This brief overview will help you get started on your own trip down the research rabbit hole. Before I go, I have a few other thoughts to share.

First, while I was doing my research for this post, I really wanted to be able to determine an inflection point at which people decide that they need to hire a personal assistant or a property manager. I wasn’t able to, but it’s something I’ll continue to look at. We’re always on the lookout at HBG for things that signal a particular level of wealth in an attempt to find a more formulaic method for determining assets and capacity.

One of the figures we often use to estimate wealth comes from the CapGemini/Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report, which states that real estate comprises approximately 15 percent of high net worth individuals’ total assets. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to do the same with other wealth indicators like the employment of domestic staff? For example, if Joan Prospect employs a chef and personal assistant, then she must have X amount of wealth. If you’ve got any thoughts along these lines, please share them in the comments. And if I uncover anything more in my research I’ll be sure to update this post.

Second, and perhaps a bit contrarian: what good is any of this information to us? Does knowing that the prospect employs an estate manager mean that he or she will make a gift to your organization? No, of course not. What it tells you is that the person has a certain level of wealth. It also suggests a certain ease with spending money. If they can spend $100,000 a year on their nanny, it might not be a stretch to make a $100,000 gift for the scholarship that your gift officer is presenting to them.

Filed Under: Effective searching, Researching Individuals Tagged With: Capgemini World Wealth Report, domestic help, prospect research, Rick Snyder, salaries, wealth

May 23, 2019 By Helen Brown Leave a Comment

The Unease of the One Percent

We talk about “the 1 percent” a lot in our line of work. Yesterday, the HBG Book Club met to talk about chapter one of Uneasy Street; The Anxieties of Affluence by sociologist Rachel Sherman, and what spurred most of our conversation was the ambivalence high net worth people had toward their wealth.

In the book, Sherman interviewed wealthy Manhattan-ites to learn their attitudes towards their wealth and what they felt it means to be considered wealthy. She recognized a distinct pattern over time, and shares two distinct categories she observed depending on how people spoke about their wealth: upwardly- and downwardly-oriented attitudes.

The “downward-oriented” wealthy share an unease with having so many resources in a time of stark income disparity. Sherman found that this group are more likely to have inherited their wealth or have come from more modest origins. Most are not in a high-pressure earning environment. More liberal politically than the upwardly-oriented, people in this group are be more likely to mix with a more racially and income diverse group of friends. We posited that people with these attitudes might fall into the shirtsleeves-rolled-up volunteer-donor category.

The “upwardly-oriented” wealthy, she wrote, tend toward the attitude of “sure, I’m comfortable, but not like that guy. He’s really wealthy. I’m middle class compared to him.” There aren’t many inheritors in this group; they tend to be earners who make their money in finance, real estate, business, or corporate law. More conservative politically than the downwardly-oriented, their charity involvement may be less hands-on and more focused on opportunities to network with others.

As we were discussing this chapter, I was thinking about what it actually means to be a one-percenter, and if the attitudes of Manhattan one-percenters toward their money are the same as Mercer Island’s, or England’s, or if each locale’s attitude is like Darwin’s finches – unique to that island.

Naturally, I decided to do some research to see what it means to be a one-percenter elsewhere than New York City. Unsurprisingly, it really depends on your geography. Someone working in a senior leadership position in a large nonprofit in New York, Boston, or San Francisco would probably qualify as a one-percenter in Arkansas, where in 2017 the bar was set at annual income of $237,428.

Before seeing the article, I had assumed that NYC would be the top, but Connecticut actually beat out New York by a mile, $659,979 to $517,557. Even New Jersey got New York’s upper hand, at $547,737. What’s also fascinating to see in the article is that the average annual income for members of the one percent in each state is usually much, much higher than the threshold.

What we discussed in our book club was being aware of these geographic differences and, as always, understanding the context of where our prospects are in their life – living in an aspirational neighborhood with two kids in private school, or two-income, childless and nearing retirement. Taking Sherman’s observations into consideration as well – whether prospects are upwardly- or downwardly-oriented – may also provide us with help as we plan how to involve and steward major donors and volunteers.

