We are deeply saddened to mark the passing of our NNCG charter member, Paul Connolly. Paul was the Director of Philanthropic Advisory Services at Bessemer Trust. Prior to joining Bessemer Trust, he spent over 16 years with NNCG member firm TCC Group.
Paul was a prolific author for the benefit of the field. He cared deeply about nonprofit capacity building and the role funders play in helping build a robust nonprofit sector:
- Navigating the Organizational Lifecycle: A Capacity-Building Guide for Nonprofit Leaders, published by BoardSource in 2006.
- Strengthening Nonprofit Performance: A Funder’s Guide to Capacity Building, co-authored with Carol Lukas, and published by Wilder and GEO in 2002.
- Evaluating Capacity-Building Efforts for Nonprofit Organizations (2002), and Building the Capacity of Capacity Builders (2003) co-authored by Peter York.
- Beyond Foundations: Building a Bigger Tent for Effective Philanthropy, a wonderful webinar for NNCG presented in November 2016, which is available to our members on our member site.
Paul was beautifully remembered by our friends at Philanthropy New York, at Northern California Grantmakers, and his obituary appeared in the New York Times. He served as a spectacular Board Chair for the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Mary Phillips, NNCG Chair and President of GMA Foundations, said, “Paul was a cheerful and generous colleague who contributed significantly to our field. He will be deeply missed.”
We send our condolences to his loved ones.