MICHELE HOFFMAN CAREY

Senior Counselor

Michele brings a holistic understanding of donor relations and development office management to Smith Beers Yunker clients. Her experience working for one of the largest community foundations in the U.S. gives her a unique perspective on how best to work with affluent donors and volunteers, as well as how to garner financial support from foundations. Committed to philanthropy, Michele provides a heartfelt and sensible approach to Helping Others Make A Difference®.

With a background in development office operations, first for the Cincinnati Association for the Blind, and then for the Chicago Community Trust, Michele offers client organizations expertise in managing donor information and creating streamlined systems for daily development office activity.

Responsible for managing the Trust’s donor research and records, Michele worked as part of a team helping major donors create new funds, as well as increase giving to existing funds. Working personally with donors from a wide range of giving levels, Michele coordinated annual appeals and friend-raising events, while playing a key role in building the department’s burgeoning infrastructure.

Crucial to the department’s major gift efforts, Michele established systems for tracking and reporting donor activity utilizing “moves management” methods. She also streamlined procedures for gift acknowledgments and reporting, often working closely with brokers and personal bankers to facilitate donors’ gifts. A veteran of database conversions, Michele understands the critical balance between the efficiency technology offers and the human touch essential to fundraising. To tame the data lion, she works with clients to establish guidelines for determining relevant data and procedures to assure accurate data entry and easy retrieval. She also helps create a sense of personal investment in donor history for all development staff, but especially those who enter data.

In addition, Michele offers clients a valuable perspective on foundation relationships and grant writing. As a grant writer, Michele drafts proposals with insight into the grant-making process, while understanding the vast differences in how foundations approach funding.

Michele is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. In Chicago, she was a member of Chicago Women in Philanthropy and the Illinois Chapter of the Association for Professional Researchers in Advancement. Currently, Michele volunteers on the development committee for the Cincinnati Association for the Blind. She resides in Hyde Park with her husband and children.