Consulting Group

Consulting Group

Through the CommunityGiving Consulting Group, we offer the expertise of experienced Community Foundation professionals to local community foundations to help them reach their full philanthropic potential. Our team of consultants have years of experience in the field and are committed to helping community foundations grow and prosper.

We provide support to community foundations in the areas of:

  • Community Foundation 101
  • Governance
  • Asset Growth and Development in a Community Foundation
  • Strategic Planning for Community Foundations
  • Grants and Community Leadership within a Community Foundation
  • Finances, Investments and Operations in a Community Foundation

For more information please contact us via email at info@communitygiving.org or by phone at (877)-253-4380.

Susan Lorenz

Lorenz, Susan for website

Prior to joining the Foundation, Susan was employed by various cities, counties and nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. She has a BS in Public Administration and a minor in Local & Urban Affairs from St. Cloud State University. She has also served as an adjunct professor at St. Cloud State University where she taught Grant Writing to senior and graduate students. From 1997 through the fall of 2018, Susan Lorenz served as the Director of Community Programs at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation. Her duties included management of grant and scholarship programs along with community initiatives at the Community Foundation. She successfully secured over $6.1 million in grants over the years for various programs and institutions and has been nationally recognized for her work with the Foundation Center.

Karl Samp

Karl Samp

Karl Samp served as the Executive Director of the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation (BLACF) for seven years, retiring from this role at the end of 2022. Karl came to BLACF with 35 years of non-profit and foundation experience. Before coming to CommunityGiving and the BLACF, he worked as an independent consultant facilitating community, governmental and organizational strategic planning and visioning sessions, including seven years with Blandin Foundation’s Rural Broadband initiative. Karl also worked for nine years as the Vice President for Community Initiatives for the Initiative Foundation based in Little Falls and earlier in several roles at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. Karl is a Blandin Community Leadership Program graduate, a charter member and former president of the Baxter Lakes Area Kiwanis Club. Karl is active in the MN Mississippi River Parkway Commission (MRPC) and was Pilot (President of the Board) of the national MRPC Byway.