Are you reading this book as well? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Filed Under: HBG Book Club, Non-profit trends, Researching Individuals Tagged With: affluence, HBG Book Club, one percent, Rachel Sherman, wealth

November 2, 2017 By Helen Brown Leave a Comment

Creating a DIY wealth spreadsheet

“Sculpture at end of SW Coast Path in Minehead” by Nilfanion (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons

My colleague Kenny Tavares frequently gets tasked with creating reference resources for the team to use. He’s the Excel Guru and the Macros Whisperer, and the staff meetings when he demonstrates his latest efficiency tech-bit are always highly anticipated by all of us. This week Kenny shares some of background data he sourced for one of his latest automated worksheets. Enjoy!  ~Helen

Oh Happy Day! You have been asked to assess the wealth of an individual and that person works for and sits on the boards of publicly-traded companies, has several real estate properties listed in their name, and a yacht-load of tangible assets. It couldn’t be easier and you display the calm of someone who has chosen an easy profession…and then you wake up. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Campaign Success, Researching Individuals Tagged With: HNWI, Kenny Tavares, prospect research, spreadsheets, wealth

June 1, 2017 By Helen Brown 4 Comments

Unstructured and very valuable

This week we welcome my colleague, Tara McMullen, to the blog-stage to talk about a type of data that’s particularly tough to wrangle, but totally worth the effort. Here’s Tara on the rewards to be found in digging through unstructured data (and some great places to find it).

Image by Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46457765

In my work, I find myself constantly perusing social pages, local and regional news publications, and text-heavy lists and articles about wealthy and powerful people to try to pull out valuable “soft” information from these sources of unstructured data.

The information found in these sources is often invaluable in providing insight into a prospect’s relationships and connections, non-profit and civic affiliations, family members, neighbors, community groups, hobbies and activities (like golf or boating), and – of particular interest to those of us in the prospect development field – potential philanthropic interests. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Effective searching, Prospect identification, Researching Individuals Tagged With: NY social diary, philanthropy, Tara McMullen, unstructured data, wealth

June 27, 2011 By Helen Brown Leave a Comment

Summer reading: wealth and philanthropy

With the publication of the always-worth-reading “World Wealth Report” last week, it reminded me that I wanted to mention to you a few white papers about high net worth individuals (HNWIs) that are well worth your time.  They are:

The World Wealth Report 2011.  CapGemini / Merrill Lynch.

  • FREE with registration.
  • Brief overview with additional links here; actual report in English here.
  • The WWR details high net worth individuals worldwide: where they live, what they spend their money on, how they allocate their assets, etc. and they break the information down by country or region to achieve even more granularity.  A tidbit I found interesting in this report: women made up 27% of the global HNW population in 2010, up from 24% in 2008.  From under a quarter to nearly a third in two years – what does that make you think about your prospect portfolios?

The Wealth Report: A Global Perspective on Prime Property and Wealth 2011. Knight Frank / Citi Private Bank.

  • Pdf version is FREE, click here.  Hard copy also available with registration.
  • For researchers and front-line fundraisers specializing in international work, this is a must-read overview of already-hot and emerging high-growth regions, industries, and people with a focus on global wealth and real estate.  Contains interviews with experts such as Rupert Hoogewerf of the Hurun Rich List and discussions of topics including venture philanthropy.


Bank of America Merrill Lynch High Net Worth Philanthropy Study 2010.  In collaboration with Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.  Biennial.

 

  • Pdf version is FREE, click here.
  • The study is a survey of HNWIs to discover their attitudes toward giving and philanthropic behavior, how they make philanthropic decisions within their household, and their thoughts on volunteering and engagement.  In addition to the study, there is also a video at the site featuring a panel discussion with two members of the Bank of America team and the director of research from the IU Center on Philanthropy.

Not specifically about HNWIs, but certainly related is:

Giving USA 2011. The Giving USA Foundation / Indiana University Center on Philanthropy

  • Hard copy; web-based version; powerpoint slides and pdfs; $75
  • Subscribers can (at the moment) access Volume One: the Numbers.  Full publication to be released in July.
  • Giving USA provides preliminary statistics on giving within the United States.  The resource comes as a hard-copy book or web-based version, and includes tons of charts, graphs, and statistics as well as information on historical giving and trends.

Lastly, and maybe most fun:

For an engaging, entertaining, and enlightening article that gives you a glimpse into what it’s really like to be ultra wealthy, read this some Friday afternoon at 3 when you still need to work but just can’t make your brain do anything.  From The Atlantic magazine, the article is called “The Rise of the New Global Elite.”

Do you have any other must-read white papers to share?

