Contributors to Supporting Advancement

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"I hold every man a debtor to his profession; from the which as men of course do seek
to receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavor themselves by way
of amends to be a help and ornament thereunto."

Francis Bacon.1561-1626, Maxims of the Law. Preface.

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Robert Machovsky, Assistant Director of Annual Giving, The University of South Dakota Foundation

Robert “Bob” Machovsky is the assistant director of annual giving. He manages the Foundation’s 13 station PhoneCenter, including 50 student callers. Machovsky is a native of Parker, SD and majored in alcohol and drug abuse studies at USD. During his second year at USD he began work in the PhoneCenter as a caller and then as a student supervisor where he continued until his July 2005 graduation. Prior to his return to USD, Machovsky was working for RuffaloCody as a program manager in the University of Michigan phone center

Caller Newsletters - Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5.

Bryan Mack, Assistant Director of Advancement Services, Colorado School of Mines

Bryan has been the Assistant Director of Advancement Services since 1992.

Working With Annual Fund.

Stacy Mara, Director of Annual Giving, Lawrence University

Planning - Good example of a comprehensive annual giving operating plan.

John C. "Jay" Marano, Licensing Coordinator for Carnegie Mellon University

Jay Marano is an alumnus from West Virginia University, has been a member of the Association of Collegiate Licensing Administrators (ACLA) now the International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA) since 1995 and has served on the ICLA Board of Directors since 2003. He has been a facilitator, panelist, and co-presenter at several ACLA and ICLA annual national conferences, workshops and symposiums. Since 1995, Jay has been the sole administrator for The Trademark Licensing Office at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Currently working in the Office of the General Counsel, He is responsible for all aspects of trademark and licensing services for this independently run trademark licensing program.

Carnegie Mellon's Divisions of Business Administration and University Planning presented Jay with the Staff Recognition Award for "Excellence in Innovation and Process Improvement" in 1997 for his work in building the trademark licensing program. He was nominated for a university-wide award for "University Citizenship" in 2002 for his cross departmental efforts in gaining the endorsement of Carnegie Mellon's administration for a Code of Workplace Conduct addressing the anti-sweatshop movement. He currently serves as Carnegie Mellon's liaison to both the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association (FLA). Jay represents small licensing programs and schools with no licensing programs on the FLA's University Advisory Council Executive Committee.

International Collegiate Licensing Association (ICLA)

Donna Marino, Manager of Donor Stewardship, Valencia Foundation

Donna Marino, CFRE serves as Manager of Donor Stewardship for Valencia Foundation. Donna has an MBA from Belhaven University and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida. It's important to note that Donna's foundation for excellence was obtained from Valencia where she earned her first college degree: Associate in Arts. Donna was awarded the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2009. She serves as vice president of education with Association of Fundraising Professionals Central Florida and is an executive board member for American Association for Women in Community Colleges.

Donor Contribution Summary
Donor Demographics Report
Stewardship Plan

Olga Marquez, Human Resources Manager, Museum of Latin American Art

Job Descriptions
Database Coordinator, Grant Writer, Prospect Researcher, Special Events and Banquets Assistant

Samantha Marrs, Assistant Vice President for Advancement and Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations
Virginia Commonwealth University

Samantha Marrs is the Assistant Vice President for Advancement and the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to joining the university in 2000, she was a Program Associate at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York City for 8 years.

Gifts vs. Grants - Decision Tree Flowchart, Gifts Vs. Grants

Meghan M. Marsden, Director of the Annual Fund, Northern Illinois University

Meghan started as a student caller and student supervisor at Northern Michigan University. Meghan's first "real job" in fundraising was with the Iowa State University Foundation as Assistant Director of the Annual Fund. Major responsibilities included direct mail and the management of three special projects, which combined direct mail, Telefund, and personal solicitation efforts. She was later promoted to Associate Director of the Annual Fund. Meghan joined the Northern Illinois University Advancement team in August 2002, where she currently oversees all aspects of the Annual Fund including Telefund, direct mail, AF stewardship, 50th Reunion Class Gift, Senior Challenge, Faculty and Staff giving, and the general phase of the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center. She is currently working on a Masters in Communication Studies.

Samples - Refusal Letter, Solicit Former Telefund Employees

Devin Mathias

Devin T. Mathias joined Marts & Lundy in 2011 bringing considerable consulting and advancement staff experience in the development of annual giving programs, young alumni efforts, donor relations, capital campaigns and the integration of social media into comprehensive fundraising programs. Before embarking on a consulting career, Devin spent three years as director of annual giving at the University of Michigan where he oversaw the central annual giving team; reorganized the annual giving department to improve gift revenue, donor engagement, and unit service; and developed social media strategies for the University relative to overall philanthropic efforts. He also proposed and led the Recent Graduate Initiative to research, track, and solicit undergraduate alumni of the previous five years. This initiative received the 2009 CASE Circle of Excellence Bronze Award for Fundraising. Prior to Michigan, Devin was at the University of Florida Foundation for over five years, including serving as the director of The Florida Fund. He has also worked with Penn State's Office of Annual Giving and the Affinity Connection, a private alumni relations firm. Devin founded the SEC Annual Fund Conference, and the SEC Challenge. He contributed a chapter entitled "Recognition and Stewardship of Young Alumni: Transitioning from Educating Potential Donors to Securing Lifelong Donors" for the upcoming CASE book Fundraising for Young Constituent Groups. He has presented at various CASE, AFP, and other development conferences and workshops.

Consecutive Giving. Implementation of a consecutive giving recognition program.
Developing Strong Student Supervisors.
Effective and Professional Email Use
Job Description - Phone Program Coordinator.
Leadership Skills - for young advancement professionals.
Motivating Callers - Interesting study by Adam Grant, PHD and Devin Mathias on improving caller performance.
Reunion Casino Night. Reunion casino night save the date advertisement.
Rivalry & Fundraising. How rivalry in fundraising can be used to help increase results.
Stewardship. Building a foundation for stewardship.
The Evolution of Telefunding and Technology
US News and World Report. Comprehensive, breakdown of US News and World Report College Rankings.

Lola Mauer, Director of Annual Giving at the University of South Carolina

Lola Mauer currently serves as the Director of Annual Giving at the University of South Carolina where she’s worked since April 2004. Under her direction at USC, the faculty and staff campaign brought in over $2.7 million last year. She previously served as Assistant Director of Annual Giving at Ball State University where she led the call center team to four consecutive million dollar years.

Lola is a seasoned presenter having led discussions on call centers, parent’s funds, annual giving, senior class gifts, and faculty/staff campaigns at various conferences both nationwide and online. Last summer she co-chaired the annual Ruffalo Cody Users group conference. Free time is spent traveling, volunteering as a youth leader and serving on the Board of Directors for Friends of the Little Bighorn in Montana where she is a battlefield historical interpreter and newsletter editor.

Happy Mother's Day! - Mother's Day Card, Mother's Day Reply Card, Mother's Day Card Envelope.

Revenue - Cultivating Faculty and Staff Giving

Samples - Good News Piece 1, 2, Parents Fund Self Mailer, Thank You Card, Year End Direct Appeal Letter, Gamecock Good News, Foreign alumni solicitation and envelope.

Young Alumni - Student Postcards, Junior Postcards, Senior Postcards, Y'all - We're South Carolina, Thanks

Judy Maxfield, Director of Alumni Relations, University School of Milwaukee

Judy has worked in Alumni Relations at University School for the past 10 years, serving as Alumni Director since 2003. University School of Milwaukee is a co-educational college preparatory day school for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Alumni By-Laws
Board Nomination Letter

Jason McCaham, Associate Director of Annual Giving, Bucknell University

Jason is the Associate Director of Annual Giving at Bucknell University. He has over 10 years of experience in higher education. He was the Director of Annual Giving at Lycoming College and worked as an editor/writer for Dick Jones Communications, a public relations firm focusing on national media relations for colleges and universities. Jason is also the co-chair of S.T.A.F.F. (Sharing the Annual Fund Fundamentals), an organization comprising of 40 liberal arts colleges and universities that share their best practices in annual giving.

E-Solicitations - Creative e-solicitation using interactive world map.

Abbie McCullough, Assistant Director of Annual Giving, Medical Affairs, MCI, University of South Alabama

Samples - Faculty Staff - Recent Retiree Letter, Retiree Leave a Legacy Letter.

Meghan McGeary, Director of Development at Vermont Land Trust

Meghan McGeary is the Director of Development at Vermont Land Trust. She began her career at her alma mater, University of Pittsburgh, where she first served as a TeleFund supervisor, then the Manager of the Direct Mail and Faculty/Staff Campaigns, and finally as the Manager of Annual Leadership Programs ($1,000 to $100,000) before heading to New Hampshire as the Annual Giving Coordinator at Plymouth State University.

Athletics - Athletics Appeal
Note: The individual team mailings were written by the team coaches at Plymouth State University.
Good example of synergy between development and athletics.
Football, Football Pledge Card, Men's Basketball, Men's Ice Hockey, Men's Lacrosse, Pledge Card, Softball,
Volleyball, Women's Basketball Pledge Form, Women's Lacrosse
Caller Incentives - Monthly Incentive Structure
Direct Mail - Acquisition Letter, Extra Gift Card, Lapsed Fall Donors, Pledge Card, Spring Appeal Card, Window Carrier
Hiring - Telemarketing Recruitment Advertisements
Membership - Renewal Card
New Donor Packet - Envelope, Insert 1, Insert 2, Insert 3, Thank You Folder, New Donor Letter
Policies - Confidentiality Agreement
Renaming the Annual Fund - Text for Alumni Magazine
Scripts - Answering Machine, General
Things Your Learned at Telefund
Training Materials - FERPA Quiz, Training Manual

Albert D. Melfo, Director of Annual Giving, Kent State University

Albert is the Director of Annual Giving for Kent State University, in Kent, Ohio, where he is responsible for planning and implementing the University’s central annual giving solicitation efforts.

Prior to coming to Kent State, Albert spent seven years at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was the Associate Director of Annual Giving until fall of 2001. At the University of Pittsburgh, Albert successfully managed the conversion of the Pitt TeleFund from a manual to an automated environment, and established the operation as one of the top performing higher-education phone centers in the nation.

Prior to his work in higher-education, Albert held a number of management positions responsible for fundraising and subscription and membership sales for regional non-profit visual and performing arts organizations. Past employers include the Pittsburgh Public Theater, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Carnegie Museum and the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.

At Kent State, Albert serves on the management operating team for the division of University Development, and oversees the KSU PhoneCenter and the University’s direct mail appeals. He is an active contributor to FundList, and is available for consulting.

Education
Case Western Reserve University, B.A. English (Journalism and Creative Writing)

Faculty Staff Giving - Common Concerns with Faculty Staff Appeals
Improving Caller Retention
Supervisor's Guidelines for Handling Staff Performance Issues
Warm-Up Meetings - Overview and Tips

Madeleine Melkonian, Associate Vice President, Advancement, College of Mount Saint Vincent

Samples - Case Statement

Melissa Mencotti, Director of Prospect Development, Allegheny College

Melissa Mencotti is the director of prospect development at Allegheny College, a liberal arts college with national reach located in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Mencotti has been with the institution for more than six years having previously served as the executive director of a local non-profit organization for ten years where she was responsible for grantsmanship and special events fundraising. At Allegheny College she is responsible for overseeing research and moves management, coordinating presidential and volunteer involvement with prospects, managing constituent files, and working with a small portfolio of major gift prospects.

Going Paperless: Planning and Implementing a Digital Scanning Project

Debbie Menoher, Director of Research, University of Florida Foundation

Debbie Menoher is Director of Research for the University of Florida Foundation, which she has held since 1996. During her tenure, UF completed an $850 million dollar capital campaign, and UF is currently in a $1.5 billion dollar campaign. Prior to UF, she led the research department for The Pennsylvania State University. In her former profession, she was a business librarian for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. She is one of the founding members of the Association of Prospect Researchers for Advancement (APRA) Florida chapter and served as President, Vice President and Program Director. She has been a member of APRA International since 1990 and served on many committees. She was director-at-large for the Association of Fund Raising Professionals (AFP) Arredondo Chapter, and was past president of ARMA (records management) North Central Florida Chapter. She was a speaker at the AFP Planet Philanthropy Conference 2010, and served as a faculty member for the Council for Advancement of Education (CASE) Summer Institute for Advancement Services 2005. She is often a guest speaker for UF's College of Journalism philanthropy courses. She holds a bachelor's degree in community development from Penn State and a master's degree in library science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Prospect Research - Sample Research Profiles - Vice President, Assessment
Records Policies and Procedures - Records Management Policy, Retention Schedule

Rachel Meuser, Director of Annual Giving at Franklin College

Rachel Meuser is the Director of Annual Giving at Franklin College, an American liberal arts college in Lugano, Switzerland. Rachel oversees the entire annual giving program as well as all of the data management. Prior to Franklin, Rachel served as the Assistant Director of Annual Giving at The Citadel Foundation in Charleston, SC where she managed the Cadet Calling Program, direct mail, the class chairmen volunteer program, the faculty and staff campaign and the senior class program.

Rachel is a graduate of The College of Charleston in Charleston ,SC and has a Bachelors degree in Corporate Communication.

Samples - Answer the Call Postcard, EFT Solicitation Letter, EFT Reminder Letter, Parents Pre-Call Postcard
Leadership Parents Appeal

Scripts - Generation X Non Donor

Telefund Evaluation - How Did We Do?

Debbie Meyers, Director of Donor Services, Carnegie Mellon University

Before coming to Carnegie Mellon in June 2005, Debbie was director of stewardship and donor relations at the University of Florida Foundation for nine years, serving as a central staff resource to more than 45 development officers. She also was development and alumni director at Bishop Moore High School (her alma mater) and publications director for the health center development office at UF.

A founding board member for the Association for Donor Relations Professionals, Debbie has a bachelor's degree in English from Loyola University in New Orleans and a master's degree in journalism from UF.

Stewardship - Million Dollar Donors

Matt Miner, Video Production

I write, produce and direct capital campaign videos, strategizing with campaign consultants and development directors to create presentations designed to encourage major donations. My videos have helped generate more than $150 million in contributions for non-profit groups throughout the western states. Some past clients: California Dental Association Foundation, Sacramento, Southwest Washington Medical Center, Vancouver, Harrison Medical Center, Bremerton, Congregation Neveh Shalom, Portland.

2335 NE 41^st Ave.
Portland, OR 97212
503-484-8196

Nurses and Care. Excerpt from a campaign video for Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, Washington.

James Minehart, Director of Advancement Services, Lewis & Clark College

James Minehart is the Director of Advancement Services at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he provides strategic leadership and long-range short-term planning for the areas of gift processing, database integrity, prospect management, reporting, data analysis, and system enhancements. James' efforts to restore credibility in the database, to enhance the functionality of the alumni/development system, and to enable the end-user to access information has resulted in a two-year, three-phase database action plan. He has been working in the nonprofit sector since 1997.

Gift Acceptance - Should I Accept This Gift?

Measuring - Developing a Tracking System

Planning - Presentation on Creating an Action Plan. Two spreadsheet samples of plan: Action Plan, Action Plan Worksheet.

Policies & Procedures - Policies and Procedures - Your Game Plan.

Lanita Monroe, Marketing Coordinator at Fuller Theological Seminary

As the Marketing Coordinator at Fuller Theological Seminary, in charge of all direct mail and telephone solicitations. Also a student currently working on a Masters of Divinity.

Samples - Pledge Reminder
Tele-Relations Associates Advertisement

Other Contributions

Contributions are also received from anonymous contributors, and sometimes taken from listserv postings. Thanks in advance to everyone for sharing. In accordance with our terms of use, legal and privacy statement, copyright remains and belongs to the originator and can be removed upon request at any time.

Email Subscriptions - Sign up for email newsletters to areas of topical interest.
Favorite Listservs - Useful for advancement professionals and a guide to listserv etiquette.
Like Minded - Sites with similar or related information or resources.
Research Pages - Individuals and organizations with research links on their sites.