Tom Suddes
Tom Suddes has made a name for himself as a THOUGHT LEADER in the ‘NONPROFIT’ ARENA.
A coach, trainer, consultant, speaker and writer with over 33 years of experience in development, strategic visioning, campaign management and major gift solicitation, Tom has been labeled CONTRARIAN, RADICAL, WHACKY, CRAZY and (what he feels is the highest compliment) “THE TOM PETERS OF THE NONPROFIT WORLD”.
Suddes is widely known as a MAVERICK and an AGENT of CHANGE. He began his career in the Development Office at the University of Notre Dame in 1973. He eventually became the Director of Development and headed the Campaign for Notre Dame, which raised $180 Million ($50 Million over the $130 Million Goal).
In 1983, he founded The Suddes Group, which managed over 300 campaigns, raised over $1 Billion, and helped generate 3 million new jobs in their work with 125 economic development organizations around the country.
In his current role, he acts as Chief Visionary Officer for The Suddes Group and Chief Evangelist for the For Impact Movement. As the “voice” of the FOR IMPACT COMMUNITY, Tom lives, plays and coaches at the FOR IMPACT LEADERSHIP CENTER just outside Columbus, Ohio.
He has made more than 6,000 one-on-one major gift presentations and has trained thousands of “nonprofit” leaders in the art and science of FOR IMPACT … and raising more money at a much lower cost.
He speaks and provides training throughout the country for entrepreneurs, sales people and leaders in both the nonprofit and the for-profit sector.
A serial entrepreneur since age 16, Tom has founded 19 businesses Suddes was the first Entrepreneur-In-Residence at the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Notre Dame; and has taught in the Masters Program at Notre Dame and the Leadership Program at Franklin University.
In 1996, Tom won a Trip Around the World when Success Magazine and Opportunity International awarded him a Trip Around the World to share his SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL experiences with Third World Micro-Entrepreneurs in Russia, Poland, India, the Philippines and Australia.
Tom served in the U.S. Army as an Infantry Officer, completed Airborne and Pathfinder Schools, and became a Tactical Officer at Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia.
A two-time welterweight boxing champion at Notre Dame, Tom has been the boxing coach at Notre Dame for 35 years, returning every year for a six-week ‘mini-sabbatical’ to coach and referee the Bengal Bouts.
Throughout his crazy, eclectic, eccentric life, Tom has been anchored by his wife Trudy and his five children, who have somehow overcome their father as a huge life impediment. Now, his six grandchildren, Savannah, Keegan, Calvin, Thomas, Tatum and Roscoe are the centerpiece of life on a 50-acre farm/training center outside of Columbus, Ohio.
Tom’s Harley Davidson is still his vehicle of choice.
Nick Fellers
Nick is co-founder of For Impact and president of The Suddes Group. In the last 10 years he’s raised over $75Million for causes in 30 countries and trained leaders from over 1000 organizations in how to use a sales process to maximize funding opportunities.
An entrepreneur, Nick started his first business while a student at the University of Notre Dame. Studying biology and philosophy, Nick would leave the labs early to make sales calls for his business – the first of it’s kind student social network – a precursor to facebook.com. After graduating, Nick and his business partners sold their business to focus on ‘scaled impact in the social sector’.
Nick is passionate about family, social entrepreneurship, running and all things web. He and his wife, Anna, live in Columbus, OH with their son, Will.
Nick’s helped to found several social ventures and currently sits on the board of Road of Life Cancer Prevention for Kids – an organization that develops and sells health prevention curriculum to schools. As an avid runner, Nick is currently working on running marathons in all 50 states – hoping to complete runs in Wisconsin, California, Indiana, Maryland an New York in 2010.
True to his tech beginnings, Nick keeps one foot on the web-start-up arena. He contributes as a partner to B.A. Mensch – a digital marketing firm. He also leads an R&D effort seeking new ways to leverage cloud computing and ‘big data’.
Kerry Suddes
Kerry started her career 16 years ago in the for profit training world where she built and facilitated ‘World Class Teams’ programs for thousands, including Fortune 500 companies JP Morgan Chase, Nationwide Insurance, Medtronic, Merck, KeyCorp, General Motors and Sherwin-Williams.
In 2003, Kerry joined the For Impact Team and has since coached and trained hundreds of organizations through successful funding efforts ranging from $100k to $15M. Kerry has worked closely with The American Cancer Society, The American Lung Association, and many private schools and social service agencies.
In addition to working in the field on funding initiatives, Kerry leads the team in designing and delivering the Funding Boot Camp and Board Workshop experiences. Kerry completed her degree in Speech Communications and Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego.
Tim Card
Tim brings to The Suddes Group|ForImpact team a strong combination of skill sets and experience from his 28 years in business ownership and management, organizational and Christian Ministry leadership, and funding development success. Prior to his current role as Regional Partner, Tim experienced first-hand the high value and results which can be achieved by integrating the ForIMPACT approach through his relationship with The Suddes Group as a client working on a $14M capital campaign.
As a visionary leader, Tim has owned and operated three different businesses as well as served on numerous non-profit boards during his career. He is viewed by many as a “positive change agent” because of his passion to help others succeed and internal drive to see non-profit organizations make the “Quantum Leap”. For Tim, “it’s all about Advancing the Vision to Achieve the Vision” by increasing funding levels with the organizations he serves.
Tim lives in Spokane, WA with his wife and two children and primarily works with clients in the Pacific Northwest. He leads a principled life of Christian character and strong family values. During his leisure time, Tim enjoys camping and boating with his family, golf, and playing the drums.
Steve Geuther
Steve Geuther brings a rich mix of business development, operations and sales/marketing experience to The Suddes Group. He possesses diverse, practical knowledge as an entrepreneurial executive featuring more than 17 years experience where he has successfully developed, managed and sold successful start-up and rapid growth organizations.
The foundation of Steve’s background was deeply rooted during his formative years and extensive training with Fortune 100 giants – Procter & Gamble, Eastman Kodak and General Electric, where business tenets have been tested and perfected for generations.
Steve’s entrepreneurial endeavors range from the Healthcare to Construction and Commercial Real Estate. His coaching/consulting network reaches to the diverse ends of industrial, institutional, and philanthropic sectors.
Gifted with vision, determination, and skills needed for high-level revenue-building strategies and tactics, Steve subscribes to Tim Kight’s philosophy: “Every organization is perfectly designed to get the results they are currently getting”. To this, Steve is driven by a visceral need to strategize and innovate — collaborating with organizations to overcome complex and long-standing problems by creating and implementing solutions that transform organizational effectiveness and overall impact.
