Queens Centers for Progress
Wendy Phaff Gennaro
Director of Development
16
Years at QCP, Director of Development since 2018
1,652
LinkedIn followers
4
Civic roles: Community Board 8, Borough President's Nonprofit Network, Queens Chamber, Achilles Queens
Strongest assetShe already writes in her own voice, with humor, and her personal posts draw the most response.
Biggest gapThe profile itself has no About, no Featured section and a title-only headline.
Open questionWhat would she call the way she raises money in Queens, if it had a name?
The 7 on 7+ Assessment
Professional Brand 7 on 7+ Score
Profile Score
17 / 49
Profile effectiveness as evidence of leadership thinking. Seven criteria, each scored 1 to 7. Built on methodology developed by Alan Power and Gair Maxwell.
IDEA Score
21 / 49
Power of your complete digital presence, including social, search, gen-AI - to generate PULL.
Profile Score
17
Tracks your profile effectiveness.
+
IDEA Adjustment
3
Adjusts for your complete digital footprint.
=
7 on 7+ Score
20
Your legend-building signal.
Category Leader
Darren Port, Powered by Professionals
30
Profile
27
IDEA
A banner that states his purpose, a Featured origin story with 425 reactions, a services section and first-person posts every week or two.
Executive Takeaway
Wendy Phaff Gennaro already does what most development leaders do not: she writes in her own voice, and her personal posts outperform her event promotion. Her profile scores 17 of 49 and her IDEA score is 21, the strongest of the QCP leaders reviewed, held back by a title-only profile and posts that never repeat as a series. The answer to DiGo's B.H.O.Q., who she is beyond her title, is close to the surface in her running, her Queens civic roles and her 16 years building QCP's events. Naming it and giving it a repeating shape is the work.
Profile Score: By Criterion
Seven criteria, each scored 1 to 7 by Alan Power and Gair Maxwell. The sum is your profile score out of 49. Vistage room average: 13 to 14. A score above 20 is genuinely strong.
2
First Impression
Immediate 2-3 sec WOW factor. Instant clarity on who this profile speaks to.
The banner shows QCP Players celebrating on stage, a real photo from her own organization, and the headshot is warm and current. The headline reads "Director Of Development at Queens Centers for Progress," the title-at-company line any peer could carry. A headline that says what she builds for Queens is the next step.
1
Impact
A signature asset. Genuine human connection, story-based rather than promotional.
The profile has no Featured section, so the PIX11 segment she filmed with Terri Ross and her TeamQCP marathon photos sit elsewhere. No video or designed piece is surfaced on the page. Moving one made asset to the top is a quick build.
2
Originality
A distinctive point of view. Instantly recognizable. Not category-standard advice.
Her recurring markers are #ItsAllAboutTheQ, Team QCP and a running-for-charity identity that dates to 2005. Those set her apart from most development directors. None of it is yet named as her way of fundraising, so the profile reads as category-standard.
2
Culture
Real personal material indicating a full human. Not a credential list.
Two first-person lines show a real person: her note on running and helping people with disabilities, and her pride at joining Community Board 8. The profile has no About section, and the QCP entry pastes the agency's mission and six principles. The personal material she writes in posts has not reached the profile.
2
Consistency
Track record of publishing current, original content in a recognizable format.
She posted about ten times between May 7 and September 23, 2026, all in her own words. The posts cluster around QCP events, with a gap from early June to late September. A visible format a reader could expect has not formed.
4
Audience Reach
Numbers indicating a growing community. Evidence of genuine engagement.
1,652 people follow her, Follow is the main button on her profile, and a contact link is in place. She has one recommendation, from 2012, about systems work before her nonprofit career. Recent recommendations from donors or partners would strengthen this.
4
Visuals
Cohesive visual elements reflecting personal brand. Distinctive design language.
A good headshot and a custom banner from QCP's own stage give the profile a real, local look. The banner carries no message, and no recurring graphic treatment appears. A line of text on the banner would let it do more work.
IDEA Score: The Signal Before the Click
How She Shows Up in the World
The IDEA Score measures what happens before someone reaches her profile, the off-site signal that shapes perception from the first search, the LinkedIn scroll, the founder post.
21
out of 49
IDEA Score: Digital Footprint
The Idea That Changes Everything
Seven axes. Each one measures a different dimension of how your off-site signal lands, not what your profile says, but what the world hears before anyone clicks.
Pull vs. push. Category of one vs. category of many. A founder voice vs. a corporate signal. These are the levers that determine whether a prospect arrives already interested, or arrives already skeptical.
4
Pull vs. Push
Content creates gravity vs. broadcast/promotional
Her personal posts outperform her event posts. The 16-year work anniversary reflection drew 47 reactions and 8 comments, and the September running post drew 17. Gala shares drew 3 to 6. Event promotion still makes up more than half of what she posts.
2
ONLY vs. Category
Proprietary language/named POV vs. sounds like every competitor
Her language is warm and specific, for example calling her race schedule "slightly unhinged" in a fundraising ask. #ItsAllAboutTheQ recurs, but it reads as a borough slogan rather than a view on fundraising. One line she owns about how Queens gives is still missing.
2
Audience Building
Clear who it's for AND building following beyond buyers
Her best post reached 47 reactions, a sign that reach stays inside her Queens and QCP network. Posts speak to supporters and colleagues. No newsletter or series gives a reader a reason to return.
