Meet our Advisor
J.A. Morton, Principal
J.A. Morton, CAP®, has brought deep, community-rooted insight and creative vision to her role as philanthropy advisor for Pinellas Community Foundation’s Social Opportunity Works Fund. Since 2018, she has helped guide the Fund’s mission to direct more than $2 million to communities throughout Tampa Bay and in North Carolina.
“Donor trust is key in creating ongoing impact through the nonprofit sector. Helping donors consider everything from personal legacy-building to a family’s philanthropic wishes impacts what they want to give, and where they want to give it. Knowing the landscape of the region they want to impact is vital — and that means delving deep into community stakeholding and the region’s pressing issues. It’s work that can be time-consuming and require several levels of interfacing that donors may not have the time or desire to do. Effective donor engagement and relationship development is how donors will decide if they trust me to help them find organizations that they will want to support, in areas where they want to support them, and in the ways that they want to support them.”
Working closely with nonprofits to help build and sustain their capacity, J.A.’s innate curiosity and creative strategizing have supported nonprofits in building sustained, meaningful impact. She has brought her expertise in a variety of areas – from website development and marketing to helping build community giving circles and producing storytelling videos – to support increased donor and community impact.
Through Blaq Candle Philanthropic, she brings all these skills to a consulting platform that works directly with donors and nonprofits through a variety of pricing models, including hourly or project-based fees and monthly retainers.
She holds a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation from the American College of Financial Services and a Master of Fine Arts from Brown University.