In this episode of the Contagious Culture Podcast, Kyle King sits down with Jaimi Cortes, philanthropic strategist with COR Philanthropic Strategies, who has spent more than 20 years helping individuals, families, foundations, and organizations move resources in thoughtful, values-aligned, and community-centered ways.
Jaimi shares how her early experiences in philanthropy shaped her belief that giving should begin with community, trust, and listening. She explains why philanthropy must move beyond traditional check-writing and toward more collaborative, strategic, and equity-centered approaches.
Kyle and Jaimi also discuss donor intent versus meaningful impact, giving circles, collaborative philanthropy, donor-advised funds, impact investing, nonprofit relationship-building, and how both donors and nonprofit leaders can build stronger partnerships that lead to real transformation.
Episode History
00:20 — Meet Jaimi Cortes
01:00 — Moving from good intentions to meaningful impact
01:45 — Jaimi’s entry point into philanthropy
02:30 — Learning community-first philanthropy
03:00 — What Jaimi believed early in her career
03:45 — Corporate social responsibility and early inspiration
04:45 — Working directly with donors
05:30 — Gender lens, race equity lens, and equity frameworks
06:00 — Collaborative philanthropy and giving circles
06:45 — Where new donors should begin
07:00 — The five T’s of philanthropy
08:00 — Volunteering, social capital, and family giving
09:00 — Strategic giving for donors with significant wealth
09:45 — Charitable intent versus meaningful impact
10:30 — Why donors get stuck after setting aside money
11:00 — Building impact conversations at the beginning
12:00 — Trust-based giving and nonprofit relationships
13:00 — How organizations can showcase impact up front
14:00 — Making an impact inside large organizations
15:00 — Case managers, mental health, and targeted giving
16:00 — Questions donors should ask themselves before giving
17:00 — Values alignment and philanthropic priorities
18:00 — Impact investing and donor-advised funds
19:30 — How nonprofits can build relationships with donors and advisors
20:30 — Donor-advised funds and philanthropic advisors
21:30 — Why capital campaign relationships must start early
Jaimi's Bio
Jaimi Cortes is a philanthropic strategist with COR Philanthropic Strategies, where she helps individuals, families, foundations, and organizations move resources in ways that are thoughtful, values-aligned, and community-centered. With more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy, Jaimi has helped facilitate over $200 million in charitable gifts, manage major philanthropic portfolios, design grant-making models, support impact investing opportunities, and guide donors from good intentions to meaningful impact.
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