Laura J. Malone, CAP®, CEPA®
" My first charitable memory is making a phone pledge to The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon when I was a child.
I am still grateful for my mother’s support in honoring that pledge. Giving back to my community has always been part of what matters to me as the daughter of a nurse and banker (and long-time Rotarian). Through the years and with the help of various other family members and mentors, those beliefs have never wavered.
As a young professional, living in Orlando, a very active hurricane season led me to start volunteering with the local American Red Cross. A mentor and I used to joke about how it stunk when we had to quit what we loved doing as volunteers to pay attention to our “paid jobs”.
Family brought me back to my Northeast Ohio home and I was fortunate enough to be recruited by American Endowment Foundation, a national Donor Advised Fund (DAF) sponsor. I was immediately attracted to the flexibility DAFs gave donors in being more strategic in how they manage their charitable decisions. Aside from being integral in the creation of more than 800 Donor Advised Funds that were a key contribution to AEF's $1B+ growth during that time, I launched and led an internal complex assets team starting in 2017.
In 2012, I got my Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®) from The American College of Financial Services. The CAP® Program brings together professionals from all areas of the philanthropic ecosystem. The CAP® certification focuses on delivering in-depth philanthropic planning knowledge and fueled my career with specialized expertise to help clients identify philanthropic intent and help clients meet their goals for self, family, and society by creating lasting impact.
My passion for complex giving was ignited by the convergence of my DAF experience and my past experience in commercial real estate while living in Orlando. In 2014, I attained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) credential to effectively engage more business owners who were missing out on tremendous charitable and tax advantages when transitioning away from their businesses. For about 5 years, I was also a faculty member for the CEPA® program, teaching charitable strategies to other professional advisors who work with business owners.
​
During my tenure as the Development Officer at Community Foundation Lorain, I helped lead the Community Foundation’s efforts in all avenues of Development to build donor relations and increase the Community Foundation’s endowment. While serving as a member of the CEO’s management staff, I participated in the development and implementation of the Community Foundation’s strategic plan. This gave me added insights as to how important it can be for donors and nonprofits to work together.
I am proud to say I hold two DAFs myself, one with my local community foundation and one with a national sponsor and each have been valuable to my personal giving. Most recently, I became a 21/64 Certified Advisor because I want to do my best to help others make more strategic decisions around their time, talent, treasure and ties. Through a better understanding of one’s identity and values can help to create transformative generosity that can have positive impact on relationships with self and family, local community and the global world."