Paul Penley, Excellence in Giving
5/10/2016 | 2:00 PM
How Giving Wisley Benefits Clients and Advisors
Advisors will learn how discussing family philanthropy increases client acquisition and retention, even across generations. We will explore the most common reasons why clients struggle to designate charitable beneficiaries: 1. concerns "the money won't be used wisely" 2. "the charity isn't effective." By learning specific indicators to track and discuss with clients, participants will be able to guide clients toward informed giving decisions. Participants will learn specific 1. initial and 2. annual questions to ask clients about their philanthropy so they can provide the best advice. In the end, participants will see how smart philanthropy advice benefits their firms and helps clients to identify high-performing charitable beneficiaries. Participants will be able to take clients beyond minimizing taxes to maximizing charitable impact.

Offers one CE credit hour for the CFP and PACE (CAP) designations

About Paul

Dr. Penley evaluates the health and performance of charities to inform effective grant-making strategies. Penley's research at Excellence in Giving directly informs 20 family foundations donating $20 million annually. He has refined methods for nonprofit due diligence and tracking post-grant impact. He has completed on-site evaluations in a dozen countries around the world. Dr. Penley specializes in creating and evaluating outcome measurement systems for internal and external reporting of program effectiveness. He has presented his approach at community foundations, the Philanthropy Roundtable annual meeting, and the Yale Philanthropy Conference. He has published research insights in Alliance magazine, Planned Giving Today, and OUTCOMES magazine. He contributes to blogs for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Council on Foundations, and Exponent Philanthropy.


Dr. Penley has international relief work and ministry experience in Mexico, Myanmar, Bolivia, Kosovo, India, Kenya and Uganda. He studied abroad in Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Egypt, to understand international culture and history. He has performed Community Solutions Assessments in Knoxville, TN, Fort Worth, TX and Glynn County, GA so clients can find and fund the most strategic local charities. He created the "up-to-date, in-depth, and user-friendly" charity evaluation platform at www.IntelligentPhilanthropy.com, which the Chronicle of Philanthropy compared favorably to Charity Navigator and Guidestar. Now anyone can use Excellence in Giving’s first step to assess nonprofit performance and impact. Dr. Penley’s ability to identify predictive indicators of mission failure or success allows those he advises to support high-performing charities making the difference they want to fund.


Dr. Penley is also a published author and adjunct professor. He resides in Colorado Springs with his family where he enjoys fly fishing the endless trout streams in Colorado.