Mission Accepted

Matthew Fasciano, CEO of Delivering Good

A little bit of history. For those of you who have been in the childrenswear industry for a while, it’s quite likely you’ve heard of—and donated product to—Kids In Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S.). The charity has helped millions of children, families and individuals affected by poverty and disaster resulting in more than $1.6 billion of donated product. The Board of Directors was a veritable who’s who in the children’s apparel and juvenile-products industries.

In 2006, the nonprofit Fashion Delivers sprung up to address the apparel needs of adults and piggybacked on the distribution model created by K.I.D.S. Shortly thereafter, it merged with K.I.D.S. In 2017, K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, Inc. was relaunched as Delivering Good. While the name has changed, the mission that has been in existence for more than 30 years has remained the same; to provide underserved and at-risk families living in poverty or are victims of natural disasters with necessities such as clothing, toiletries, books, and toys that are not hand-me-downs, but are brand new. Delivering Good employs a global network of social service agencies to distribute product at the local to those directly in need. The organization has the highest four-star rating from Charity Navigator and meets GuideStar’s highest standards for up-to-date and complete information. To date, Delivering Good has donated $3 billion worth of new product.

Succeeding Gary Simmons, President and CEO of Gerber Childrenswear LLC, who served as Delivering Good’s interim President and CEO, Matthew Fasciano was appointed to the post in July 2022. It’s been a busy couple of months, as the organization gears up for its major fundraising gala, an “Evening of Delivering Good,” on Wednesday, November 2, at a new venue for them, Cipraini New York. Fasciano took time to speak with me about all things Delivering Good and delve into his future plans for the organization.

Michele Silver: What has been your professional journey?

Matthew Fasciano: I come to Delivering Good with a long history in education, social, and juvenile justice, most recently serving as the Chief Operating Officer for 15 years at The Posse Foundation, where I provided vision, thought leadership, and programmatic oversight for a national college success and youth leadership development nonprofit. I began my career as a teacher and Dean of Students at the New York City Board of Education. After receiving my MSW, I did clinical work, mostly in the substance abuse realm, before earning my law degree and moving on to work with the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice.

Silver: What attracted you to the CEO position?

Fasciano: I was attracted by the simplicity of the mission–connecting surplus new merchandise with people facing challenges related to poverty and disaster made so much sense to me. New items would likely be out of reach for this population, and the fact that Delivering Good is able to provide them adds a level of dignity and self-esteem for recipients. That’s a powerful combination that I wanted to be a part of.

Silver: What projects, processes, and accomplishments from your work at The Posse Foundation will translate well to Delivering Good?

Fasciano: I did a lot of work on scaling programs at The Posse Foundation, ensuring not only the efficiency of that work, but the quality of the experience for all stakeholders; at Delivering Good that goes from product donor to community partner, to the ultimate recipient of the support we provide.

Team efficiency is also a focus from my time at The Posse Foundation. I’m unbelievably lucky to have inherited a seasoned team here at Delivering Good and I look forward to working with them to create new efficiencies that will support the growth of our program work so we’re ultimately helping more people.

Silver: As you’ve observed Delivering Good navigate through the pandemic, how have the needs of the network of social service agencies have changed? How do you plan to address those?

Fasciano: The pandemic has resulted in increased need for the services that our network of community partners provides to individuals and families across the U.S. and beyond. Economic factors are pushing more people to seek help as prices for almost everything have increased. We’re working with our partners to identify new ways for us to support their work and reaching out to existing and new product donors to emphasize the need for their generosity–we don’t see the need going away anytime soon. Our focus now is how and what can we do to provide more support for our network.

Silver: What’s special about this year’s gala?

Fasciano: We are honoring one of our community partners, Tackle Tomorrow with our Innovation Award, which recognizes their innovative literacy program. The event will be hosted by Delivering Good board member and event co-chair, Ken Downing.

Silver: What organizational goals are you setting for 2023?

Giving new items helps build self-esteem and dignity.

Fasciano: Fundraising is always an area of focus, and I am working with the team on not only growing our fundraising revenue but also diversifying where it is coming from. Robust fundraising means we can do more for the people we serve. Related to that, is another goal of working with our community partners to identify what additional resources and support we can provide to help them do even more for their communities.

Silver: What other changes and improvements are you planning to make?

Fasciano: We are looking across the organization to identify ways that we can be more efficient in our operations, particularly in the area of technology.

Silver: What new programs, cause-marketing partnerships or other new sources of revenue streams would you like to see in place?

Fasciano: Diversification of our revenue streams is an area of focus for the organization. We are working on strategies to engage more individual donors, the consumers that are already pushing our product donors to think more responsibly about how they handle their excess merchandise and how they, as businesses, create positive social impact. For companies and higher-level individual donors, we are working on a menu of giving options so there is clarity around the myriad of ways to support Delivering Good that meet their personal or corporate giving goals.

Silver: What’s the best piece of business or personal advice you’ve ever received?

Fasciano: I’ve always been guided by three key questions which have been top of mind since I stepped into this new role: Who are you? Where are you going? How are you going to get there? These simple questions are important to circle back to as we grow and make new plans to do even more for the people we serve.

Silver: What is your personal or professional mantra?

Fasciano: I don’t have all the answers. My strength is surrounding myself with talented professionals who, if they don’t have the answers, know where to get them.

Silver: What do you like to do in your spare time?

Fasciano: I like to cook, spend time with family, and play golf. I am also involved in volunteer work in my community.