Len is a career fundraiser of millions of dollars in major gifts, grants and annual funds. He is recognized as strategic and tactical thinker. Len is passionate about improving the culture of philanthropy and augmenting the performance of not-for-profit organizations in fund development and public communications. He advises the Nonprofit Development Program of the Univ. of Wis. Parkside Center for Community Engagement and presents workshops under its auspices to enhance philanthropic performance in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Len began his professional career in newspaper and radio journalism. Following graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York (MSJ), he joined the Academy for Educational Development (NFP think tank) in New York City where he assisted with projects on journalism education, minority recruitment into journalism, higher education management, international negotiation and mediation research, and cataloging and analyzing international programs of US post-secondary educational institutions. Then, after leading the United Way of Kenosha County as executive director, he spent thirty years in university fund raising and alumni programming.
As a board member and officer, he has led human services agencies as well as fine and performing arts organizations to improve their philanthropic performance and enhance their public reputations. He is a recipient of four national alumni programming and fundraising awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (1981, '84, '88, '98) and a "15 Who Care Award" from the Volunteer Connection of Switchboard of Fort Wayne, Indiana (1990). Len was recognized as Volunteer of the Year by the Kenosha County United Way in 2010. He is a frequent presenter at local and national professional conferences and contributes to professional journals.
His consulting practice includes presenting fund development seminars for the Alliance for Strong Families & Communities, facilitating board strategic planning retreats, and helping organizations plan and execute realistic fund development and campaign strategies. Len was a board and executive committee member of the Alliance for Strong Families & Communities; was an Assistant District Governor of Rotary International and Past President of Kenosha Rotary; and served as President of the Racine-Kenosha Estate Planning Council. He is a board member of Hospice Alliance Foundation (Kenosha) and served as President of the United Way of Kenosha County. He has been a member of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Eastern Wisconsin and its Leave a Legacy committee, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Len explores issues of importance to Southeastern Wisconsin on his 43-minute Public Radio interview program on WGTD-FM-HD.
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"Len Iaquinta is known for having an unusual breadth of skills and depth of experience in not-for-profit fundraising. He often contributes to professional practice journals and presents at professional meetings.
He has created successful fundraising programs at public and private universities from New York City to Milwaukee and Chicago. He lectures annually in the two University of Wisconsin-Parkside Continuing Education Certificate programs and has been a frequent workshop speaker at Alliance for Strong Families & Communities conferences over the past 18 years.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University (Medill School) and Columbia University in the City of New York (Pulitzer School) respectively."