AL Advising works with progressive donors and philanthropists looking to streamline their giving and boost their impact. We create a portfolio of civic engagement, policy, and advocacy investments including 501c3, 501c4, candidate, and related political giving. AL Advising specializes in working with women donors, candidates, and women-focused organizations.
Donors and Philanthropists: 360 Giving Strategy
Without an overarching strategy, philanthropic money is often given inefficiently, leading to frustrated donors who do not obtain social return on their investment. Similarly, many non-profits and advocacy organizations, however well-intentioned, either do not set achievable goals or fail to deliver results.
Our experience in philanthropy and fundraising led to a desire to improve giving. Just as donors turn to private wealth managers for their financial portfolios, so should they lean on donor advisors to manage their portfolios of political and non-profit philanthropy. Particularly now, when many in the Silicon Valley area have amassed great wealth and are contemplating long-term giving strategies, the donor market needs focused philanthropic advisors who apply the same exacting standards that have propelled private sector success.
Yet, as many donors discover, analyzing budgets and strategic plans, evaluating an organization’s or a candidate's chance of success, and meeting with like-minded partners to coordinate donor strategy can be time consuming, particularly for donors who have demanding full-time occupations and families. Valued advisors should offer the expertise needed to decide between a field of solicitations that are all important and deserving, coupled with the political savvy and personal contacts needed to further a donation’s impact.
“As Executive Director for two national political organizations, I spent a significant time raising money. Truth be told, I was often the recipient of donations that lacked strategic focus; in fact, many people gave to my organizations simply because they liked me personally.”
We take a holistic view, dubbed a 360 giving strategy. We create a robust giving strategy using personal political donations, traditional philanthropic giving to organizations and foundations, and where appropriate, corporate PAC donations and corporate social responsibility programs to maximize giving. Similarly, many of the metrics used in business are too often not applied or misapplied to campaigns and organizations. Through experiments and testing, real-time reporting, and site visits, we know how to evaluate programs and budgets to measure true impact.
Philanthropy is inherently complex and deeply personal. By assessing a donor’s long-term goals, we seek to develop comprehensive strategies that leverage private sector standards with innovative political and philanthropic giving.
Complete our complimentary Giving Assessment here.
Our Founder
For over 20 years, Alexandra Acker-Lyons has worked for some of the nation’s most prominent donors, campaigns, and progressive organizations. She specializes in advising female donors at the intersection of electoral politics, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector. She also serves as the Political Director for Electing Women Alliance, a network of 17 (and growing) giving circles.
Alexandra’s prior roles include stints as Director of the Youth Engagement Fund at the Democracy Alliance, Executive Director of Democratic GAIN, and Executive Director of Young Democrats of America. Other prior roles include Campaign Manager for the Election Protection Coalition, a project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights; National Youth Outreach Director for the John Kerry for President Campaign and the Democratic National Committee; Campus Outreach Manager for Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Assistant to the Chair at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; and Staff Assistant for Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-NY).
Alexandra is a recognized political commentator and travels internationally as a trainer for the National Democratic Institute. She is the author of The Political Ladder: Insider Tips on Getting a Job in Politics, published in 2012.
Alexandra currently serves on the Boards of the Colorado Democracy Alliance, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Action Fund, and Women Donors Network Action Fund as well as Advisory Committees for Emerge America, Galvanize, and The Juno Fund. She graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Originally from Nyack, NY, Alexandra spent time in Washington, DC and Palo Alto, CA. She lives in Denver, CO with her husband, Jonathan, and son, Abraham.