Mitch-Stuart Raises Over $1 Billion For Charity With Travel Incentives, Charity Auctions
Mitch-Stuart has been working for decades to help corporations engage more effectively with their customers and employees while helping charities to raise over $1 billion.
On Thursday, March 12, 2014, Mitch-Stuart CEO Stuart Paskow and President Michelle Cohen will join me for a live discussion about their programs and their success in helping raise money for good.
Tune in and listen while you work.
Keep reading to learn more about Stuart and Michelle.
Michelle’s bio:
Michelle Cohen heads the West Coast office of Mitch-Stuart, Inc., which she co-founded with Stuart Paskow in 1994. The company specializes in unique travel programs that serve nonprofit organizations in fundraising and provide travel incentives for businesses.
As president, Cohen is responsible for the overall operations of Mitch-Stuart’s main headquarters in Orange County, Calif.
Cohen’s fundraising career spans over 25 years beginning with volunteerism and leadership at the community level. She was co-creator of a community-wide after school enrichment program. She later served as national director of development for the Jewish National Fund and chaired its National Communications Committee.
She and Paskow created the Frequent Funder Awards Program®—the first charitable giving program of its kind in the nation—which received national recognition, including the front page of the Wall Street Journal and which led to the creation of Mitch-Stuart, Inc.
Cohen’s greatest accomplishment is raising over a billion dollars for more than 12,000 charities through Mitch-Stuart’s innovative programs. She and her partner created and managed the American Airline’s AAdvantage Fundraising® program. Their Destinations of Excellence® no-risk auction travel program opened up a new avenue for nonprofit fundraising and bolstered hotel/flight sales following the downturn in the hospitality industry after 9-11. The industry honored them with a Freddie Award for their accomplishments. Cohen and Paskow also authored the United Way Donor Awards program and created a major donor gift with Tiffany & Co that was featured in 45 countries.
More recently, the team created Perfect Places®, a cause related marketing program that generates a creative revenue stream for charities and provides businesses the opportunity to be philanthropic with no out of pocket expense.
A recognized speaker at numerous national conventions, Cohen has served as a panelist at the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Fundraising Day in New York. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and has served on the Incentive Customer Forums for Marriott Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton and the Advisory Council for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Cohen was recognized as Woman of the Year for Temple Bat Yahm for her service to the community, as one of OC Metro’s 20 Women to Watch 2010 and was a featured nominee of the Orange County Business Journal’s Women In Business 2010 and 2010 Excellence in Entrepreneurship. In 2013, Cohen and Paskow were honored by receiving the prestigious national SCORE Award for the Outstanding Small Business Launched by an Individual 50+. She holds a B.A. degree in business from Cal State Northridge and a certificate in professional fundraising from UCI. She was honored with the Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of California, Irvine, for her success in nonprofit fundraising.
Stuart’s bio:
Stuart Paskow is chief executive officer of Mitch-Stuart, Inc. and heads its East Coast office. Mitch-Stuart, Inc., which he co-founded in 1994 with Michelle Cohen, is headquartered in California and has offices in Miami, Florida. The company is a recognized leader in providing unique travel programs that serve nonprofit organizations in fundraising and offer incentives for businesses.
As CEO, Paskow is responsible for sales and marketing and, with Cohen, consults on all aspects of the company.
Prior to forming Mitch-Stuart, Inc., Paskow was national communications director for an international nonprofit organization where he became the first fundraising executive to promote a philanthropic institute as a commercial product via innovative television and print campaigns. He and Cohen created the Frequent Funder Awards Program®—the first charitable giving program of its kind in the nation—for which they were recognized in national news media, including the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
In 1993, while working with Cohen on fundraising ideas for the same nonprofit organization, the pair created and managed the American Airline’s AAdvantage Fundraising® program, which introduced the unique concept of using airline miles as a nonprofit direct mail incentive and as donor premiums.
The following year, the colleagues officially formed Mitch-Stuart, Inc. and it became a full-service company, providing direct marketing consulting and creative services to charities. In 2005, their Destinations of Excellence® no-risk auction travel program opened up a new avenue for nonprofit fundraising while helping the ailing hospitality industry. The industry took note and honored the company with a Freddie Award (named in honor of aviation magnate Sir Freddie Laker) in 2005 for distinguished achievement. In addition, Paskow and Cohen authored the United Way Donor Awards program. To date, they’ve helped raise more than a billion dollars in revenue for over 12,000 charitable causes.
The team created a new program in 2010, Perfect Places®, a cause related marketing program that generates a new revenue stream for charities and provides businesses the opportunity to be philanthropic and provide an employee benefit.
Paskow served on the Small Business Administration Advisory Board and the New Jersey Hotel Association Board of Directors. He is former owner of the Harbor Island Spa Hotel in New Jersey and held the position of assistant professor of hotel management at the New York Institute of Technology where he helped to coordinate the school’s hotel management program.
He is a founding member, creator and former board member of the International Arid Land Consortium. The members are the Jewish National Fund, Arizona State University, Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Its purpose is to assist farmers in desert areas of the Sub Sahara countries to use Israel-developed technology to successfully farm arid areas in the Middle East.
He served on the Incentive Customer Advisory Board for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. His company, Mitch-Stuart, Inc., is a sponsor of the annual Nonprofit Times’ Power & Influence Top 50 gala and was honored as the founding charter sponsor.
Most recently, Stuart Paskow and Michelle Cohen were honored by receiving the national SCORE Award for the Outstanding Small Business Launched by an Individual 50+.
Paskow is recognized as a lifetime member of Strathmore’s Who’s Who global registry and network of outstanding professionals for his leadership in the travel incentive industry. He received a B.A. in political science from Washington Jefferson College in Pennsylvania and then attended Penn State, where he received an A.A. in hotel management.
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