About Philanthropic Partners

Sarah Cortell Vandersypen, CFRE has been in the nonprofit sector for more than a decade. Early in her career, she realized that nonprofits couldn’t do the impactful work they do without funding.

She chose to launch Philanthropic Partners, a Baton Rouge-based firm, to help nonprofits cut through the noise around raising money. Through her consulting services and trainings, Sarah shows organizations how to raise funds more effectively while making meaningful connections for donors.

Through her years of experience at various arts and cultural institutions and higher education around the United States, Sarah has developed a unique skill set in nonprofit operations, fund development, volunteer management, board development, program evaluation, program planning, and grant making.

Sarah launched her fundraising career at Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and then went on to several fundraising positions at arts and cultural organizations, including the Wexner Center for the Arts, Smithsonian Institution, National Gallery of Art, and LSU Museum of Art.

Sarah has been licensed as a Certified Fund Raising Executive since 2016. She received her MA in Arts Policy and Administration from The Ohio State University and her BA in Art History from Boston University. Sarah is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

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