IFF Advisors

949-252-2701, www.iffadvisors.com

Douglas Freeman, IFF's chairman, has helped high-net-worth (assets of $50 million) and ultra-high-net-worth (assets of several billion dollars) donors—individuals, families, and private and public companies—plan their philanthropic efforts for 30 years. IFF works with clients throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, including entrepreneurs in the real estate, agribusiness, manufacturing, and entertainment sectors. IFF also advises on business planning and family governance and management.

American City Bureau

224-293-3000, www.acb-inc.com

American City Bureau helps identify the affluent and influential, including real estate developers, investment bankers, and other wealthy people who slip under the radar (such as hardworking farmers) for the charitable organizations it represents. The company conducts fundraising campaigns and builds endowments for projects worth anywhere from $5 million to $100 million. A.C.B. has raised billions of dollars for thousands of not-for-profit organizations, including community hospitals and rural health-care organizations.

Hirsch & Associates

415-837-5408, www.hirschassoc.com

Hirsch & Associates has worked with the Haas family (relatives of Levi Strauss) and with the Fisher family (which owns the Gap) to find good philanthropic opportunities. In the case of the Fishers, the family chose to develop and manage City Fields Foundation, which develops athletic fields in San Francisco. Hirsch & Associates also works with clients on projects elsewhere in the Bay Area, Seattle, and across the U.S. Founder Susan Hirsch has also worked with the Hellman family (heirs to the Wells Fargo fortune), managing its family foundation, including education grants.

Leventhal Kline Management

510-841-4123, www.philanthropicadvisor.com

In the late 1990s, Benita Kline, currently the vice president at Leventhal Kline, noticed a pattern of donors, many coming into money during the tech boom, creating foundations in their forties and fifties—often while juggling parenting duties and high-profile jobs. Leventhal Kline Management helps those donors organize their philanthropic commitments. Clients include internet entrepreneurs and executives in real estate, manufacturing, medicine, and investment management, many of whom (whether age 30 or 60) are now retired.

Neithercut Advisors

313-568-9000, www.neithercutadvisors.com

Led by Mark Neithercut, Neithercut Advisors works with family foundations and individuals to develop grantmaking programs and craft the terms of grants or gifts. First, Neithercut reviews donors’ giving histories and goals. Then he matches charitable opportunities with the interests of the donor, striving to maximize the impact of the gift as well as the gratification the giver receives from the donation. When Neithercut works with a donor to set the terms of a major gift, he discusses the importance of providing operational support as well as building an endowment. Neithercut has 15 years of experience as a senior foundation executive, and his clients are mainly from the Midwest. They range from large family foundations and successful entrepreneurs who are new to philanthropy to a single mother with kids who suddenly inherited a family foundation.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

212-812-4330, www.rockpa.org

Melissa Berman leads Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, with 40 staff members in offices in New York and San Francisco steering $135 million in grants on behalf of 150 wealthy donors. The group debuted five years ago as an official, independent nonprofit that advises givers, but it traces its roots back to the Rockefeller family. Unlike many philanthropy consultants, Rockefeller also handles global donations.

Working Systems

202-244-6481, www.aworkingsystem.com

Kathy Wiseman, founder and president of Working Systems, counts young entrepreneurs and multigenerational companies in the fields of technology, manufacturing, food processing, farming, and real estate as clients. The company’s specialties are smoothing over individual differences between the members of donor families and creatively preparing their clients for the future.

Foundation Management

405-755-5571, www.foundationmanagementinc.com

Foundation Management manages several philanthropic organizations, including the Merrick Foundation, which Frank Merrick, the president of Foundation Management, formed in 1948. (His foundation currently has assets of $14 million, mainly from oil and gas revenue.) Foundation Management also advises a public trust and a statewide community foundation, does consulting for other nonprofits, and matches potential donors with charitable groups.

Family Philanthropy Advisors

612-377-8400, www.fpadvisors.com

Cassidy Burns and Ellen George of Family Philanthropy Advisors manage the family foundation of Bill George, former C.E.O. of the medical-device company Medtronic, as well as other local executives’ charitable organizations. The philanthropic collaborative that Family Philanthropy manages is headed by Christy Mack, wife of Morgan Stanley C.E.O. John Mack. The firm offers support to wealthy individuals and families, foundations, family offices, trusts, and other advisers, both nationally and internationally.