AARO member Elizabeth Christian was proud to serve as a judge at the first annual Philanthropitch, a wonderful new philanthropy contest presented by BuildASign.com. The unusual event, which narrowed a field of 100 nonprofits down to six and gave each organization an opportunity to hone its fund-raising pitch in front of judges drawn from the business community, raised more than $50,000, which was divided among the finalists.
Elizabeth was particularly proud of the warm support shown for fellow AARO member Susan Dawson, who pitched our much-loved E3 Alliance with great success—the event’s judges presented E3 a check for $11,500.
Here, five of the judges and the deserving winner, left to right: Elizabeth Christian, president of Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations; Dan Graham, founder and CEO of BuildASign.com, the creator of the night’s event, and 2013 AARO McBee Fellow; Gail Pope, managing partner at Vineyard Investment Advisors; Susan Dawson, founder of the E3 Alliance; Chris Steiner, senior associate at Austin Ventures; and Steve Wanta, executive program director of Whole Planet Foundation and there that night representing Innovation+.
