Foley partner receives nonprofit board leadership award
C. Frederick Geilfuss II, a partner at Foley and Lardner LLP in Milwaukee, has been selected as the recipient of the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee’s Fran Swigart Board Leadership Award. The award recognizes an exceptional leader of a nonprofit Board of Directors whose commitment, conscientious service, innovation and hard work embody the memorable leadership of Fran Swigart, a woman who devoted herself to the Milwaukee community through her extensive nonprofit board leadership.
Geilfuss is a member of Foley’s Health Care Industry team and serves as co-chair of the Health Care Industry Team Transactions Work Group. His practice focuses on counseling health systems, hospitals, medical clinics and other health care providers on their general transactional and operational concerns. Geilfuss devotes well over 350 hours of his time and effort to board leadership activities for nonprofit organizations throughout the Milwaukee area. He currently serves as president of the Board of Directors for the Grand Avenue Club, a Milwaukee community for adults who have experienced mental illness. His unique combination of health law experience and financial acumen has also been instrumental in helping to sustain and expand endowments for organizations such as the Curative Foundation, Inc. and the Wisconsin Psychoanalytic Foundation, where he has also served on the board for more than two decades, he has also served on the board of directors for a variety of community organizations throughout his professional career.
Tri-Adathon nonprofit spotlight
The Tri-Adathon venture between Elm Grove-based Clear Verve Marketing and Milwaukee firms Catral Doyle Creative and the Welke Group recently presented 32 area nonprofit organizations with pro-bono marketing services as part of its 24-hour nonstop creative work marathon.
“The event was a huge success,” said Christina Steder, president of Clear Verve Marketing. “The general reaction was that the organizations were all really excited about the work that they got.”
The services provided included marketing and communications planning, public relations programs, website design, radio spot creation, graphic design and media planning.
According to Steder, the creative teams worked longer this year because the projects they took on were more extensive, but overall they were happy with the work that was produced.
Tri-Adathon worked closely with local vendors who donated on air time, printing services and other amenities to the selected organizations, she said.
Tri-Adathon received 115 requests for work from nonprofit organizations in the community; more than double what they received last year, Stedar said.
Nonprofit organizations were able to submit an application for pro-bono work through the Tri-Adathon website until early January. Organizations were selected based on need and the skills of the marketing companies involved, Steder said.
BizTimes Nonprofit Weekly will highlight the organizations selected, and the work they received, over the next few weeks. Present Music, is an organization dedicated to engaging artists and performers in live ensemble performances. The organization got involved in Tri-Adathon as a way to receive outside input on its current marketing strategies. The Welke Group helped the organization establish a marketing communications plan for its 30th anniversary season opener concert.
Nonprofit Name: Present Music
Nonprofit Address: 158 North Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Website: www.presentmusic.org
Leadership: Kevin Stalheim, Artistic Director / Eric Lind, Managing Director
Mission of the organization: "To engage artists and audience members in imaginative and provocative experiences with new music through ensemble performance and education."
What makes your organization unique? "Founded in Milwaukee in 1982, Present Music is one of the nation’s leading ensembles specializing in the commissioning and performance of new music. Present Music works closely with many of the world’s most exciting and important composers and has firmly established one of the largest audiences for new music in the country."
Is your organization in search of board members: Yes
How can business people/the community help your organization? "People in the community can help Present Music by attending our concerts! We are happy to welcome new patrons and encourage the spread of info about our concert experiences to their peers. We also welcome volunteers with skills or interests in graphic design, marketing, and events. We also seek business funding and partnerships on all concerts."
