DSA Award

JJ van Haelewyn Named 2025 Distinguished Service Award Honoree

The National Capital Gift Planning Council (NCGPC) is proud to announce John-Joseph “JJ” van Haelewyn, Director of Gift Planning at the Smithsonian Institution, as the recipient of its prestigious Distinguished Service Award. The award will be presented to JJ on June 17 at the 2025 Planned Giving Day Conference at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C.

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) was created to honor gift planning, development or allied professionals with an exemplary record of service including:

  • Demonstrated quality leadership in gift planning
  • Longevity in the field (a minimum of five years)
  • Specific achievements in promoting and securing planned gifts
  • Service to the gift planning profession through participation in CGP and/or NCGPC
  • Adherence to the Model Standards of Practice for the Charitable Gift Planner

JJ van Haelewyn

Each year, DSA nominations are received by a selection committee tasked with reviewing nominations and making a recommendation to the NCGPC Board of Directors. To ensure a balanced and representative vote, the committee includes at minimum the most recent DSA recipient (or a previous award winner), a current NCGPC Board Member, and one or more active NCGPC members.

As the Director of Gift Planning at the Smithsonian Institution, JJ van Haelewyn manages and leads an experienced team responsible for securing more than $50 million annually in deferred gifts from individuals and families. Additionally, his team is focused on educating leadership volunteers in gift planning and providing consistent and cutting-edge training that includes classes and thoughtful one-on-one coaching for staff across the Institution’s 21 museums and 14 education and research centers. Highly regarded and respected, JJ and the team he leads are uniformly generous with their knowledge, guidance, and support. His colleagues describe him as “a joy to work with” and “someone whose door is always open.”

“JJ exemplifies what a caring, thoughtful and effective leader can be in the non-profit world,” writes Dana Kaufman, Sr. Gift Planning Officer at the Smithsonian. “He is consistently in tune with his staff, taking an interest in their professional and personal lives, empowering them to achieve their best. He has a positive outlook and understated manner that allows those on his team to shine, while also building a team-oriented culture.”

JJ’s thoughtful, steady, and strategic leadership have enabled his team to become full partners in the Office of Advancement, after years of being seen as those who “talk about bequests and death.” An example of this is the recent merger of the Principal and Planned Giving Teams, which will result in more outright, blended, and deferred gifts of significance to benefit cultural, scientific, and educational institutions for generations to come.

“JJ builds bridges with colleagues across departments and disciplines, earning their respect and confidence in gift planning’s potential to advance institutional priorities,” writes former Smithsonian colleague Sarah Sosa-Acevedo, Executive Director of Wenham Museum. “His voice is often sought in shaping strategy, and his presence at the table elevates planned giving as a critical component of fundraising success.”

JJ led the Smithsonian’s first-ever legacy challenge campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a significant increase in new planned gift commitments. His forward-thinking and innovative approach inspired confidence among colleagues and donors, and demonstrated how planned giving can offer a meaningful avenue for impact even in times of crisis.

“JJ treats every donor interaction as a privilege,” writes Sarah. “He listens deeply to understand donors’ values and aspirations, and he ensures the gifts they create align both with their wishes and the missions of the organizations they support. His ability to guide complex conversations with clarity and compassion is a hallmark of his practice. He never pressures—he educates, advises, and empowers.”

JJ is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) with 25 years of experience in planned giving and major gifts fundraising. After graduating from the University of Virginia, JJ’s career in fundraising began with the American Red Cross. From 2001 to 2014, he worked for the National Geographic Society while earning his Master of Liberal Arts from The Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, JJ most recently served as Director of Planned Giving for National Geographic where he was responsible for leading a highly effective team that worked to implement best-in-class strategies and marketing efforts that identified hundreds of new bequest intentions, streamlined bequest administration, solidified CGA compliance, and grew CGA assets from $100,000 to more than $15 million in seven years.

“When I met JJ, I immediately noticed two things that continue to define him to this day– his outstanding ability to build meaningful relationships with donors and colleagues alike, and his unwavering integrity and care of donors and colleagues throughout the gift process,” writes Nancy Enzler Rehman, Assistant Director of Individual Giving at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. “His ability to connect donors to content that is important to them and brings gifts to closure is his model. At National Geographic his relationships were so strong that 60% of his portfolio made multiple planned gifts over their lifetimes.”

Over the course of his storied career, JJ has helped promote and secure hundreds of planned gifts ranging from simple to complex, including charitable bequests, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and retained life estates. Additionally, he has played a vital role in securing gifts of real estate, blended gifts, and endowed gifts, including those that name endowed museum director positions and strengthen the Smithsonian’s endowment long-term.

JJ is a long-time member of both CGP and NCGPC. A former member of NCGPC’s Board of Directors, JJ also co-chaired the council’s Sponsorship Committee.
“Thanks in large part to JJ’s efforts, we achieved the highest sponsorship income in the history of Planned Giving Days,” writes Kathy Ward, CFRE and recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Service Award. “Beyond his impressive resume, JJ brings incredible leadership, energy, and integrity to everything he does. He’s a natural team builder, and I’ve learned so much from working with him over the years.”

JJ’s active engagement with NCGPC reflects his commitment to strengthening the field, supporting fellow professionals, and advancing best practices in planned giving. He is known for his generosity in mentoring peers and serving as a trusted advisor to emerging professionals, always ready to offer ideas, make connections, and lend support. His service to the gift planning profession and to the broader philanthropic community reflects his belief that our field is strongest when we support each other—and when we grow together.

As this year’s honoree and 29th recipient of the DSA Award, we celebrate JJ’s outstanding leadership and dedication to advancing knowledge and skills in gift planning and his exemplary record of service to donors, colleagues, and the missions of the institutions he has served so admirably with unwavering integrity.

Past Distinguished Service Award Winners

  • Brenden Haggerty (1996)
  • Ron Sapp (1997)
  • Jerry McCoy (Deceased) (1998)
  • Jim Potter (Deceased) (1999)
  • Jerry Anderson (Deceased) (2000)
  • Phil Melberg (2001)
  • Doug White (2002)
  • Jeffrey W. Comfort (2003)
  • Robert J. Brennan (2004)
  • Arthur T. Keefe III (2005)
  • Angela W. Sosdian (2006)
  • Kathryn L. Ward, CFRE (2007)
  • Mary Todd Hardeman (2008)
  • Gayle S. Union, CFRE (2009)
  • Anne Coppola (2010)
  • Karen Gallardo, CFRE (2011)
  • Carla Rosati, CFRE (2012)
  • Ann Wrenshall Worley (2013)
  • John Jensen, CFP (2014)
  • Chris McGurn (2015)
  • Edward Alexander Cadogan (2016)
  • Phyllis Freedman (2017)
  • John B. Kendrick, CAP (2018)
  • Patricia G.Wang (2019)
  • Jane Kolson (2020)
  • E. John McKee (2021)
  • Rosalyn “Missy” Ham-Cross (2022)
  • None awarded in 2023
  • Nikki Peters (2024)