What People Are Saying
I want to convey to you the appreciation of the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, and Nancy and her staff for the many contributions you have made to the foundation. You started with a blank fundraising canvas, and from it you painted a comprehensive program that has served the organization extremely well. The National Foundation for Judicial Excellence (NFJE) is better because of your efforts. —John R. Kouris, Executive Director National Foundation for Judicial Excellence, Chicago, Illinois
David’s work with our team was tremendously valuable because it was closely tailored to the unique structure and challenges that characterize our organizations. His thoughtful recommendations regarding our needs allowed us to establish clear goals and objectives for improvement. The Board retreat that he facilitated allowed us to identify priorities and ensured that the Board and development staff had a shared perspective on institutional advancement challenges and opportunities. His expertise, willingness to listen and learn about us, and personalized attention before and after his visits made the whole process extremely enjoyable and productive.
— Steve Albert, Executive Director
Mittleman Jewish Community Center and Portland Jewish Academy, Portland, Oregon
With his depth of experience in campaign management and strategy, David effectively guided our board and staff through the planning and implementation of a campaign that exceeded all of our goals. He gave me and my staff the tools and confidence we needed to be successful. His active involvement kept us focused and helped maintain momentum throughout the quiet and public phases of our campaign. I do not believe that we would have reached and exceeded our goals without his counsel.
— Michael Feinstein, President and Chief Executive Officer
Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, Rockville, Maryland
I have been thinking about how helpful you have been to our J’s Campaign. We wouldn’t be over $6M if it weren’t for your steady hand and well-informed guidance. You have been a pleasure to work with and you accommodated our personalities, community and culture without making your consultancy with us a national boiler-plate approach. From my own work, I know that isn’t easy and I appreciate how you adapted to us. I’m sure we’ll share our continued success and challenges in the future. I just wanted to take a moment to reach out to personally thank you. From my perspective, you have been great to work with.
— Scott Brown, President, Board of Directors
Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia
David was retained to assist and guide us, The Jewish Community Center of Louisville (JCC), in the campaign planning and implementation of the largest capital campaign in our history. With David’s unrelenting energy and enthusiasm, we have surpassed $43m for our plans to build a new JCC building on our current campus. An historic groundbreaking began in October 2020. With David’s continued vision and strategic mindset, we will continue to implement a new way of conducting philanthropy.
It has been a distinct honor and pleasure to work with David. While he certainly has the technical skills needed for a consultant advising a major capital project, David has the personality, warmth, and charisma needed to appeal to different donor markets and personalities. He has been a loyal colleague and confidant to me and our staff.
Unlike other consultants I have worked with, in my over thirty years in the field of philanthropy, David has many personal attributes that make him special and successful as a professional. Here are just a few that have stood out to me:
Quick on his feet
Knows how to maximize volunteer and cabinet leadership
Terrific at inquiry and not afraid to facilitate candid intentional conversations
Supportive and always available to staff and volunteer leaders in working through complicated donor situations
Very knowledgeable, yet earnest in his approach
I fully recommend David highly with no reservations.
— Stacy Gordon-Funk, SVP & Chief Development Officer, JCC & Jewish Federation, Louisville, KY
David Valinsky has been instrumental in the success of our capital campaign. From the campaign’s inception, we’ve relied on David and his team to guide us through all aspects of the project, including our feasibility study, donor relations, developing our case for support, training of our volunteer campaign cabinet, and building excitement about our project to the entire Asheville community. David spent a lot of time learning about the unique aspects of our community and has helped us to reach our dream.
— Lael Gray, Executive Director
Asheville Jewish Community Center, Asheville, North Carolina
I have used David Valinsky and Associates for a variety of our fundraising needs including Capital Campaign Solicitation Training, Grant Writing, Board Fundraising Training, Leadership development and how it relates to fundraising and training staff in terms of solicitations, annual appeals, etc. David and his team are exceptional to work with, terrific teachers and trainers and have the ability to relate to every type of personality. We have had exceptional success due to their expertise. If I need outside help with any type of fundraising, David is the first person I call.
