Josh Birkholz

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Owner

In his nearly 25 years in the industry, Josh Birkholz has been driven to help turn tomorrow’s dreams into today’s realities. Philanthropy inspires him because “giving is the most tangible, collective, and inspiring demonstration of what it is to be human. To enable philanthropy is among the noblest of pursuits.”

From his seminal work on data strategy, Fundraising Analytics (Wiley 2008) to the most practical how-to book for frontline fundraisers, Benefactors (Wiley, 2022), and his decade plus contributions to Giving USA, Josh is a tireless advocate for excellence and possibility in the sector. He has been widely recognized for his contributions to the field, having received Apra’s Visionary Award, been ranked 4th among the “Top 40 Most Effective Fundraising Consultants” by Business of Giving, and earned CASE’s Crystal Apple Award for Teaching Excellence.

At BWF, he works every day to instill values of empathy and tenacious helpfulness among the team. He sees that everything we do makes not only our clients better than they could imagine, but also changes the course for the whole ecosystem of fundraising. He advises BWF teams and client leadership on the next frontiers in areas such as multi-billion-dollar campaign design, high net-worth program development, AI and enterprise-wide data- and truth-driven strategies to achieve measurable and sustainable growth.

“How soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never.’” Martin Luther

In his free time, Josh enjoys composing music, performing on the upright bass, collecting vintage action figures and comics, and fishing.

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