by Bryan Gonzalez

In the next 20 years, about $84 trillion will change hands. As an article from CRM giant, Bloomerang, suggests, “...there are only three places where dollars can go — loved ones, government, or charity.”  

While I certainly want to advocate that some of this $84 trillion goes towards the many wonderful charities in the pregnancy help movement, in this article, I want to focus on the reality that, in the next 20 years, many of our top donors will have passed away.

So, the question I want to ask is: How fragile is your donor database? Are you prepared for many of your top donors to pass away?

Exercise

Let’s do a quick exercise:

1. Write down a list of your top 40-50 donors. Or, maybe you need to use your donor database to run that report. (Wait, do you know how to do that with your donor database?)
2. Now, with that list on your screen or on a piece of paper in front of you, write the ages of those donors. (Wait, do you know how old your donors are?)
3. Then, categorize how many of your donors are in the generally accepted generational cohorts:

Having older donors is not necessarily a problem in the short term, but how many of those Generation Xers are poised to replace the Baby Boomers and Traditionalist donors as they are passing on in the next 20 years? And, are we planting seeds with the Millennials to contribute more significantly in the next 5-10 years?

If a donor gives from his business or company, but then passes away, will his company continue to donate? I would suggest having conversations with the donor about his legacy, or begin talks with the next generation of leadership about continuing the donor’s legacy even after he is gone.

Naturally, this will lead to conversations about estate planning or possibly a planned gift, and that’s certainly important in fundraising. However, the exercise this month is to determine how fragile your database is, so that you are better poised to react to seismic shifts in your donor database in the not-too-distant future.

Here are some final stats to noodle over:

(Apparently, the math doesn’t add up, but I just took numbers from the website. Regardless, you get the general idea.)

Practical Tip:

Based on this information and your analysis of your database, can you now answer the question: How fragile is your donor database?

ICYMI: March 2024, Stay Hungry

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*Do you have topics you’d like me to write on or have comments/feedback on my articles? Please send me an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Option Line: Find 24/7 Pregnancy Help
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Use the zip code locator at OptionLine.org to identify local pregnancy help locations.

Maternity Housing Coalition
Find housing availability nationwide for women. Plus, stay up-to-date on the 50+ new maternity housing programs launching in the coming year through the Heartbeat network. 

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Abortion Pill Rescue® Network
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PregnancyHelpNews.com
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Kathy Jerman

Director of Affiliate Services at Heartbeat International

Biography

Kathy Jerman joined Heartbeat International in October 2024 as Director of Affiliate Services, where she uses her gifts and passions to advocate for and equip pregnancy help leaders at both the state and national levels. She is committed to empowering leaders by reminding them they are not alone and providing the resources and support they need to grow in their God-given strengths and leadership journeys. Before joining Heartbeat, Kathy served as Executive Director of New Hope Family Services in Syracuse, NY, where she directed the programs and operations of their pregnancy center, adoption agency, and mobile medical unit. She also currently serves as the President of the New York State Coalition for Life, a network of pregnancy help organizations across the state. She is passionate about supporting state coalitions as they encourage and equip their member organizations to sharpen their mission and strengthen their impact, fostering unity across the movement. Kathy has been married to her husband, Mike, for 30 years. They have four adult children, ages 20 to 27.

Ellen Foell, J.D.

International Program Specialist at Heartbeat International

Biography

Ellen Foell, J.D., serves as the International Program Specialist for Heartbeat International, where she supports over 1,500 affiliates in more than 100 countries. With a background in law and ministry, Ellen first joined Heartbeat as Legal Counsel. After a season of writing and nonprofit advocacy, she returned to Heartbeat to focus on global outreach, offering training, mentorship, and strategic support to pregnancy help organizations. Ellen has represented Heartbeat at the United Nations and her work has taken her to countries worldwide.

A dedicated wife and mother of four, Ellen brings a heart for missions, years of cross-cultural ministry experience, and a deep commitment to life-affirming care around the globe.

