Welcome to GivingSMITH

Judi Smith has more than 30 years’ experience in the nonprofit arena, across higher education, the arts, and national and international philanthropy.  She has been an executive director, a director of planned giving, a regional specialist for capital campaigns, a marketing and communications manager, a teacher, writer, a coach, and a mentor.

As senior director of planned giving for Arizona Community Foundation, Judi directed Classes 8 through 11 of the Arizona Endowment Building Institute.  She developed and taught the Planned Giving 100 and 200 education series for nonprofits around the state.  Additionally, she backstopped the regional offices in developing complex gifts and helping educate allied professionals in charitable giving techniques while working with her own portfolio of legacy donors and nonprofits.

Judi has consulted with organizations engaged in conservation, higher and private education, social services, the arts, religion, and community foundations.  She speaks nationally on various topics related to wise charitable giving and is writing a book on managing your calendar to initiate a gift planning program.  The depth of her experience allows her to quickly assess an organizations’s situation and guide them toward useful solutions that advance their mission.

She is past president of charitable gift planning councils in Phoenix and St. Louis.  She has also served on AFP Boards and as a mentor and trainer for the CFRE exam.  She currently serves on advisory councils for the Phoenix Zoo and the Arizona Foundation for Women.  Among her honors and awards is the 2005 Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year from the Greater Ozarks Chapter of AFP.