Candidate for
Member, Board of Education; Putnam Valley Central School District

Joseph A. Ferraro, CFRE, founder and president of PULSE Marketing, Development & Communications [PULSE-MDC] helps nonprofit organizations by creating comprehensive donor-focused and relationship-centric integrated marketing/fundraising programs that deliver breakthrough thinking and breakout results.

In addition to his current consulting work, Joe spent over 10 years on the client side. Most recently at Manhattan College, Joe consistently increased income -- raising millions of dollars annually through a combination of direct response, special event and personal cultivation techniques

Prior to Manhattan College, Joe was the President and National Director of the U.S. office of the Aid to the Church in Need + an international Catholic relief agency under the Vatican. He served as the Director of Annual Programs at the American Bible Society creating and leading the team responsible for increasing the donor file by over 300% -- from 190,000 to 600,000 in three years and surpassing income goals each fiscal year -- over $20 million annually. While at the American Bible Society, Joe launched many ground-breaking programs such as the Crusade of Light that generated breakthrough results and garnered numerous industry awards.

Throughout his career, Joe has raised over $250 million and built new fundraising entities. He got his start in fundraising on the agency-side with Walter Karl Fund Raising in the 1980s and built the fundraising division forUni-Mail List Corp. in the 1990s. Over the years has provided comprehensive fundraising services to over a hundred nonprofit organizations including many of the nation's largest nonprofit organizations, including the American Heart Association, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, St. Joseph's Indian School, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, American Lung Association, American Red Cross among others.

Joe, a current member and two-time board member of the Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association, a founding member of a newly established Association of Fundraising Professionals - Westchester Chapter earned his Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential in 1994 and his Master's degree in Nonprofit Management from the New School in 1995. He has been a frequent speaker at industry events and has had articles published in periodicals such as the Non Profit Times and DM News.