Featured Articles

Connecting & Celebrating the
Pan Asian Pregnancy Help Movement

Register to join us in Singapore!

When: October 15-19, 2025
Where: Katong-Joo Chiat District,
Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy, Singapore

Heartbeat International invites you to join our first-ever Pan Asian Pregnancy Help Leaders Summit in Singapore! Join us for in-person networking, training, learning, and encouragement with like-minded leaders from the pregnancy help movement across Asia.

Details

Cost

• Affiliates: Registration, meals, and double occupancy accommodations* are provided at Heartbeat's expense, up to 2 people per organization.
• Non-affiliates, Option 1: USD 350.00. Includes meals, but not accommodations.
• Non-affiliates, Option 2: USD 575.00. Includes meals and double occupancy accommodations.*

*No matter your affiliation, Heartbeat will only secure double occupancy accommodations.

To become a Heartbeat International affiliate, click here!

Registration Details

• Space is limited so please do not wait to register when it opens!

• Please register by August 1, 2025. Keep an eye out for the registration link!

Workshops

Workshops will include client care, reaching your client, fundraising essentials, and more.

Questions? Please email Ellen Foell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Registration Coming Soon! 

by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist

In the western hemisphere, we have definitely entered conference time. In March, Board Chair Peggy Hartshorn was with our collaborating partner, Movimento per la Vita, celebrating MPV’s Jubilee year with a mass.

Later that month, Peggy also traveled to New Zealand to celebrate with New Life International.

In early April, I had the privilege to attend and present a couple of workshops with Pregnancy Care Canada (PCC) in beautiful Montreal. PCC, led by Dr. Laura Lewis, has been reaching and rescuing women in Canada for over 40 years. It is always interesting and helpful to see pregnancy care work differences and similarities, even when we are on the same continent. We asked Dr. Laura to share her thoughts about the continuing work in Canada in the article within this month's email of Heartbeat Around the World (May 2025). Thank you, Dr. Laura and her team, for your gracious hospitality.

In late April/early May, Heartbeat International hosted its own annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama, with over 1,600 attendees, including thirty international participants from twenty different nations, Albania to Zambia!

Simon Durairaj, from India, as well as Blandine Kemayou from Cameroon, shared on Wednesday night, highlighting what God is doing around the world in their respective countries to advance pregnancy help. Heartbeat opens its window for scholarships to this incredible opportunity in early December, so watch this space for access to the application. Click here for a peek at next year's conference location and theme, or revisit the Heartbeat Around the World email.

Finally, in late May, Heartbeat will be headed to the Balkan Network for Life Conference, whose leader, Svetlana Jovanova, was given the Servant Leader Award in Birmingham. Congratulations, Svetlana!

That conference will be in Montenegro, where the budding pregnancy help movement is hosting the conference. The Balkan Network has provided a free resource for Heartbeat affiliates, which is a webinar on Airtable, a free database management system, presented by Filip Petrovski. Thank you, Balkan Network for Life, and Filip.

Yes, lots of conferences. But ultimately, babies are not rescued, moms in crisis are not reached, hearts are not won, and lives are not changed through conferences, but through God’s people reaching out to those around us every day, in every opportunity. The vital training gained at conferences allows pregnancy help leaders to invest in their skills, their organizations, and themselves so that women can be reached and cared for most effectively. The most effective way to reach someone in crisis is another person. Thank you for what you each do every day, in as many circumstances as able, to reach and rescue the women, babies, and families in your nation.

Enjoy this issue of Heartbeat Around the World!

Hosted by Thrive Southwest Florida

Join us for our second regional event for maternity housing organizations!

WHERE

Thrive Southwest Florida
907 SE 5th Ave, Cape Coral, FL 33990

WHEN

June 10, 2025
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Come at 9 a.m. for coffee and networking

Lunch provided.

by Valerie Harkins, Executive Director of the Maternity Housing Coalition

I’ve noticed a subtle but powerful pattern after years of walking alongside maternity homes across the country: the organizations that tend to thrive—not just survive—are deeply connected to others who do the same kind of work.

