Steven DeCaprio is an innovative fundraising professional with 25 years of experience working in environmental and civil rights nonprofits. As Chapter Director for the Alabama Chapter of the Sierra Club, Mr. DeCaprio led the revival of the Chapter’s activities during the COVID-19 Pandemic. As he led the transition to remote programs, the chapter’s fundraising doubled, volunteer engagement tripled, and they won historic victories securing commitments to reduce Alabama’s reliance on coal-generated power by over 50%. Mr. DeCaprio also led Sierra Club’s efforts on the ground in Alabama supporting communities experiencing environmental injustice.
During his time with the Sierra Club, Mr. DeCaprio innovated Organizing Centered Fundraising. This approach to fundraising is a new iteration of fundraising practice which prioritizes cultivating deep, meaningful relationships with all supporters to build community and active engagement toward a collective purpose. This approach proved to be both highly effective at generating revenue as well as recruiting a loyal base of support that is more deeply rooted in the organization’s work.
This impact of Organizing Centered Fundraising was most prominently displayed with Mr. DeCaprio’s work with the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club where he personally raised over $1.2 million dollars in accrued funding. This success was also due to Mr. DeCaprio’s innovation in data driven strategies focussing on generating new revenue rather than managing a static portfolio of donors. This approach allowed the San Francisco Bay Chapter to grow despite a downturn in funding nationally.
Mr. DeCaprio also draws inspiration from his experience as a community organizer. Originally from Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle, he became a community organizer as a teenager working on civil rights campaigns. He moved to Oakland, California where he worked with groups such as the Stolen Lives Project and National Lawyers Guild, eventually becoming the Interim Executive Director for the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute where he worked closely with Ann Fagan Ginger, an innovator in the field of civil rights law. This work inspired him to obtain a Master of Laws degree in Public International Law with the University of London.
