The Winkler Group, South Carolina’s largest capital campaign consulting firm, celebrates 15 years of serving clients across the country. What Tim Winkler started at his kitchen table has grown into a firm with 13 full-time employees and offices in four states.
Founded in 2004, the Winkler Group is today one of the most respected fundraising consulting firms in the nation. Winkler Group consultants have raised $1.5 billion; they have a combined 250 years of fundraising experience and have served thousands of organizations and donors. As recognized thought leaders and highly sought-after counsel, the Winkler Group has been highlighted in such leading publications as the Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Harvard Crimson.
Winkler worked in academic fundraising and was underwhelmed by the fundraising counsel hired to lead the university campaigns he was a part of. He felt things should be done differently and fostered a vision for service built on creative problem-solving, meeting goals, and gratitude. He recruited a team of consultants who were experts in fundraising and non-profit leadership, who also emulated servant leadership in all of their interactions.
“We are blessed with clients who make their communities better places to live and their universities better places to learn,” says founder and CEO Tim Winkler. “We love what we do and who we get to serve every day.”
Jim Bush, who assumed the role of Winkler Group President in 2019, says, “Fifteen years ago, Tim created something that was entirely different in the fundraising marketplace. Our brand of hands-on counsel and a willingness to roll up our sleeves for our clients has clearly resonated across the country. We’ve served clients in more than 20 states—that says something about our product.”
A private event was held to celebrate this milestone on January 30th.
Headquartered in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, the Winkler Group has offices in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. The Winkler Group specializes in capital campaign counsel, planning studies, and strategic planning. The consultants who comprise the Winkler Group team have served thousands of organizations and donors for higher-ed institutions, independent schools, healthcare organizations, churches and ministries, arts and cultural organizations, and community service nonprofits.