The Oram Group was founded by Harold L. Oram in 1940. In the shadow of World War II, he and a few colleagues literally wanted to change the world – by stimulating social betterment through philanthropic response. In the early days, the firm concentrated on direct mail fund raising, and Harold Oram was a pioneer in using modern direct marketing techniques to stimulate social change. Over time however, our clients changed and their broader needs demanded that we develop professional competencies in every aspect of nonprofit philanthropic management – which we did: expertise in capital and annual fund raising, institutional assessments, strategic planning, organizational development, governance and board leadership.
We have served every category of charity: education, religion, health, welfare, services to youth and the elderly, social action, civil rights, the environment, and the visual and performing arts. Our clients have come to depend on us for fresh ideas, comprehensive nonprofit experience, total reliability, measurable achievements and above all, unflinching integrity.
Principals Of The Oram Group, Inc.
Henry (Hank) Goldstein is one of two principal partners of The Oram Group, Inc., consultants to philanthropic organizations, with offices in New York and San Francisco. He is past chair of Giving USA Foundation, and former chairman and president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) nationally and in New York.
Clients have included Chautauqua Institution, American Craft Council, American India Foundation, Lingnan Foundation, The Cooper Union, Children's Health Fund, amfAR, Stamford Health Foundation, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Foundation, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, CRUDEM Foundation/Knights of Malta Association, St. Francis College, Human Rights Campaign, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Family Health International, Africa-America Institute, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual & Transgendered Community Center, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Friends of the High Line, New York Urban League, Actors Fund of America and Jewish Senior Life (Rochester).
Mr. Goldstein has been an advisor to foundations and families of wealth with emphasis on giving strategies and grantees' accountability issues. Foundations served include Kresge and Ford. Ford and Rockefeller Brothers Fund have previously referred organizations to Oram for client services.
He is president of the board of trustees of Women's Prison Association, Chairman of PICO National Network, former trustee and treasurer of Jazzmobile and trustee emeritus of Berkshire Theater Festival. Mr. Goldstein serves on the national scholarship award committee of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He is co-author of Dear Friend, Mastering the Art of Direct Mail Fundraising and his publication So You Want to be a Consultant! was published in 2006. Opinion and commentary on current philanthropic trends may be found on the blog Oram Matters, accessed directly on line or through the company's web site.
HG is adjunct professor of philanthropic management at Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy and has overseen 300 studies of nonprofit organizations by his graduate students over 20 years of teaching.
Marilyn Bancel heads The Oram Group’s west coast office. She has worked prominently in San Francisco Bay Area non-profits since 1976. Marilyn joined The Oram Group in 1993, specializing in major giving and capital campaigns, strategic planning, and board development.
In addition to consulting, Marilyn has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco where she taught Capital Campaigns and Major Gifts in the College of Professional Studies, Institute of Nonprofit Management. She has published a number of articles about fund development, and is author of the widely and continuously used step-by-step workbook, Preparing Your Capital Campaign, published in fall, 2000 by Jossey-Bass Inc. and reviewed by The Foundation Center.
Prior to entering the consulting field, Marilyn worked for fifteen years as an institutional fund-raiser—as director of development for The Exploratorium, a museum of science, art and technology; as director of development for The Oakland Symphony; and as founder and executive director of East Bay Performance, Inc., publisher of the bi-weekly journal Bay Arts Review. Before entering the nonprofit field, she lived for three years in Turkey where she operated an 80-person cottage craft and clothing export business.
An alumna of Indiana University, Marilyn graduated with majors in English and French, Phi Beta Kappa. She has long been active with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Gate Chapter, for which she has served as board member and officer and as chair of various programs and events including the Mentor Program and National Philanthropy Day. She is a recipient of the Chapter’s Hank Rosso Outstanding Fundraising Executive Award. She is a frequent speaker and teacher at fund-raising seminars and conferences.
