David Peregrino
El Paso Times

Professional fund-raiser Steven Silver, president of El Paso's Philanthropic Services of the Southwest, has announced he will move to Dallas at the end of the month to run a new money-raising organization, Philanthropic Fund Development.

The move means several El Paso nonprofits will lose access to Silver's 25 years of financial-development expertise, but Silver said he will keep working with at least two El Paso clients: the El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center, and the El Paso International Children's Hospital Foundation.

In his seven years at Philanthropic Services of the Southwest, Silver said, he has helped raise between $10 million and $11 million for a variety of local nonprofits. He said it's been challenging work, given El Paso's income levels and a generally sluggish economy in recent years. He's had his share of successes and failures in the business, he said.

Silver founded Philanthropic Services of the Southwest in 1996.

"I've probably had about 40 contracts" with nonprofits," Silver said. "Out of those 40, I've raised money for about 30 of them, raised a lot of money for about 10 and raised no money for three or four of them. I think I was batting better than .500, which is not too bad."

He said the Holocaust museum and efforts to bring a children's hospital to El Paso were projects that remain close to his heart because of their universal importance to the community.

"We are the largest city in the nation without" a children's hospital, Silver said.

Silver believes that working in Dallas will offer advantages for the El Paso projects, such as more face-to-face contact with wealthy philanthropic groups and donors, and access to lawmakers and politicians in Austin.

El Paso pediatrician Dr. Carlos Gutierrez, president of the El Paso International Children's Hospital Foundation, supports Silver's move to Dallas. He said Silver has already begun developing a relationship with the children's hospital in Dallas, which will be useful in the foundation's efforts to build a hospital in El Paso.

"The contacts he will have will be tremendous," Gutierrez said. "I think his move will benefit the community, and I'm glad he's going to keep us as one of his main clients."

David Peregrino may be reached at dperegrino@elpasotimes.com