Meet OUR OWNERS
JT Newman, CFRE (she/they)
Owner & Development Consultant
JT Newman, CFRE, specializes in nonprofit fundraising and small business development in arts, media, and LGBTIA+ issues. They possess deep knowledge in individual and major gift fundraising, membership programs, capital campaigns, and executing large-scale events, such as Manifest at Columbia College Chicago, Bike the Drive, the Bridge Art Fair NYC, and gala events for Trisha Brown Dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the Neo-Futurists. Recent clients include the Reader Institute for Community Journalism (the publisher of the Chicago Reader), Evanston CASE, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and Alchemy Film Foundation (based in SF and Portland).
Through education and personal artistic practice, JT is a multimedia creator & designer, a published author, and a lover of food, culture, and the arts. They’ve been doing graphic design since the 80s when they served as the layout editor of the Evanstonian (ETHS’ high school newspaper) and were part of the last editing team to use the wax machine for layout. JT returned from NYC, where they worked for an internationally touring dance ensemble, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and an abortion organization founded by the creator of The Daily Show, in 2020.
In their spare time, they write culture and food features for The Chicago Reader and practice their knife skills as an avid home chef.
Toni Goehring (she/her)
Owner & Development Consultant
Toni Goehring has lived in Evanston for over a decade, working seven years as the Director of Development for Cherry Preschool. (She frequently says, “Toddlers are my people.”)
Her fundraising career had humble beginnings in Madison, WI, when she worked as a telefundraiser. Quickly recognizing her aptitude for building relationships with people through communication and personal touches, she went on to a temporary job at United Way New York City, where she worked on the corporate team. In six months, she had turned a previously-lapsed corporate relationship with Chase Bank into a six-figure commitment. She was brought onto the team full-time to manage that relationship and other United Way clients.
She and JT founded Sprout in 2021 and committed themselves to working with underresourced non-profits and small businesses to help them connect with donors and their communities to build robust fundraising programs, marketing campaigns, and new business development.
In her spare time, Toni is an amazing gluten-free baker and enjoys practicing her precision line-kick and hula hooping skills.