ML Innovations, Inc.

ML Innovations, Inc., based in Philadelphia, provides strategically creative services rooted in decades of experience.  We serve organizations nationwide that are interested in enhancing their advancement programs through innovative, donor-centered efforts.

Our professional staff and strategic partners will team with you to identify your objectives, provide the services that will reach or exceed your goals, and provide complete quality assurance.

We continue Philadelphia's proud tradition of innovation.  MLI staff helped pioneer direct-response fundraising having developed many of the techniques now considered standard.  MLI staff were the first to apply professional telemarketing to the museum world and among the first to apply it to the arts community.  Staff also was among the first to apply professional direct-response techniques to planned giving.

The MLI consultancy was established in 1991, with some of Philadelphia's leading cultural institutions among its first clients.  Over the years, the company grew to serve clients across the U.S. and in Canada -- both nonprofits and those companies who market their services to the nonprofit community. 

Contact us today for customized solutions to the challenges you face.

Who We Are

Michael J. Rosen, CFRE is President of ML Innovations, Inc.  Prior to this, Michael co-founded The Development Center, a pioneering direct mail/telephone fundraising company established in 1982 and sold in 1997.

Michael is an alumnus of Temple University where he majored in journalism.  He served as the Editor of The Yardley News before transitioning to the development profession. 

Michael has written the bestselling book, “Donor-Centered Planned Gift Marketing” (John Wiley & Sons) for which he won the prestigious AFP-Skystone Partners Prize for Research in Fundraising and Philanthropy.  He has contributed chapters to the book “Membership Development: An Action Plan for Results” (Aspen Publishing) and has written the Foreword to the book “Effective Telephone Fundraising” (John Wiley & Sons).  In addition, his articles have been published in Advancing Philanthropy, AFP Fundline, Donor Developer, Fund Raising Management Magazine, Membership Matters, Nonprofit Nuts & Bolts, The International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, The Nonprofit Executive, Planned Giving Today, and The Pulse of Planned Giving.  He has served as the Contributing Editor to The Taft Group’s Donor Developer newsletter.  He has been quoted in Association Trends, CASE Currents, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inbound/Outbound Magazine, The Nonprofit Times, The Wall Street Journal, and a number of regional newspapers.

In addition to his writing, Michael lectures internationally at a variety of conferences and seminars.  He is certified as a Master Trainer by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and frequently speaks at AFP conferences internationally and regionally.  He is an adjunct faculty member at Drexel University where he teaches "Advanced Fund Development" in the graduate Arts Management Program.  He has also been a regular continuing education faculty member at Villanova University where he taught fundraising ethics.  In addition, Michael has been a lecturer for the Institute of Fundraising (UK), the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a number of Planned Giving Councils (PPP), the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning National Conference on Philanthropic Planning, the PBS Development Conference, and a number of universities.  He has represented AFP in testimony before the Federal Trade Commission.  

Michael served as President of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Greater Philadelphia and as a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing (John Wiley & Sons).  He served as Vice President for Ethics Education, Association and Government Relations for the AFP Greater Philadelphia Chapter.  He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the AFP Foundation and as Board Chair of the AFP Political Action Committee.

Active in the community, Michael has served on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance.  Michael is a former member of the Board of the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation, a past president of the Board of the Philadelphia Area Repertory Theatre, a former member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia Board of Trustees, and a former member of the Board of the Friends of the Silver Lake Nature Center.  He was a founding member of the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association’s Telemarketing Council.  He serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the ARK Theatre of Los Angeles.

Michael has earned the PDMA Circle of Friends Award, and has received special volunteer recognition from the AFP Foundation, Friends of the Silver Lake Nature Center, and Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation.  A member of Alpha Lamda Delta Honor Society, he has been listed in Who’s Who in the East and Who’s Who of Leading American Businessmen.

 Who We Are

Lisa A. Rosen, Executive Vice
President of ML Innovations, Inc., has worked 25 years in the development field, including 17 years as a successful fundraising and special events consultant serving a variety of small to mid-sized clients in education, the arts, politics, and cancer treatment, among others.  Earlier in her professional career, Lisa worked on the development staff of The Walnut Street Theatre, The Pennsylvania Ballet, and as a senior development officer at Moore College of Art, The Please Touch Museum, and Appel Farm Arts and Music Center.  Lisa is a graduate of Smith College with a degree in American Studies; she has published articles on volunteer recruitment and donor acknowledgment.

Prior to her work with nonprofits, Lisa worked in the residential mortgage industry and in commercial real estate marketing.

Lisa has implemented innovative annual fund, membership, and special events programs for a variety of nonprofit organizations, small and large and a select few political campaigns.  She has provided training programs to help volunteers be more effective organizational representatives and solicitors.  She has also written speeches and tributes for individuals around the country including entertainment celebrities, business leaders, and internationally recognized artists.

Lisa is also an active volunteer with several organizations, and serves on the Board of Friends of the Boyd Theatre (a grassroots effort to save Philadelphia's last movie palace), and the Advisory Board of the ARK Theatre of Los Angeles.  She recently completed an eight-year term with Art-Reach, Inc. (which removes barriers to live arts experiences for the physically and economically challenged), and has twice served on the board of the local Smith College Club and served as a class fund agent.