WHO WE ARE

In July 2024, Tracy Connelly created Tracy Connelly Philanthropy (TCP) to help small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations create strategic plans that drive future fundraising results. After years of working in philanthropy, Tracy saw that planning was crucial and often a missing piece in nonprofit organizations that were so busy managing programs, volunteers, staff, and special events.

Selected clients partner with Tracy to conduct a thorough audit of their current policies, procedures, marketing materials, and records-keeping processes to ensure that they are set up to achieve success.

The audit report provides nonprofit organizations with a scorecard to show where they are achieving maximum results, and where there are opportunities to improve using data, best practices, training, and additional skills. Organizations are free to take the suggestions and implement them on their own, or to ask Tracy to engage with them further to help facilitate the creation of a 3-year philanthropy strategic plan and to provide ongoing coaching and training to execute the plan. 

Tracy Connelly has raised millions of philanthropic dollars for operating, capital, and endowment, and transformed organizations to achieve their greatest philanthropic potential.

As a Certified Fundraising Executive, Tracy received the Outstanding

Fundraising Executive Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Lee/Collier Chapter. He has served the Southwest Florida Community since 2005, when he was recruited to help lead the $100M capital campaign resulting in the new Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. That campaign included a $20M match from the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation, which was successfully met and helped the Lee Health Foundation expand fundraising beyond special events to include major and planned giving. Prior to leaving Lee Health, Tracy helped philanthropists launch Kids Minds Matter – a mental health initiative, and secured the hospital’s first $1M grant from the Naples Children & Education Foundation.

Tracy joined the Guadalupe Center in Immokalee, Florida, in 2016 to help plan and successfully complete a $24M campaign to build two new early learning centers and to begin an endowment. Tracy also helped complete a $2M Matching Gift Campaign to create the Walter & Rosemary Blankley Tutor Corps Scholarship Endowment and helped build a philanthropy program expanding annual, major, and planned giving.

In 2020, Tracy joined the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF) to help complete a capital campaign and expand NCEF’s philanthropy to include annual giving, major gifts, and planned giving. While at NCEF, policies and procedures were created for the Endowment and $3.1M in seed funding was secured along with 5 new legacy promises.

Prior to Southwest Florida, Tracy served as Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. IU (home to the Lilly Center on Philanthropy) was in the midst of completing its $350M Matching The Promise Campaign which significantly increased the number of endowed scholarships, fellowships, professorships, and chairs. In addition to increasing corporate and foundation support, Tracy oversaw the Corporate Alliance program forging partnerships with Fortune 100 companies including 3M, Eli Lilly & Company, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, Goldman Sachs, Intel, and State Farm to name a few.

Tracy graduated from Western Michigan University and upon graduation joined the Alumni Relations Office and eventually the WMU Foundation as Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations. While at WMU, he oversaw a $7M capital campaign to purchase equipment for a new Science Research Pavilion.

Tracy’s successful efforts, strong work ethic, and dedication to donor-centered philanthropy have helped achieve tremendous results for many organizations and constituents. He enjoys making Southwest Florida his home with his wife Kathy, children, and grandchildren. He enjoys serving the nonprofit community as a nonprofit philanthropy consultant and has served on the board or as a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Lee/Collier Chapter, Estate Planning Council of Naples, Speakers Assembly of Southwest Florida, and the National Gift Planners Association.