Brooklyn-based youths go snow-tubing with coaches from the Graham SLAM initiative.
It was 2014 — more than 200 years after Alexander Hamilton’s widow, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, along with Isabella Graham and other friends, founded an orphanage. The modern version of that institution, now named Graham Windham, had dropped the outdated practice of communal living for orphans and segued into foster care. It wanted to fund a new program it hoped would help foster children thrive. But the traditional government grants that Graham Windahm pursued wanted a track record of success, so they weren’t an option, says current CEO Kimberly Watson.
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It was 2014 — more than 200 years after Alexander Hamilton’s widow, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, along with Isabella Graham and other friends, founded an orphanage. The modern version of that institution, now named Graham Windham, had dropped the outdated practice of communal living for orphans and segued into foster care. It wanted to fund a new program it hoped would help foster children thrive. But the traditional government grants that Graham Windham pursued wanted a track record of success, so they weren’t an option, says current CEO Kimberly Watson.
“Government contracts don’t pay for this,” says Watson, who was vice president of the organization back then. “There was nothing that we could divert any other funding from.”
Luckily, the organization was able to tap into the generosity of two longtime supporters, husband-and-wife team Georgia Wall and Don Gogel. They donated $200,000 to pilot the Graham SLAM program, which gave the organization the credibility to seek additional funding from other foundations. Wall and Gogel have continued to support the model, donating another $1 million in 2024. In total, over the years, the couple has donated $12.6 million to Graham Windham.
As many nonprofits see their federal funding dwindle amid the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce spending, securing more funds from longtime supporters will be key to sustaining organizations. Here’s a look at how the relationship between Graham Windham and these donors evolved, and advice they have for nonprofits and funders about meeting the current moment of strained funding.
A Haunting Visit
Wall first connected with the charity more than 30 years ago, agreeing to read stories and make crafts with younger children. On her first visit, older girls in the program threw rocks at her. Wall was concerned, and asked the social workers to speak with the girls. She overheard the discussion, and was left “haunted” at the girls’ confession that their misbehavior was linked to a pervasive hopelessness that they would never be adopted, never have a family, and never be loved.
Advice From Graham Windham
Determine the most important things that your organization does.
Communicate those priorities clearly to donors.
Encourage board members to share your organization’s work and ask their peers to give.
Wall knew that something had to change and dedicated herself to helping make that change. Since that encounter, she has stayed connected with Graham Windham by volunteering, serving on the board, and donating, often hearing first hand of the needs.
“Graham’s goal is to make sure that every child gets the support they need,” Wall says.
Despite valiant efforts, children weren’t graduating high school and thriving into adulthood. Back in 2014, staff and board leaders, including Wall, came up with an idea they hoped would lead to better long-term outcomes: Graham SLAM. When staff and board members thought about their own lives, they realized good coaching and mentoring had been key to their success. So, the program would provide professional coaching for teens. However, with no track record of success, there was little hope of getting the government funding they often used to pay for programming, says Watson.
Graham Windham
Georgia Wall and Don Gogel, who have donated a cumulative $12.6 million to Graham Windham over the past decade.
That’s when Wall and Gogel stepped in to fund the pilot for the program, which provides coaching to students until age 25. Coaches are paid professionals, not volunteers, so they are a consistent source of assistance for teens and young adults. Many foster programs, Wall says, tell youngsters they need to be on their own starting at either 18 or 21, which won’t realistically produce successful adults.
“Even for kids that have had the best of supports, I think 18 to 25 are some of the hardest years,” Wall says. “They’re struggling with who they are, and who they want to be, and where they want to go. No one is ready to be completely independent at the age of 20 or 21.”
Wall says she and her husband continue to support the program because they see its positive results. Since the Graham SLAM began, 1,200 young people have received coaching. The high school graduation rate is 81 percent for students with coaching, more than triple the 24 percent average graduation rate for youth in foster care in New York..
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How to Encourage Donors to Step Up
With current threats to federal funding, Watson, Wall, and Gogel have advice for other nonprofits and philanthropists.
“It’s a scary period,” Wall says, noting that donors who step up can really help nonprofits that are doing good work. “Understand what your personal mission is. Where is your heart? And then, stick with it, and support the mission as much as you can. And get your colleagues and peers to do the same thing.”
Wall and Gogel have stepped up in the past during scary moments. During the pandemic, for example, Wall heard from the executive director that staff members were struggling, both personally and professionally — facing challenges like getting to foster family visits or affording mental-health services. Upon hearing that, the couple made several gifts totaling nearly $300,000 to serve as an emergency fund for staff. The fund paid for everything from transportation to foster visits to funeral expenses for a staff member who lost a relative.
If you just put your head in the sand now, you’re not going to fulfill your mission.
Donors are willing to support their favorite causes when they know what’s at stake, Gogel says. So, it’s key for nonprofits to figure out the most crucial work they do. “The important thing here is for each organization to say, look, if we’re going to have that much less money, what do we do best? How can we have the biggest impact?” he says. “If you just put your head in the sand now, you’re not going to fulfill your mission.”
Then, nonprofits need to communicate those key undertakings to donors, so they can “understand priorities and at least get the most important things done,” Gogel says. He encourages donors to get more involved with nonprofits through volunteering and talking to staff about key priorities.
“I’m an optimist. I think the pendulum will be coming back,” he says. “In the interim, we need a survival strategy. We’ve got to be resilient, keep the faith and importantly, concentrate on your philanthropy.”
Watson, who has worked at Graham for 15 years and spent more than three decades working in the social service sector, agrees that these crises can be cyclical. “It’s not the first time nationally that we’ve had moments like this,” she says. In the face of this crisis, the organization is reaching out to its supporters and asking for help. Graham Windham has asked board members to reach out and “be influential” among their peers and ask them to give.
“It’s in these moments,” she says, “that we absolutely have to push forward. We cannot stop, and we won’t stop. The people who depend on us need us all the more now.”
