by: Melissa Bank Stepno, President & CEO I’ve had the privilege of hearing directly from several philanthropists about how they’re approaching the concept of multi-generational giving. These conversations have been candid, reflective and revealing, not just how families think about legacy, but how they actively shape it through intentional choices, shared values, and evolving strategies. […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Senior Consultant, Debbi Olley It’s a hyperconnected world, we’re told, and you’ve likely used some sort of connecting relationships in your own life. Maybe you’ve played a version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with your friends. Or maybe, when looking for a new job, you’ve engaged in what my late mother (and plenty […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Heather Willis, Senior Consultant The largest wealth transfer in history, combined with the rise of artificial intelligence, is transforming philanthropy. As trillions shift to next-gen inheritors who demand personalization, transparency, and impact, AI is changing how nonprofits understand, engage, and inspire them. The challenge is not if AI will influence next-gen giving, but how […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Melissa Bank Stepno, President & CEO Let’s channel Paul Simon for a moment and talk about shoes. That’s probably not the lead-in that you expect from a blog post that’s supposed to be about philanthropy. But, I promise you it is! In Simon’s song Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, he sings about […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Angie Herrington, Senior Consultant History of Watchdogs “Quis custodes ipsos custodiet?” is a Latin phrase from a Roman satirical poet which translates to “who will guard the guards themselves?” Variations of the phrase from 100 A.D. have influenced later writers questioning influence of the wealthy and the actions of governments and regimes. The phrase […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Senior Consultant, Christine Bariahtaris It’s August 2025 and everybody is stressed. The funding landscape is whackadoodle – grants are disappearing, the donor pool is shrinking, and most of us are under a lot of pressure to deliver. But still, if you see one more profile request from Janet marked “urgent” come in today, your […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Melissa Bank Stepno, President & CEO One year ago, I published a blog post titled Looking Back & New Beginnings. The post was part of a carefully orchestrated communications plan that coincided with my acquisition of The Helen Brown Group from Helen E. Brown the previous week. One year later, there is no communications plan […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Grace Chandonnet, Senior Consultant The Helen Brown Group has been discussing the need for due diligence in prospect intelligence in this space for years, and for better or worse, it is still an important topic – maybe more now than ever. It’s a sobering time for nonprofits for a variety of reasons, and if […]| Helen Brown Group
By: Michele Borucki, Director of Research and Consulting A form 990 is a United States IRS form that provides the public with information about nonprofit organizations. Most nonprofits file 990s, but all private foundations and nonprofits with gross receipts totaling greater than $50,000 are required to file them. The 990 can be used by the […]| Helen Brown Group
This week on the Intelligent Edge, Senior Consultant Heather Hoke shares a new philanthropic investment model: Philanthropic Private Equity.| Helen Brown Group
Unicef USA has been a long-time happy customer of The Helen Brown Group and we’ve used their services for ongoing reactive research and significant prospecting projects for several years. Their researchers are smart, professional, and fast! We are always impressed by the research product we get from HBG and appreciate how they tailor their services to fit our organization’s needs, processes, and even templates. We really feel like our HBG-ers are members of our team.| Helen Brown Group
Every so often, the topic of “Should we or shouldn’t we include real estate as one of the factors we use to determine a prospective donor’s gift capacity”| Helen Brown Group
