Our Team

Michael Gilbert is an internationally known consultant to foundations and nonprofits, an innovator in the field of nonprofit technology and communication, an influential author and editor, and a social entrepreneur.

Michael has played a long and seminal role in the development of the field of nonprofit technology. He delivered the opening keynote address at the very first Silicon Valley Conference on Nonprofits and Technology. He was the Founding President of the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) and helped lead it through the period when it gained the critical trust of its key communities. He built a nonprofit technology company during the boom and helped several such companies survive afterwards.

Michael was the Editor of, and contributed to, the Journal of Information Technology and Social Change, the Journal of Networks and Civil Society, The Campaign Cookbook: A Manual for Grassroots Education and Mobilization, Communication Centered Technology Planning, The Guide to Nonprofit Email, 21st Century Fundraising Resources, 21st Century Collaboration Resources, and 21st Century Effectiveness Resources. He continues to be the Editor and Publisher of Nonprofit News (formerly Nonprofit Online News), a leading newsletter of the field.

Michael is the author of hundreds of articles, including: The Sociotechnical Renaissance, The Side-Effect Principle, Networks of Trust, The Direct Mail Addiction, Five Ways Tech Projects Fail, Toward Network-Centric Philanthropy, The Permeable Organization, An Open Letter to Nonprofit Technology Funders, The Email Savvy Organization, Narcissistic Nonprofit Newsletters, Why Websites Fail, and The Gilbert Email Manifesto.

He has been a popular speaker with many organizations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Planned Parenthood, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Nonprofit Technology Network, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the Kellogg Action Lab, and many others.

Michael is an indefatigable social innovator. His article on the structured syndication of grant content led to the creation of Grantsfire, now a project of The Foundation Center. The innovations from Social Ecology, his bleeding-edge nonprofit software company, are still being replicated throughout the sector. He started blogging in April 1997, making him one of only two bloggers who are still publishing from then. He is often credited with helping ignite a revolution in nonprofit communication practice with his research and writing on email in the first half of the oughts.

Michael has directed numerous groundbreaking research projects; including the Nonprofit Site Analyzer Reports, the First Nonprofit Email Survey, the Nonprofit Email Studies, Doing Well by Doing Good: A Report on Work Satisfaction in Civil Society, as well as many private studies. He is currently completing a large scale study on the topic of evidence-based practices in philanthropy.

Michael has served as Executive Director or Chief Executive of six organizations, as a board member or officer of more than thirty, and as a communication and management consultant to over 1500 organizations in more than two dozen countries over the last three decades. He was born in Sweden, lives and works in Seattle, and counts Berlin as his home away from home. He’s also indentured as Captain to a sailboat named Melange, and in his spare time, he’s a tango dancer.

Christine Dragonwyck was the research coordinator for the Nonprofit Email Study, the most ambitious research of its kind. She reviewed nearly 200 applicants for participation and then managed 22 partners for a period of six months to investigate 23 questions. Prior to that research, Ms. Dragonwyck has been responsible for client project management and client relations with major foundations and nonprofits, has designed and implemented communication and management workflow and processes, and had lead responsibility for numerous publishing projects.

Mike Bergfors is an Analyst at The Gilbert Center, where he works on research, and evaluation projects. He specializes in developing practices for the communication of analysis to decision makers, which is one of the central barriers to the adoption and success of evidence-based practices in our sectors. His professional background includes technology startups, financial business intelligence, and game design. His work at The Gilbert Center includes a series of case studies and makeovers related to the i4 framework of evidence-based practice. He also writes some of the best How To documents in the field.

Andie Whitley is a Research Associate at The Gilbert Center, where she works on the analysis of text and content, including semantic and network research. Her professional background includes social work, training delivery and online research methods, such as background investigation and relationship mapping. She’s currently helping lead a large scale research project on the culture and practices of data driven decision making among the largest U.S. foundations.

Michael Soper, President & CEO, TeamSoper.Com and the Development & Marketing Management Corporation. Formerly, he was Sr. VP, Development at PBS and WETA. Soper consults with nonprofit’s leadership, management, marketing, and fundraising professionals. His virtual consulting teams bring together nationally recognized experts to provide total marketing solutions, strategy / campaign development, relationship building email, direct mail copywriting, list segmentation, design, and production.

Soper has thirty years of nonprofit leadership and fundraising experience. His client list includes the NAACP / Baltimore; WQED / Pittsburgh; World Wildlife Fund – International (WWF); Gland, Switzerland, Society of Women Engineers / Chicago; The Children’s Inn at NIH (National Institute of Health), Bethesda; WNPT / Nashville; KWBU / Waco, CPB, PBS, and; the ALS Foundation / Los Angeles.

While at PBS, Soper managed all fundraising support services supplied to PBS member stations nationwide, including the development of the “TV Worth Watching … TV Worth Paying For” and “Funded by the Annual Financial Support of Viewers Like You” themes / campaigns. More recently, Soper conducted three national research studies for PBS stations (Image, Brand Resonance, and Member Attitudes). He is now unveiling “The Soper Manifesto,” an entirely new approach to securing lower level support for nonprofit institutions. His occasional “TeamSoper eBulletins” are available at no cost by request.

Soper received his Master’s Degree in Journalism with a minor in Advertising from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL in May 1998, where, in 1973, he also earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE).

Putnam Barber is a visionary social entrepreneur, a wise observer of nonprofits, and one of the most respected voices in the world of public benefit organizations.

He is a senior consultant to Executive Alliance, an association of nonprofit executive directors and supporters of the field. He is also the Chief Editor of the Nonprofit FAQ, which has been a widely cited encyclopedia of nonprofit knowledge since its inception in 1994. He is on the Editorial Board of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. He is a Visiting Professor in Seattle University’s Not for Profit Leadership program. In 1990, he was the founding Executive Director of The Evergreen State Society, a nonprofit association in Washington State.

He was a columnist for the Chronicle of Philanthropy and is the author of numerous influential articles on the sector. He was a Senior Advisor to Social Ecology, a past Director of the Washington State Office of Voluntary Action, and a past Executive Director of Cityclub.