James ‘Jim’ Holdman

Jim was born in Caruthersville, Mo., on Dec. 12, 1946. The son of an evangelist minister, he moved over 16 times before graduating from high school. Jim attended and graduated from Northwest Bible College in Minot, N.D., where he met and married Linda (Sunnyside, Wash.) on June 5, 1970. They resided in Minot for 30 years, where their three sons were born: Brent Edward (Blue Thomas), Minneapolis, Minn.; Todd David (Nicole Rostad), Fargo, N.D.; and Scott Robert (Erin Kowal), Fargo. Jim was proud of his two grandchildren, Inger (6 years old) and Jens (3 years old).

Jim and Linda moved to Grand Forks in 1995, where Jim immediately began building friendships in the community. He was proud to call Grand Forks home, and proud to be from North Dakota where he said, “The people are so great I will never want to leave this state.”

He is survived by: his wife, Linda; his children and grandchildren; brother, David (Janice) Holdman, Naples, Fla.; sisters, Carmen (Ben) Perez, Cleveland, Tenn., Mary Margaret (Jack) Morris, Sydney, Australia, and Joy (Joe) Camp, Aiken, S.C.; six nephews and two nieces; a paternal aunt and a maternal aunt.

He was preceded in death by parents, Lee Edward and Frieda Louise (Yates) Holdman, who lived in Aiken, S.C.

Jim served as a strategic mentor and coach for the mission-driven people of nonprofits, foundations, institutions and community organizations all over the nation for over 40 years. Jim averaged over 150,000 miles each month for most of his career, serving worthy causes that made the world a better place.

His innovative and pioneering new strategies became central to a new framework he built for fundraising, which has been used with tremendous success to expand programs, build community assets and grow donor fulfillment. Since 2005, Jim, along with his youngest son, Scott, led fundraising training and coaching for hundreds of nonprofits through a unique partnership with the Dakota Medical Foundation and Impact Foundation.

At the core of his efforts has been the development of strategies and programs to harness the potential of the national wealth transfer, with a major focus on slowing the out-migration of capital and young people from rural America.

Jim’s professional consulting career was distinguished by long and lasting partnerships formed with clients as he personally guided them in implementing sequential development strategies. Additionally, his service as a director for many charitable organization boards positioned him to understand firsthand the practical application of various fundraising systems. His legacy of helping nonprofits will be carried on through FundingLogic, a company he created with his son, Scott, in addition to the initiatives he advised at Dakota Medical and Impact foundations.

With Jim as partner and driving force, Dakota Medical and Impact foundations have helped charitable causes of the region thrive raising hundreds of millions of dollars more for their good work, expanding giving through Giving Hearts Day, building a collaborative charitable community and achieving profound impact for the people they serve.

In lieu of flowers, a charitable fund will be set up at Dakota Medical Foundation in Jim’s name for capacity building and training for nonprofits, something he deeply believed in. Checks may be sent to: Jim Holdman Memorial Fund, Dakota Medical Foundation, 4141-28th Ave. S., Fargo, ND 58104, or online at (www.impactgiveback.org), (DMF Jim Holdman Impact Institute Fund).

Funeral service: 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, 2014, in Hope Evangelical Covenant Church, 1601-17th Ave. S., Grand Forks, ND.

Visitation: 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, April 21, with a 7 p.m. prayer service, in the Historic Norman Funeral Home Gregory J. Norman Funeral Chapel, 2950 S. Washington St., Grand Forks. Visitation will continue for one hour prior to the funeral in the church on Tuesday.

Burial: Memorial Park North Cemetery, Grand Forks, in the spring.

The online memorial registry may be signed at (www.normanfuneral.com).