The Ripple Effect: Donna Beestman

When Madison Community Foundation invited 75 people to join the Legacy Society to celebrate its 75th Anniversary last year, Donna Beestman decided the timing was perfect.

“It feels so good to be working with others to make an impact,” says Donna, who left a gift to A Fund for Women that will support the donor advised fund she started in 2009.

“I know that after I’m gone that work will continue, and I have full confidence that there will be great stewardship of the funds and the grants selection process will respond to the needs of the community at that time.”

While Donna and her husband, George, spent three decades raising their family and building their careers in Missouri and then Delaware, they returned home to Madison in 2002, where Donna grew up on the west side and where the couple met on a blind date.

In 2005, after successful careers as a librarian, a nonprofit executive director, a career consultant, and a senior vice president for business development, Donna launched her own business. Career Success Strategies offers career consulting and executive coaching for senior professionals and executives.

Twenty-five years ago, Donna was a founding donor to the Delaware Community Foundation’s Fund for Women, and is excited to see MCF’s A Fund for Women celebrating the same anniversary this year.

“I just think it’s important for women to think of themselves as contributors in philanthropy,” she says. “And when you impact the life and development of a girl or a woman, you’re also impacting her family and her community. The ripple effect is profound.”