3
Different-er vs. Better
Competes on distinctiveness/belief vs. features/specs/price
Results carry most of her posts: "Millions of dollars later," two days, six venues and 400 hotel rooms for the golf outing. She does state one belief, that nonprofits belong at the table in chambers of commerce. That belief could lead more of what she writes.
2
IDEA vs. Best Practices
Organizing belief visible across all channels vs. channel-by-channel
Running for charity runs through her posts, from TeamQCP marathon photos to the Disney Dopey Challenge. Each post is still a one-off tied to an event. Turning the running thread into a named, repeating series is the next build.
4
Founder/Leader Voice
Named human with consistent opinionated first-person presence
About nine of her ten recent posts are in her own words, with humor and named teammates such as Shaun Caruana and Jyoti Lakhani. Her opinions are soft: gratitude and recaps, with one clear argument. A firmer view, stated often, is what would lift this.
4
Cultural Relevance
Signal connects to a larger shift in the world vs. exists in isolation
She holds real civic roles: Queens Community Board 8 since 2019, the Borough President's Nonprofit Network advisory board since 2023, more than ten years on the Queens Chamber's nonprofit committee, and founder of Achilles International Queens. She appeared on PIX11 in February 2026. No outside profile or byline about her own work turned up.
Digital Footprint Scan
Where She Can Show Up Next
LinkedIn
Active
1,652 followers. About ten first-person posts from May to September 2026, led by her work anniversary and running posts.
QCP website
Weak
Byline on QCP news stories such as the 5K recap; listed on the Senior Staff page with no photo or bio.
Civic roles
Active
Community Board 8, the Borough President's Nonprofit Network, the Queens Chamber nonprofit committee and Achilles Queens.
Broadcast
Weak
One PIX11 segment with Terri Ross in February 2026.
Running and fundraising pages
Active
Personal fundraising pages for the NYC Marathon and Disney Dopey Challenge, shared through her posts.
Newsletter or series
Absent
No series or newsletter under her own name.
Strategic Opportunity
How to Build Her Legend
Short Term
Name what she already does (Clarify)
Answer the B.H.O.Q. in one sentence. Running for a cause since 2005, Queens civic work and 16 years of QCP events are the material.
Pick her audience (Clarify)
Decide whether she writes for Queens donors and businesses or for fellow development professionals, and write to that reader.
Set her one belief (Clarify)
Commit to the view she has already stated, that nonprofits belong in business rooms, as her standing argument.
Medium Term
A profile that says it (Identity)
Add a first-person About, a headline built on her answer and a Featured section holding the PIX11 segment and her best post.
A banner with a line (Identity)
Keep the QCP Players photo and add one line of text that carries her answer.
A running series (Growth)
Turn her race-and-raise posts into a named, dated series from training to finish line, so readers follow along.
Ask for recommendations (Growth)
Gather recent recommendations from sponsors, Chamber colleagues and board members to show who vouches for her.
Competitive Landscape
Who's Setting the Pace
Darren Port
CEO, Powered by Professionals
5,841 followers. His banner states a purpose, his Featured section opens with the story of losing his father at 15, and he posts first-person lessons on event fundraising every week or two.
Lauren (Slegona) Marzo
Chief Development Officer, The Viscardi Center
829 followers. Her About is a resume-style summary of 29 years in fundraising; she posts a few times a year, mostly event thanks and award news.
Donnie Manetta
Senior Director of Development, Powered by Professionals
604 followers. His headline lists 100+ galas and $75M+ raised; his activity is reposts with no original posts observed.
Where Wendy Can Lead
The open lane
Darren Port writes for nonprofit leaders who might hire his firm. Wendy writes for the Queens donors, businesses and officials who fund QCP. A named series in her own voice, aimed at that local audience, is a lane none of these peers occupy.
Market Context
Why This Is Harder, and Easier, Than It Used To Be
Most charitable money still comes from individual people, and donors decide whom to back by the people they know. Development leaders who are visible in their own voice give donors a person to follow.
$592.5B
Total US charitable giving in 2024, a record in current dollars
Giving USA, 2025
$392B
Given by individuals in 2024, about two-thirds of all giving
Giving USA, 2025
$91.2B
Given to human services in 2024, up 5.0%
Giving USA, 2025
76%
Adults who trust their own employer, the most trusted institution
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2025
What Keeps You Up at Night
The forces shaping Wendy Phaff Gennaro's competitive environment, and why standing still is not an option.
Trust in leaders is thin
Seven in ten adults believe business leaders deliberately mislead them, so donors lean on people they already know.
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2025 HeadwindFaith in leaders has slipped
Lack of faith in business leaders has risen 21% since 2021, so trust has to be earned in public, by name.
Edelman Trust Barometer, 2025 HeadwindBigger shops are more visible
Event fundraising firms publish weekly on LinkedIn and set the bar donors and board members see.
HeadwindWhere the Opportunity Lives
The same forces creating pressure are also creating openings for those willing to lead.
Individuals give most
Individuals gave about $392 billion in 2024, and a known, trusted fundraiser is a direct line to them.
Giving USA, 2025 TailwindPeer fundraising runs on story
Her running posts already turn personal effort into donations; a series would compound that.
TailwindHuman services giving is growing
Giving to human services rose 5.0% to $91.15 billion in 2024.
Giving USA, 2025 TailwindUnlock Your Full Roadmap
Her Future-State Professional Brand
The full roadmap names Wendy Phaff Gennaro's way of fundraising, rebuilds her profile around it and turns her running and Queens work into a series donors follow.
Phase 1
Clarify
Phase 2
Identity
Phase 3
Growth