In fact, the difference is striking. Homes that weather economic instability, staff transitions, and shifting cultural tides often have something in common: consistent, intentional relationships with other maternity homes. They are not isolated. They are known.

This may sound like a soft metric—connection, relationship, community—but in this work, it’s essential. Maternity housing is uniquely complex and deeply spiritual. It requires strength and tenderness, policies and prayer, grit and grace. Not every leader understands that tension, but another maternity home does.

When homes connect with one another, something shifts. A director no longer feels like she’s holding the whole world together on her own. A new staff member finds wisdom in someone else’s hard-won experience. A program director rethinks burnout because she saw someone else model the Sabbath well. These relationships aren’t just emotionally beneficial—they’re structurally stabilizing.

In short, being known by others in this work makes your home stronger.

The body of Christ is not meant to function in silos, and neither is our movement. God has designed us for interdependence—not only within our own teams, but across the entire network of homes and ministries around the world.

I truly believe the next chapter of strength for maternity housing will not come from any single home’s innovation, but from the shared wisdom of many homes, leaning in together. This is not a sentimental idea—it’s a strategy for survival, and more importantly, for flourishing.

If you’re looking for a place to start, I invite you to join our Affiliates-Only Facebook Group, where we foster authentic connection among homes like yours. It’s also where we share invites to our networking meetings throughout the year, which are gatherings that remind us we’re not alone, but understood, and part of something far greater than we could build by ourselves.

Let’s build that strength together.

by Dr. Laura Lewis, Executive Director of Pregnancy Care Canada

We are in a Daniel time, not an Esther moment, and there are many lessons we can learn from Daniel's story. 

When King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, Daniel and other young men were captured and thrown into the culture of Babylon, a culture that opposed their faith. Yet, God elevated Daniel to influence four different government administrations over nearly 70 years. He went from being a prisoner of war to an influential leader. 

Daniel gained favor and influence even while living as a stranger in a hostile land, not only because of his gifts but also because of his character and integrity. His life serves as a powerful example for us as we strive to engage with integrity and compassion to influence our communities and nation, allowing us to lead a broken culture rather than be led by it. 

Daniel’s heart remained devoted to God, even under pressure. His highest priority was not to gain influence with people, but to stay faithful to God, seeking the Lord before he spoke and exalting and glorifying Him. His example teaches us that when we do what is right, we can trust God to handle the outcome.

Daniel served with integrity. He was not for sale.

We may be tempted to waver for cultural acceptance or financial gain. However, there is a major difference between wisely discerning how to engage with a broken and unbelieving community and compromising for the applause or finances of man. Before doing anything, let us respond as Daniel did—in prayer.

We are to lead culture, not be led by it. To influence, not conform. 

Daniel understood how to build bridges. He led with wisdom and humility, which resulted in people trusting him. When people trust you, your influence grows—even in a corrupt and broken society. 

At Pregnancy Care Canada, we also aim to be bridge builders by:

• Bridging the digital reach through social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. We want to meet this generation where they hang out and provide trustworthy information and help.
• Bridging the gaps geographically with understanding by equipping churches and strengthening connections with local centers.
• Bridging services. We appreciate the expertise of many others working in the pregnancy help space and are thankful to collaborate with them.

Our actions don’t need to be grand or heroic, but they must be grounded in love. If we fail to understand love, nothing else truly matters. Our culture, our Babylon, is desperate for a manifestation of God's goodness.

One woman recently told me that the work done each day in local pregnancy care centers is one of the purest expressions of the gospel she has seen. Let us protect this space.

If we are willing to turn away from compromise, serve with integrity, build bridges, and choose to love as Jesus did, we will position ourselves for the long arc of influence and favour that will impact a broken world.