history

Carlton G. Ketchum was one of two principals who founded Ketchum in 1919. Under his leadership, Ketchum, headquartered in Pittsburgh, became the largest fundraising consulting firm in the United States.

Mr. Ketchum was also the co-founder of Ketchum, MacLeod and Grove, which became Ketchum Communications and now is one of the top ten Public Relations firms in the United States.

He is viewed as one of the pioneers of professional fundraising and public relations. He established many of the fundamentals, which became integral parts of both professions. In particular, he devised the first adaptation of organized volunteer fundraising methods.

Among his accomplishments, he was one of the founders of the Giving Institute (formerly the American Association of Fundraising Counsel) in 1935 and served as its president on two occasions. Carlton Ketchum also served as the finance director of the National Republican Party for over eight years and helped establish the fundraising organizations for the Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan Republican parties.

In addition to his highly successful business interests, Carlton Ketchum had a distinguished military career. He served in the United States Army during World War I and returned to active duty in World War II, reaching the rank of colonel. He was born in Yankton, South Dakota, educated at Oberlin College and the University Pittsburgh. He retired as Chairman and CEO of Ketchum in 1976 but stayed active in philanthropy until his death in 1984.

Our history

Carlton and George Ketchum met for lunch with several of their friends to announce that they were starting a publicity and fundraising firm. The year was 1919, and professional public relations and fundraising were considered one in the same in those days. Prior to the founding of Ketchum, there were no public relations or fundraising practitioners outside of New York and Philadelphia.

Initially, the brothers sought out publicity and advertising accounts and added a local bank and grocer as clients. The brothers became active in civic organizations as a way of meeting other local businessmen, and soon their contacts created a network of leaders who sought their advice and counsel.

Pittsburgh was an industrial and manufacturing hub. Corporations such as U.S. Steel, (USX) Pittsburgh Paint and Glass, and Heinz 57 Varieties are a few of the foundational companies. This created a healthy philanthropic environment, not only because of the immense wealth that was available in the community, but also because of the large number of professionals that could be recruited to serve as volunteer fundraisers. The innovative use of volunteer leadership and the method of peer-to-peer solicitation were developed by Ketchum.

The success and growth of the organization has been built on a commitment to the original principals of honesty, integrity and a commitment to our clients. Ketchum has served over 11,000 clients in education, healthcare, the arts, community services, social services, youth services and religious organizations. Ketchum led campaigns have raised billions of dollars across the United States.

The Ketchum organization is recognized as a leader in the industry, training thousands of professionals and volunteers in the fundamentals of fundraising and donor stewardship. As a founding member of the Giving Institute (formerly American Association of Fundraising Counsel), Ketchum has played a major role in the organization that works to provide research on philanthropy and maintaining the ethics of the profession.

In 1995, Ketchum joined with RSI, a leader in the church stewardship fundraising. The partnership of two leaders in their respective areas created the most comprehensive service company dedicated to the not-for-profit sector.

Who we are

The Ketchum Team works to inspire, motivate, and lead the strategic planning process that is required to be successful in raising funds. We are the insistent voice throughout our engagement with our clients.

Over eight decades of service to not-for-profits has taught us that even though every campaign is unique, what our clients want from us is the same: to meet their fundraising goal with donors who are satisfied and volunteers who are content with their role in a successful effort.

Those expectations are important but only the beginning in what we strive to accomplish on behalf of our clients. We want to increase their annual support as a natural result of a successful major gifts campaign. We want the campaign to inspire additional deferred gifts and bequests. We want this success to inspire the next success.