Become a WILLpower Supporter

Join the Speakers Bureau

The WILLpower Speakers Bureau was founded in 2001 as part of a community-wide effort to educate people about ways they can contribute to their favorite charitable causes – either individually through wise estate planning or the creation of a family foundation, or through their businesses. 

Speakers and materials are offered at no charge to all types of organizations from grassroots community movements to mature, established 501(c)(3) charities.  Our volunteer speakers make themselves available at least once each year.  They present all facets of planned giving and organized philanthropy for nonprofit organizations, civic and social groups, professional associations, and more.  As a volunteer in the WILLpower Speakers Bureau, you will be helping area nonprofits hone their skills in attracting this type of charitable donation and helping their donors understand the opportunities to give to causes and organizations which have meaning to them.

  Presenter Information Form (MS Word document)

  Presenter Information Form (HTML format)

Endorse or Fund WILLpower

• WILLpower has received national funding from New Ventures in Philanthropy, a collaborative funded by Ford, Kellogg, Mott, and other U.S. private foundations and administered by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers in Washington, D.C. 
  

• WILLpower is endorsed by the Monroe County Bar Association and has provided sponsorship and programs to the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Planned Giving Council of Upstate New York. 
  

• Since its inception, WILLpower has been generously supported by the Advertising Council of Rochester with donated creative and marketing assistance valued at over $500,000. 
  

• The WILLpower program has been generously supported since 1996 by over 16 private foundations, public charities and corporations.  They include:

  • Anonymous donor 

  • Nancy & Joseph Briggs Fund of the Rochester Area Community Foundation

  • Charter One

  • Jill Cicero & Associates

  • Citigroup

  • Fleet Investment Services

  • Golisano Foundation

  • HSBC

  • Halcyon Hill Foundation

  • Louis P. And Betty A. Iacona Fund of the Rochester Area Community Foundation

  • JFK Communications

  • Jewish Community Federation

  • Rochester Area Community Foundation

  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester

  • St. Mary's Foundation (now Unity Health Foundation)

  • Killian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Foundation

  • Richard and Vicki Schwartz Family Fund of the RACF

  • United Way of Greater Rochester  

As important as national funding has been, it is WILLpower’s local supporters who have made the program the valuable resource it is today.  New funders and endorsements for the program are always welcome.  In addition, the WILLpower task force welcomes your ideas and suggestions about increasing charitable giving in our community. 

If you would like to become a WILLpower supporter and fund or endorse the program through your organization, or if you have suggestions to share about the effective promotion of philanthropy in greater Rochester, please contact Liz Wilder, executive director of the Rochester Grantmakers Forum, a partner in WILLpower, at liz.wilder@grantmakers.org.