It all started in Denver
Marty Zimmerman was born and raised in Denver. He attended Hill Middle School and Manual High School. After high school, he earned Bachelor's degrees in public relations and religion from Syracuse University. He then attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and earned a Masters of Social Work with an emphasis on nonprofit management. After graduating, he worked as a fundraiser for a large Atlanta nonprofit, ultimately responsible for raising millions of dollars annually.
Coming Home and Becoming a Small Business Owner
In 2005, Marty returned to Denver to work in fundraising for a local nonprofit. While in this position, he realized that there was a significant gap in the nonprofit market. There were many consultants who would tell someone what to do, but very few of them would roll up their sleeves and do the work with the organization. Therefore, he founded ZIM Consulting to create plans and implement them.
ZIM works with nonprofits to provide fundraising strategy and support through grant research and writing, strategic planning, facilitation, development planning, capital campaigns and a variety of other services. Since its founding, ZIM has worked with more than 380 nonprofits. Most of ZIM’s clients are in and serve the Greater Denver Metro area.
ZIM is the largest nonprofit consulting firm in the Rocky Mountain Region employing 27 individuals and raising more than $30 million each year. Through its client partners, ZIM has positively impacted more than 7.5 million people in all 50 states and in 121 countries around the world.
In the Community
Marty's involvement in the community stretches far beyond ZIM. He is the former chair of Friends of Manual High School, a Denver Mayoral appointee and former adult chair of the Denver Mayor’s Youth Commission, a proud alum of the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation’s Leadership Denver program, and served as the second youngest Board President of his synagogue in their 60+ year history. Since 2018, he has also been teaching entrepreneurship to high school students at a Denver area school as an adjunct teacher.
DENVER IS MY HOME
Personal
Marty and his wife, Shira, have been married for 21 years. They have two children: Alyssa, who is a sophomore in college, and Andrew, who is a senior in high school.