Filed Under: Effective searching Tagged With: Giving USA, high net worth individuals, HNWI, Rise of the New Global Elite, wealth, wealth report, World Wealth Report

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David’s career in prospect research began in 2009, as a graduate research assistant at the Shippensburg University Foundation. In 2011, He became a development researcher for the University of Virginia. In 2015, David became assistant director of prospect research at the University of Baltimore, serving for 3 years. Recently, he was the director of development for Trees Forever. David Joined the Helen Brown Group as a research assistant in January 2020. He earned a B.A. in Theater at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a M.A. in Applied History at Shippensburg University. David is a member of APRA and APRA Great Plains.

Kenny has worked in development since 1999 and has been involved in prospect research since 2002.

Prior to joining The Helen Brown Group, he was the director of donor and prospect research at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Kenny is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Tara first began her career in development in 2002 supporting the Major Gifts department at Simmons College, and ultimately went on to serve as Assistant Director of Prospect Research. Since that time, she has also worked as a Senior Research Analyst at MIT, as Associate Director of Prospect Management and Research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and as Director of Development Research at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP).

Tara originally joined the Helen Brown Group team in 2007 and served as a Research Associate and ShareTraining coordinator until 2008 – she rejoined the company as a Senior Researcher in 2013 and was promoted to her current role in 2018.

She has been an active volunteer with NEDRA for many years and served on the board of directors from 2010-2016. During her time on the NEDRA board, she served in many different roles, including terms as Vice President, Secretary, Chair of the Website and Technology Committee, Chair of the Volunteer Committee, and as Chair and Editor of NEDRA News. She is currently a member of the NEDRA Bootcamp faculty. In addition, Tara has also been involved as a volunteer with Apra, serving stints on the Membership Committee, Chapters Committee, and Bylaws Task Force.

Angie began her career in development in 1999 at Virginia Tech in Corporate and Foundation Relations and later in prospect research at the University of Connecticut Foundation.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin, her experience includes grants management at the University of South Carolina, program evaluation for South Carolina Research Authority and human resources analysis for Nissan North America.

She returned to development in 2007 and worked in various prospect research positions at Vanderbilt University, including Associate Director. She was named Director for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s research office in 2015, and joined The Helen Brown Group in 2016.

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Josh began his career in development as the Phonathon Coordinator at Keene State College. He then worked at non-profit consulting firm Schultz & Williams in Philadelphia.

He started his research career at the University of Pennsylvania as a Research Assistant in 2005. He then moved over to the Wharton School of Business, where he became the Associate Director, Research and Prospect Management. Josh joined the Helen Brown Group in 2016.

Josh is also a Colorado licensed Realtor and graduate of Lehigh University.

In March 2017, Kristina joined the Helen Brown Group as a Research Associate. Before joining HBG, she was the Research Manager at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and an Associate Manager of Prospect Research at City Harvest, a food rescue organization. Kristina started her non-profit career as a legal assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004.  She is a member of Apra and Apra Greater New York. She was Apra Greater New York’s Director of Programming from June 2014 to May 2016. Kristina graduated from The University of Chicago and the Bard Graduate Center.

Grace began her career in development in 2001 as Executive Assistant to the Chief Development Officer with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), a Harvard Medical School-affiliated academic medical center.

In 2003, she became a prospect researcher for the BWH principal and major gifts team and spent the next 11 years in various research positions with BWH, culminating as Assistant Director of Prospect Research. She has been affiliated with The Helen Brown Group since January 2014.

Heather began her career in 2002 as a prospect research coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and then moved to Carroll College in 2004.

In 2005, Heather began working on her own as a freelancer and eventually started her own consulting firm, Willis Research Services, in 2007. She joined The Helen Brown Group in 2012.

Heather is a member of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement and the Montana Nonprofit Association.

Jennifer began her career in development at her alma mater, Wheaton College, where she was an administrative assistant for the major gifts department.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in March 2008. She earned a master’s degree in library science from the Southern Connecticut State University in May 2009. Jennifer is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Rick has been a member of the Helen Brown Group team since 2005. Prior to joining HBG, Rick was director of research at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Rick has worked in development since 1996, both in prospect research and major gifts fund raising. His experience includes the University of Vermont, Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul’s School.

Rick is past president of NEDRA and is a member of and frequent volunteer for APRA.

Josh began his career in development as the Phonathon Coordinator at Keene State College. He then worked at non-profit consulting firm Schultz & Williams in Philadelphia.

He started his research career at the University of Pennsylvania as a Research Assistant in 2005. He then moved over to the Wharton School of Business, where he became the Associate Director, Research and Prospect Management. Josh joined the Helen Brown Group in 2016.

