About Chris
Chris Gabriel’s WISEgenerosity will help you harness the power of giving to transform your life, the lives of those you care about, your community, and our world.
Have you heard the phrase, “You can never be too generous?”
Chris agrees but suggests that there is more to this statement than meets the eye.
After decades of research and experience in both generosity and wealth management, Chris Gabriel, CIMA®, believes that, while you can’t be too generous, it is wise generosity that truly transforms. In order for individuals and organizations to experience the full power of generosity, it must be WISE: Well-grounded, Inspired, Satisfying, and Effective.
Ask Yourself: Are your gifts based on W.I.S.E. Giving?
Picture this: as a family you decide that, because you’ve been blessed with more than you need, you want to begin giving away 20% of your income each year. When deciding where your money should go, it is obvious that your spouse is extremely passionate about the animal shelter around the corner. They volunteer there every week, and you want to provide a fun surprise for them. You write a check and deliver it to the animal shelter during your spouse’s next shift. Everyone is thrilled, and you can’t wait to see the impact your donation makes in the community! However, there is one problem: the shelter does not have the staff, support, or resources they need to make a large gift like this truly effective for years to come. In this scenario, the gift was Inspired but wasn’t fully Well-grounded or Effective. Moreover, the lack of results produced from the gift did not leave you or your family Satisfied.
Perhaps you consider yourself generous, but you have never thought about the transformative impact that a more complete plan for your generosity could have. Maybe you don’t yet consider yourself generous, but you know that the right ideas and support could help you get started. Perhaps you lack the resources to be a major financial contributor but are wealthy in abilities and the willingness to help others. Regardless of where you are, Chris can lead you on a generosity journey that turns your time into treasure, your money into meaning, and your success into significance.
Chris’s Biography
With over 30 years of leadership in the fields of philanthropy and finance, Chris Gabriel is uniquely able to advise on the topic of inspired and effective giving using a process he personally created: WISEgenerosity.
After earning his bachelor’s degree with honors from Yale and a master’s degree from Oxford, Chris began his career serving charitable organizations and their donors as a development director. He later became a nonprofit finance and fundraising consultant and a guide for successful charitable givers. Over time, he has participated in the gift process from every vantage point as a donor, staffer, board member, and financial advisor.
Chris currently oversees a thriving wealth management practice at one of the country’s leading investment firms and is a Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®), a designation sponsored by the Investments & Wealth InstituteTM through the Wharton School of Business. As a financial advisor, Chris empowers the individuals and institutions he serves to accomplish their most important goals today and in years to come.
Optimal Giving is a focus of Chris’s work, uniquely combining philosophy and finance. Through experiences and decades of research and relationships, Chris has developed a framework that unlocks the potential of generosity. In order for individuals and organizations to experience the full power of giving, it must be W.I.S.E.: Well-grounded, Inspired, Satisfying, and Effective.
Chris’s mission is to help others benefit from generosity as an essential virtue of a life well-lived. His principles demonstrate why purposeful and practical planning is needed to maximize the generational impact of giving and its benefits to individuals, families, and institutions. With these goals in mind, Chris shares transformational resources on his website, through his advisory work, and in his forthcoming book, WISEgenerosity.
Chris has engaged actively in volunteer and pro bono work for many nonprofits including several terms as a board member and then president of the Georgia Planned Giving Council, as a trustee of Trinity School in Atlanta (a preeminent early education institution), and as a development and financial consultant to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He is a current and longtime board member at City of Refuge (a nationally renowned urban mission bringing light, hope, and transformation to those living on the margin), and is a teacher and lay leader at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.
Chris’s personal interests include cycling, music, history, cooking, paddleboarding, and golf. He enjoys spending time in all arenas with his wife, Courtenay, and teenagers, Ellie and Reed. Their two “tiny-dog” family members, Baxter and Franklin, usually are close by, and often are underfoot.