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Kaboth named Director of Development
for National Council of Churches USA

New York, January 13, 2008 -- Kurt Kaboth, who has been serving as Interim Director of Development for the National Council of Churches USA since April 2008, has been named to the full-time position by the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary.

In the past nine months, Kaboth, a Presbyterian Church (USA) layperson, has worked in concert with NCC staff to increase support of the Council by member communions, conducted two successful mail campaigns, received a million dollar individual gift, and increased the number of foundation grants.

As Director of Development, Kaboth is responsible for advancing the mission and programs of the Council through the management and expansion of resource development, including communion support, individual gifts, foundation grants and planned giving.

Kaboth is also responsible for managing the Resource Development Department, including an assistant and support staff member, who research and solicit financial contributions; receive, process and recognize these gifts; and tell the story of the many people, churches and institutions that support the unity and mission work of the Council.

Kaboth was previously a consultant to nonprofit organizations in the areas of strategic planning, marketing and resource development with an emphasis on planned giving.

Before that he served as the Head of School for Eastern Christian School, a 900-student, 3-campus K-12 Christian school in northern New Jersey. In that role he reinvigorated annual and special fund-raising, increasing unrestricted giving each year, began a donor recognition society, and initiated a capital campaign for facilities improvement.

Kaboth has an extensive local church background, formerly serving as president of the board of trustees of West Side Presbyterian Church after its 2001 fire and leading the efforts to rebuild the $26 million sanctuary and chapel buildings. He served as treasurer of the Presbytery of the Palisades in the early 1980s and continued in that position in 2008.

Kaboth also served as secretary and general counsel of the YMCA Retirement Fund which managed the retirement program for YMCA's in the U.S. He led the efforts to obtain from Congress a special tax law permanently protecting the fund's 80,000 beneficiaries. He helped develop and teach the highly rated pre-retirement and financial planning seminars for YMCA employees.

Kaboth holds three academic degrees at Indiana University: a Juris Doctor, MBA and a bachelor's degree in history.

Kaboth is married to the Rev. Katherine Cunningham who, with other pastors, operates a non-profit counseling center in New Jersey. The Kaboths have one son, Asher, now a graduate student in Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"The most effective mission-driven organizations," Kaboth observes, "obtain for themselves an attitude of giving, open and effective communication, and aggressive pursuit of resource development."


NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228, NCCnews@ncccusa.org


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