Philanthropy at its core is not about money but about meaning, compassion and generosity. Americans give a $1 billion a day to charitable institutions. The focus, however, is on money instead of impactful giving. When we commoditize philanthropy we make it less joyful and fulfilling. This talk focuses on a return to big important and compelling narratives for philanthropy where conversations are less about needs and scarcity more about possibilities, abundance and co-created better futures. Jim Hodge has been engaged in philanthropy for 38 years. He is the Associate Vice Chancellor of Advancement at the University of Colorado School of Medicine after completing a 30-year career at Mayo Clinic as Vice Chair of Development. He led all strategy for gifts of significance of $5M or more. He is known for practicing and teaching benefactor-centric, relationship-based philanthropy. The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy labeled him a “reflective practitioner.”

Bringing decades of fundraising experience, Jim has been with CU Anschutz since October 2014. Previously, Jim was with Mayo Clinic, where he was a Vice Chair and senior development officer responsible for building relationships with Mayo’s philanthropic partners. Jim was the most prolific fundraiser in the history of Mayo Clinic and was the co-founder of a multimillion-dollar business called Mayo Clinic Preferred Response, a 24/7 service that provides nursing and medical advice worldwide.
Jim teaches graduate-level classes in philanthropy and is an instructor in the Fund Raising School at Lilly Family Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. He authored the chapter "Gifts of Significance" in a publication entitled “Achieving Excellence in Fundraising.”
An Ohioan by birth, Jim earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He completed additional Graduate work at Stanford in Social Enterprise.



This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx