I am a proven fundraising strategist that takes a holistic approach to creating fundraising plans rooted in data. As an executive fundraiser I have led all areas of fundraising including advancement operations, grants and foundations, major giving, donor experience, alumni engagement, prospect research, stewardship and annual giving.

I started my career in fundraising as the Director of Annual Giving at Ashland University. I implemented weekly progress reports to track annual giving progress, including donor retention rate, dollars raised, direct mail response rates, email open rates, and cost to raise a dollar. This attention to detail led to an increase of 7% in our donor count. In addition, I managed a portfolio of 90 leadership donors with a goal to retain and increase annual unrestricted support.

I transitioned into Director of Advancement Services, improving all aspects of reporting for Executive Leadership. My understanding of donor data allowed me to partner with the Vice President to create Key Performance Indicators. I was responsible for all aspects of gift processing and receipting, overseeing the area of gift recording and records management.

As a former student-athlete I was drawn to the Associate Director of Athletic Fundraising position. In this role I effectively cultivated, solicited, and stewarded major gifts totaling over $500,000 for baseball turf, Hall of Fame update, softball stadium, and endowments for various athletic programs. I also implemented a direct mail strategy in collaboration with all sports teams, increasing annual support by 13.5%.

I introduced and executed the concept of a Donor Experience Officer where I successfully managed a portfolio of over 1,000 prospects with a digital first approach. My goal was 100% portfolio coverage, 85% retention rate, and five qualified or closed major gifts per year. During this time I successfully conducted over 70 donor visits, securing over $300,000 in major gifts by partnering with EverTrue and utilizing SalesLoft technology and strategic cadences in under seven months.

My understanding of all aspects of development led to the promotion of Executive Director of Institutional Advancement where I managed a team of 12 in the office of Institutional Advancement. I oversaw the areas of Annual Giving, Alumni & Parent Engagement, Prospect Research, Major Giving, Advancement Operations, and Grants & Foundation Relations. In this time I led the completion of the Campaign for Every Individual, coordinating efforts to finish the campaign at $100 million, doubling the original goal. I addressed department communication barriers through the implementation of Slack. Operated as the main data reporter, improving data reporting and tracking progress towards KPIs. Created strategic cadences and grew our partnership with EverTrue to implement Salesloft technology across the department to better manage portfolios, qualify prospects and track gift officer progress.