Starting Point

Ann Lawrence Grasty, Executive Director, University Annual Giving & Stewardship at the University of Virginia, talks about showing your enthusiasm, living your life, starting with trust, leveraging shared experiences, entering traffic circles, and more!

Jake Strang, Associate Vice Chancellor for Individual Giving at the University of Pittsburgh talks about raising your hand, valuing strong leadership, utilizing data, telling meaningful stories, being the “Beatles of Annual Giving”, and more!

Carolyn Haddad, Director of Class Giving and Initiatives at Brown University, talks about seeing amazing things that students can do, making educated guesses, letting donors know what you know, creating time to be creative, being a good communicator, and more!

Mike Morsberger, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at University of the Virgin Islands, talks about the importance of sending handwritten notes, smiling and dialing, asking open-ended questions, making a gift yourself, being the best you can be, and more!

Kara Tompkins, Executive Director of Philanthropic Engagement at Syracuse University, talks about building more trust, bifurcating your program, focusing on the good, collaborating with others thinking about next steps, and more!

Josh Nay, Director of Advancement at Solebury School, talks about embracing other duties, valuing authenticity, succeeding as an introvert, knowing what to listen for, being kind and more!

Kellie Sullivan, Executive Director of Annual Giving at Boston University, talks about sticking it out, using data, solving the world’s problems, appreciating people who are willing to say no, coming full circle, and more!

Mike O’Brien, Associate Vice President for Individual Giving at Wheaton College talks about being a pro, articulating your mission, focusing your efforts, boosting people up, knowing how to think, and more!

Cameron J. Hall, Executive Director of Annual Giving and Lead Generation at University of South Carolina talks about organizing your day, hearing “no” a lot, doing things well, questioning things often, practicing servant leadership, and more!

Josh Harraman, Director of Constituent Experiences- Strategy at Ohio State University, talks about focusing on why, caring about your work, appealing to younger generations, developing a pipeline, engaging alumni beyond philanthropy, and more!

Terence Bodak, Senior Director of Constituent Programs at Rutgers University, talks about getting outside perspective, digging into data, being more aware, knowing how donors want to get involved, making radical changes, and more!

Samantha Hill, Director of Phonathon and Student Giving at Duke University, talks about interacting with humans, using your education, helping students feel prepared, building relationships, hearing what alumni have to say, and more!

Brandon Tabor, Associate Vice President for Annual Giving, Stewardship, and Storytelling at the University of Notre Dame, talks about finding great stories, knowing your audience, being consistent with your messages, hiring people who are humble, hungry, and hopeful, doing really good stuff, and more!

Erin Glidden, AVP for Pipeline Strategy at South Dakota State University, talks about continuing to call, being more strategic, looking for shiny objects, building the base, settling lofty goals, and more!

Megan Poole, Director of Direct Marketing at the University of Virginia, talks about working from where you work best, skywriting (and other solicitation channels), being on the receiving end, depending on others, starting all over again, and more!

Anessa Rios Ezeude, Director of Annual Giving at the University of Houston, talks about understanding your mission, inclusive giving, being ahead of the curve, finding heart in fundraising, tapping into community, and more!

John Templeman, Director of Annual Giving at Cleveland State University, talks about doing fun things, writing a giving day rap song, leveraging social media influencers, acting like a mad scientist, letting things go when they don’t work, and more!

Megan Rajski, Director of Annual Giving at Fairfield University, talks about making the decision to take a job in a different part of the country, negotiating salary, working “in” the office, applying experience at a big nonprofit to educational fundraising, starting out as a volunteer, and more!

Executive Director for Annual Giving at Penn State, talks about leading through adversity, staying tuned in to current events, doing crazy dances, taking care of your own, being kind, and more!

Christy Moss, Vice President of Membership & Marketing at the University of Illinois Alumni Association, talks about dealing with hallucinations, using Artificial Intelligence, recognizing the next big thing, continuing to learn, planning like Taylor Swift, and more.

Mary Risner, Chief Development Officer at Westover School, talks about choosing a side, being comfortable talking about money, understanding the mission, doing the hard stuff, picking favorites, and more.

Mae Parker, Director of Annual Giving at Grinnell College, talks about changing a life, finding inspiration in failure, approaching the hiring process, helping donors get from "either/or" to "and", giving a lift to annual giving, and more.

Adam Bradley, Senior Director of Annual Giving at the University of Michigan, talks about asking stupid questions, searching for talent, thirty-one flavors of remote work, having too many giving days, being an annual giving advocate, and more.

Gina Fiorillo, Assistant Vice President for Annual Giving at NYU, talks about being an inch wide but going a mile deep, understanding everyday people, the art of storytelling, dealing with change, trusting your inner voice, and more.

Melinda Phillips, Former Assistant Vice Chancellor for Annual Giving at Vanderbilt University, talks about feeling fulfilled, setting realistic expectations for yourself, dealing with burnout, losing human connection, writing thank you notes by hand, and more.