Terry Axelrod

TERRY AXELROD, founder and CEO of Benevon, has more than forty years of experience in the nonprofit field, including founding three nonprofit organizations in healthcare and affordable housing. She realized early in her career that the only path to sustainable funding was to systematically connect donors to the mission of the organization, then involve and cultivate them until they were clearly ready to give—in short, to treat donors the way you would treat a close friend or family member, someone with whom you planned to have a lifelong relationship.

Terry created the Benevon Model in 1996 after serving as development consultant to a private inner city school from 1992-1995. There she designed and implemented the fundraising and marketing programs that yielded $7.2 million in two and a half years as well as national recognition of the program including a cover story in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Author of eight books and several DVDs, Terry is a sought-after speaker, both nationally and internationally. Her passion and commitment to the possibility of sustainable funding for all nonprofits drive the mission of Benevon and each of its programs. "The donors are truly out there—wanting to contribute; it's up to the organizations to connect them powerfully to their work and nurture that connection over time. Our programs give them the tools to do that successfully."

Terry currently serves as a Life Trustee of Swedish Medical Center and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She received her MSW and BA in psychology at the University of Michigan.