Biographical Information

Cynthia Steiger has provided assistance to charitable organizations for over 20 years in both a professional and volunteer capacity. Her consulting practice, Charitable Solutions, founded in 1996, provides a wide range of fund development services to public charities and private foundations, ranging from major gift development to campaign management.

Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Ms. Steiger served as Marketing Director for Estate Planning Solutions, and served for two years as Director of Marketing for a major San Diego-based trust company. Ms. Steiger has also worked in the private sector as CEO of a large, closely-held publishing company. She has created and presented more than 75 public, private, and for-credit professional seminars on estate planning, charitable strategies and insurance, and is the author of The Endowment Program Scorecard. Experienced in all facets of nonprofit management and fundraising, her expertise includes major and planned gift development, gift annuity administration, communications design, campaign management, donor cultivation, policy development, and technology systems.

In 2003, Cynthia co-founded Charitable Advantage LLC, a charitable administration firm based in Long Beach. Her corporate partner, Halbert Hargrove Russell, is a Registered Investment Advisor with over $1 billion under management. As President, she oversaw the company's efforts to help nonprofits manage and administer gifts, achieve greater efficiency in operations, and meet the highest standards of fiduciary conduct.

The recipient of an early-admission music scholarship at age 15, Ms. Steiger attended Augsburg College. Current and past volunteer affiliations include past Chair of the Planned Giving Committee for the San Diego Historical Society; Board Vice-Chair and Finance Committee Chair for Walden Family Services; Board member of United Way of San Diego (Investment Committee, Endowment Committee Chair); and Director of the Rancho Bernardo Community Fund. Cynthia is a Certified Planned Giving Specialist (Cal State Long Beach), is licensed with the California Department of Insurance, and is a registered Fundraising Consultant with the California State Attorney General's Office. Her professional memberships include the National Committee on Planned Giving, the Planned Giving Roundtable of Orange County, and the Southern California and North County Estate Planning Group.

Current consulting clients include the Casa Foundation, Inc., an operating foundation for the Casa de las Campanas retirement community in Rancho Bernardo, California; the San Diego Foundation's Endow San Diego Partnership; the Maritime Museum of San Diego; and United Way of San Diego County.