Josh is also a Colorado licensed Realtor and graduate of Lehigh University.

Mandi has worked in prospect research and management since 2006. She began her development career as a research analyst in development research at City of Hope, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in Los Angeles. From there, she became the manager of prospect development at Huntington Memorial Hospital, a community hospital in Pasadena, CA. Most recently, she was the associate director of prospect research and management at Occidental College, a private liberal arts college in LA.

Mandi has a BA degree in print journalism from Southern Methodist University and a master’s degree of library and information science from UCLA.

She joined the Helen Brown Group in May 2019.

Kelly began her career in development in 2008 as an administrative assistant in Major Gifts at Wheaton College.

In 2010, she became a research analyst at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the Division of Development & Jimmy Fund as part of the prospect identification team. Kelly joined The Helen Brown Group in 2013.

She is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Jayme began her career in development in 2008 at the Rutgers University Foundation, where she spent the next seven years, first in prospect management and then prospect research. She spent several years at Monmouth University as their senior prospect research analyst, working with the fundraising staff, university president, and top leadership. She has worked as both a volunteer and consultant for non-profits in the areas of research and writing.

She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Drew University and a master of communication and information sciences from Rutgers University. She is a member of APRA.

Jayme joined The Helen Brown Group in April 2019.

Julie has managed finances for The Helen Brown Group since its founding.

In her spare time, she is an editor for the PBS series Masterpiece at WGBH. Julie was nominated twice for an Emmy award for her work on the PBS show Zoom.

Heather began her career in development in 2001 as a prospect researcher for National Wildlife Federation (NWF). She was with NWF for more than thirteen years, including nearly five years as director of research and analytics. Heather is a former secretary of the board of directors of APRA-Metro DC.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in October 2014.

David began his career in development at The Gunnery school in northwest Connecticut in 2011, where he worked in database management and prospect research. Subsequently, he joined the College of Saint Rose as a development research analyst before leading Albany Medical Center Foundation’s prospect research efforts as Associate Director of Prospect Research. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Siena College and is a member of APRA and CASE.

Michele began her career in development in 2012 when she joined the UC Berkeley corporate and foundation relations team as a development analyst. She spent a year and a half at Cal before returning to UC Davis as a prospect analyst. She was with the prospect management and relations team at UC Davis for almost three years prior to joining the research and relationship management team at George Washington University as a Senior Prospect Analyst in 2016.

Michele received her BA in creative writing from Florida State University and her MA in higher education leadership from CSU Sacramento. She currently resides in Northern Virginia, is a member of Apra International, and serves as the social media chair for Apra Metro DC. Michele joined The Helen Brown Group in July 2018.

Angie has worked in development since 2002, partnering with a wide range of nonprofit institutions. She began her professional career at Vanderbilt University in research and prospect development.

She has also worked with a number of community nonprofits in front-line fundraising, grant-writing, and event management. Angie holds an MPA in Nonprofit Management from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a BS in Journalism from Middle Tennessee State University. She resides in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a member of AFP Nashville and APRA MidSouth, where she has been active on the executive team.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in October 2015.

Maureen has been a part of the non-profit world since 1991. She started out in annual giving at Harvard Law School and continued her career as director of annual/special gifts at UC Santa Cruz.

In 1999 she made the switch from front-line fundraising to serve as director of prospect research/management at Bentley University and in 2001 began her role as administrator for the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester. She became part of the HBG team in September of 2011.

Helen has been a development professional since 1987. Her previous experience includes The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Albert Einstein Institution, Boston College, the Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University.

Currently she works with a variety of clients to establish, benchmark and re-align research departments; identify major gift prospects; and train researchers and other fundraisers through on-site and web-based training services.Helen is a former member of the board of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) and is past president of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA). In 2006 she received the NEDRA Ann Castle Award for service to the prospect research community.

Helen is Special Advisor on Fundraising to the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester and is a member of the board of directors of Factary Ltd. (Bristol, UK). She is a member of NEDRA, APRA, the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP), Women In Development, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Researchers in Fundraising (UK).

Helen is a frequent speaker and has led seminars for a number of professional associations, including Action Planning, AFP, APRA, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), NEDRA, RIF, the Planned Giving Council of Central Massachusetts, the Georgia Center on Nonprofits, the International Fundraising Congress and Resource Alliance.

Helen is also co-author (with Jen Filla) of the book, Prospect Research for Fundraisers (Wiley & Sons, 2013).