— Jay J Jacobs, CEO
Weinstein JCC, Richmond, Virginia
If we were to thank David and his team publicly it would take quite a while as we would be saying "Thank you" over 15,000,000 times! Once for each $ they helped us raise. David's ability to motivate our leadership, train them and instill a sense of confidence in their ability to solicit gifts was remarkable. It was only exceeded by how quickly he grasped the nature of the culture of our JCC and community, and what was needed to assure a winning campaign.
— Barrie Weiser, Retired Executive Director
Memphis Jewish Community Center, Memphis, Tennessee
On behalf of the JCC in Northern Virginia, and particularly our Campaign Co-Chairs and Development Staff, I would like to thank and commend David Valinsky and his team for the extraordinary leadership and support they have provided to our J and our Campaign. While our Campaign may seem modest by today’s standards, it was quite ambitious from our perspective. From the moment we began working together, David tailored his advice and expertise to match our community, our organization, and our Campaign. From lay leadership structure and training, to guiding and supporting our staff, to the development of our case, messaging and collateral materials, they were with us every step of the way and guided us towards success. They were also extremely conscious of managing Campaign costs, contributing to what I know will ultimately be a very successful and efficient Campaign. David Valinsky and his team have earned my highest possible recommendation.
— Jeff Dannick, Executive Director
JCC of Northern Virginia
David Valinsky was our consultant during the Campaign to Ensure Our Future of Temple B’rith Kodesh, Rochester, New York. The campaign began in 2015 with a feasibility study followed by “quiet phase” personal solicitations until 2018. A two-year phase in the campaign then ensued while the Temple launched a new membership dues initiative. In 2020, the campaign was restarted and in one year successfully concluded, exceeding its $3 million goal by nearly $110,000.
My role in the campaign was as a member of the leadership cabinet during the first phase, and as campaign chair during the re-start phase. David was an invaluable consultant to the team throughout the entire period. As campaign chair, I found him responsive, thorough, efficient, and pleasant during our frequent phone and email contacts.
I would emphasize the following aspects of his consultancy to the Temple B’rith Kodesh campaign:
His expertise in the field of development was instrumental for guiding us through all the campaign stages from beginning to end.
His advice on developing the campaign case was invaluable; his seminars for the leadership team on identifying and soliciting potential donors were masterful.
His advice, after the personal solicitation phase, to engage the entire membership in the campaign through personalized letters yielded many more donations than anticipated.
His perspectives on the various “fits and starts” of the campaign kept us on course and gave us confidence that we could meet our goal.
I recommend David Valinsky highly and with no reservations.
— Sarah F. Liebschutz, PhD, Campaign Chair, Temple B’rith Kodesh, Rochester, New York
I wanted to thank you more formally for taking the time to present to our medium size group at ELS on capital campaigns. As you could tell from the questions and discussion, your presentation really struck a chord - everyone could relate, as so many of our group are involved or about to be involved in capital campaigns. Your facilitation of the panel of execs was just top notch. I so appreciate your willingness to take the time to do this - it adds so much value when we can learn from each other. —Dori Denelle, Vice President, Certified Governance Consultant, Governance, Emerging Leadership, and Community Consultation
JCC Association
We formed a foundation at our Medical Center four years ago and had tremendous success getting it off the ground, in large part due to the advice and counsel of our consultant. I enthusiastically encourage you to contact David Valinsky Associates…I feel sure you will not be disappointed.
— Roger D. Russell, Former VP Development, St. Claire Regional Medical Center, Morehead, Kentucky
I came to personally appreciate the DVA staff and their willing attitude. They never gave any impression of ‘business as usual’…but instead ‘rolled up their sleeves’ and worked ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with our local Campaign Committee and myself. David Valinsky Associates provided us a tailored program and expended much personal service and assistance. We would call on them again.
— Thomas R. Gooch, Executive VP, Holzer Foundation & Holzer Consolidated Health Systems, Gallipolis, Ohio
David Valinsky Associates has been invaluable to our campaign and our community. From Feasibility Study through Campaign Planning and Solicitation, DVA has provided excellent counsel, hands-on training and critical support every step of the way. Don’t try to do it on your own…get the help of a proven expert. Every dollar we spent was returned exponentially.
— Michael Waldman, Executive Director, St. Paul JCC