Vicki Dansky, Board Member, is a seasoned charitable gift planner and nonprofit endowment builder, proud Coloradoan, devoted friend and family member, who loves nothing more than sharing a good talk while on a brisk walk especially in the Rocky Mountains. As the first gift planning officer at Rose Community Foundation in Denver, she built the legacy society from scratch to more than 100 legacy gifts ranging in individual values up to $25 million. She has extensive expertise in donor stewardship, relationship and project management, meeting facilitation and the unique stewardship opportunities and challenges of community foundations through philanthropic fund management.
Using learned techniques and facilitation tools for groups, individuals and multi-generations in families, Vicki facilitates meaningful conversations to encourage giving decisions in alignment with values and giving goals. She has led dozens of community trainings for development professionals and volunteer leaders from at least 50 nonprofit organizations on the topics of endowment building and planning, nonprofit sustainability and legacy giving. As the gift planning officer, she built relationships with strategic audiences including donors and professional advisors to grow donor advised funds both in number and value and she integrated legacy giving into the broader development and communications plan of the foundation. She has experience in administering different types of appreciated assets, business interests, retirement funds, life insurance, wills and trusts.
During the Pandemic, she has participated in writing groups focused on memoir, guided autobiography and poetry. A lifelong learner, Vicki makes Judaic Studies a priority. She meets on a weekly basis with her women’s study group using the curriculum of Hadar’s Project Zug as a guide. She has seen up close the impact of Upstart’s Change Accelerator program through her classes and board position on Kabbalah Experience, whose executive director is a recent alum. She is also part of a women’s impact investing giving group through The Women’s Foundation of Colorado.
At this time when loneliness has become an epidemic, Vicki is part of a startup nonprofit board called Lotus Network, which is focused on making the next chapter of life the best chapter through meaningful connections with self and others, purposeful living and personal growth for women. In 2021, Vicki founded VPD Philanthropy Advisors, a consulting practice focused on her passions of charitable gift planning, values-aligned giving and nonprofit sustainability.
Vicki was a member of Denver’s 2008-2010 Wexner Heritage Program and 2006 class of Leadership Denver and was on the selection committee for the Denver Jewish Film Festival for many years. She received her B. A. in Economics from Tufts University and her law degree from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She is a 21/64 Certified Advisor on Multigenerational Philanthropy and has taken trainings on Gathering Wisely and Growing Goodness in children. A Colorado native, Vicki lives with her husband and her Welsh Terrier, Chester, in Denver and regularly spends time hiking and skiing in the Roaring Fork Valley, a region that pulls her two adult daughters back to Colorado for meaningful family visits and outdoor activity.
