“JT [And The Philanthropics] provided strategic fundraising guidance and advanced tools that we used to level up our campaign efforts during a time of unprecedented financial crisis. Their clear vision, grounded demeanor, and attention to the specific conditions of our organization allowed us to easily raise double what we would have on our own. They bring years of experience in fundraising and it pays off. Could not recommend working with them enough.”

-SK Kerastas, Executive Director, Links Hall

“I hired The Philanthropics to assist with getting sponsors for the Evanston Juneteenth Parade in 2024. They did an excellent job, but they really exceeded my expectations by organizing the parade setup, ensuring that the signs were easy to follow, and making the arrival process for marchers smooth. They also took care of web updates, graphic design and anything else I needed. For the 2025 event, they helped strategize how to secure sponsorships earlier in the year, which allowed us to lock in 25% more sponsors months earlier than in previous years. I highly recommend them for any event or fundraising effort for any nonprofit.”

-Kemone Hendricks, Executive Director, Evanston Present & Future
(Producer of the Evanston Juneteenth Parade)

“In the world of non-profit fundraising and development, JT's knowledge and expertise is invaluable. Not only did they help to develop one of our most popular regular programs, Eat Their Words, they were instrumental in developing our ETW monthly [fundraising] drawing. We're grateful for their continued support of Hive”

-Jamie Thome, Chief Instigator, Hive Center for the Book Arts

“I had never won a grant in my 15 years of making art until working with JT [and The Philanthropics]. As a storyteller, I play in allegory, so translating that into community-impact tangibles for a panel of adjudicators has always been a challenge. Through informal conversations over Zoom, JT gathered information while delegating simple tasks for me to complete. What was most impressive was how playful and in my voice the final [grant] product remained. Ambition makes gratitude hard for artists, but whenever I look at the narrative JT created, my reaction is “Wow, my art does matter!” 

-John Michael Colgin, Queer Performance Artist, Creator of Meatball Seance, Spank Bank Time Machine, and Narcan Time Machine, 2024 Illinois DCASE grant award recipient