David Hessekiel

Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum President David Hessekiel has one marathon for charity under his belt and a passion for helping nonprofits and businesses succeed at doing well by doing good.

Since 2006 the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum has brought thousands of peer-to-peer fundraising professionals together via its annual conference, workshops and webinars to share best practices and provided them with access to the information they need to raise more for their organziations.

The group’s annual Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 30 Study, which ranks America’s top peer-to-peer fundraising programs by gross revenue, has become a key industry benchmark. Each year P2P’s Cash, Sweat & Tears Award spotlights an inspiring peer-to-peer fundraising program participant.

Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum is a unit of Hessekiel’s Cause Marketing Forum, Inc. Since 2002, CMF’s events, online offerings and membership program have helped thousands of executives gain the practical knowledge they need to succeed, make valuable connections, and honor outstanding accomplishments in this expanding field.

Each spring the CMF conference attracts hundreds of nonprofit and business executives from across the country and around the world to learn, network, and recognize the previous year’s best work at the Cause Marketing Halo Awards. Newcomers and veterans alike give the conference rave reviews.

The industry’s leading website, www.causemarketingforum.com, offers free access to prodigious amounts of background information, statistics and case studies. Other popular website features include The CMF Marketplace, where nonprofits, advisors and suppliers describe their capabilities; and Cause Marketing Jobs, an employment posting area.

“Cause Marketing Today,” the company’s monthly e-newsletter, brings industry insights to thousands of subscribers.

The CMF membership program offers nonprofits, corporations, agencies, and individuals a rich selection of benefits designed to accelerate their success. Each month, for example, members have free access to a teleclass in the Cause Marketing Masters series.

His single-minded concentration on cause marketing has quickly made David one of the field’s leading authorities, frequently quoted in leading publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, PROMO, Advertising Age, License! and PRWeek. A popular speaker, David has addressed nonprofit and business groups in the US and abroad.

The recipient of a BA from Wesleyan University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, David’s background in journalism, magazine management, consumer marketing and the dot.com world equipped him to launch CMF. He lives in Rye, New York with his wife Andrea and their two daughters.

David celebrated his 20th anniversary in marketing and communications by launching Cause Marketing Forum, Inc. to help corporations, nonprofits and the professionals that serve them do well by doing good.

David fondly remembers his first cause marketing campaign: “Margaritas for Mexico” – a one-night promotion at a New Haven bar that raised a few hundred dollars for victims of an earthquake that hit Mexico City in 1985. His fascination with cause marketing – and the scope of the campaigns he’s collaborated on – have both grown over time.

Building win-win partnerships for clients has been central to most of David’s greatest professional successes such as:

• Developing and selling multi-million dollar integrated marketing campaigns to Visa and the Milk Board for Rodale, America’s leading healthy active living publisher, where he ran the Rodale Active Network.
• Crafting cross-promotions between Mott’s and top children’s media companies including Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. while working as a managing director at Ryan Partnership, a leading consumer promotion agency.
• Most recently, advising publishing and corporate clients on cause marketing strategy as head of Matchmaker Marketing, LLC.

David holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and BA in government Wesleyan University.

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