Christopher M. Decent, Cfre Email & Phone Number

Arlington, Virginia, United States

Lakewood Ranch, Florida, United States

Beyond the Gift Fundraising is a full-service, fundraising consulting firm with more than 25 years of experience in philanthropy. We specialize in setting up and growing major gift and prospect research programs that lead to robust pipelines for sustained growth. We help our clients think big and lead with vision and compelling ideas. We position you for.

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

• Develop and execute innovative and strategic fundraising plan for $330M enterprise
• Revenue representative on 5 person Galaxy (IT Transformation) Leadership Team
• Revenue leader for SalesForce migration, including creation of fundraising Standards of Use (SOU), Quick Reference Guides (QRG), and fundraising best practices
• Creation and development of key performance metrics and measurements of success for fundraising, including but not limited to visits, activities, opportunities, close rates, and stewardship.
• Data mining and prospect development for database containing more than 11 million records to produce analytics and reporting that result in convertible leads for major gift officers enterprise wide
• Liaison with Brand and Marketing and Communications leaders to ensure all fundraising messages are compelling and consistent across Make A Wish America

Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

• Exceeded FY20 MG & PG team goal of $11,612,000 with a total raised of more than $13,500,000.
• Personally closed $2,150,000 in new gifts and pledges in FY20.
• Exceed FY21 MG & PG team goal of $11,200,000 with a total raised of more than $14.5M.
• Personally closed $2.8M in new gifts and pledges in FY21.
• Provide leadership to 7 MGO’s who are responsible for more than $26M in annual solicitations.
• Redesigned major gifts portfolios for all MGO’s through implementation of new reporting tools – including Smartsheet and Microsoft Power BI.

Jacksonville, Florida Area

• Developed 150-person major gifts portfolio of individuals and corporations with a capacity of $250,000+.
• Closed $2,400,000 in cash gifts in FY18 - including $500,000 in fellowship funding.
• In partnership with UNF Student Government, the UNF Alumni Association, and Student Affairs -implemented the first University-wide Homecoming Committee in the history of UNF, welcoming more than 3,000 alumni and.
• Directed Annual Giving efforts that led to 30% increase in alumni donations from FY15 to FY16.
• Responsible for FY16 Alumni giving rate of 5.76% - largest in UNF history.
• Increased overall donor count at UNF by 13% from FY15 to FY16.

Jacksonville, Florida Area

• Created 100-person major gifts portfolio of individuals and corporations who were capable of giving at the $100,000+ level.
• Identified and cultivated “Trustee” prospects (gifts in excess of $1 million) as part of two-person development team, which was hired to assist in closing $106.2 Campaign for 10 Million Young People in 2011/2012.
• Secured $11.7 million dollars in principal and major gifts.
• Secured four planned gifts totaling $5.6 million dollars in deferred revenue.
• Developed, trained and implemented “Beyond the Fairway,” an Annual Giving fundraising program at which local chapters implemented and generated more than $1,000,000 dollars for The First Tee chapter network in 2014.
• Created The First Tee Core Values Society – a national Annual Giving program that generated more than $400,000 in 2014.

Jacksonville, Florida Area

• Strategically directed three chapters for ACS, totaling over $1 million in annual revenue.
• Directed the Annual Fund, leading the growth and expansion of individuals making annual gifts of at least $1K to ACS.
• Increased overall Relay for Life fundraising efforts by 15% and St. Augustine Gala by 50%.
• Created daily and weekly gift reports, income projections, event reports, and specialized campaign prospect and progress reports.
• Developed a combined matrix of communication with donors, including solicitation, acknowledgment, and stewardship strategies involving direct mail and email to create sustainable annual giving program.
• Staff partner for three Unit Operating Boards of Directors

Tallahassee, Florida Area

• Researched, cultivated, and handled personal solicitation for $1,700,000 annual fund, including increasing organization funding 500% through creation of five-year annual giving circle (1902 Society), association direct.
• Developed and implemented comprehensive annual giving framework which included major gifts, volunteers, marketing, and operations.
• Implemented a new annual giving fundraising strategy that allowed donors to direct their unrestricted gifts to a menu of annual fund priority areas.
• Initiated the organization’s first online Annual Fund solicitation efforts with creation and email distribution of “Changing Lives” (a video we produced that was used in the solicitation process).
• Worked closely with CHS Foundation to identify planned giving prospects and managed communications using Crescendo and Raiser’s Edge.
• Trained staff in functionality of Raiser’s Edge, including reporting and usage; creation of dashboards for reporting purposes; and implementation and use of solicitor, proposal, and actions functions.

Memphis, TN

• Implemented $500,000 annual giving campaign and VIP-letter writing campaign.
• Managed development programs, including trust services and financial planning for all Board members.
• Developed donor recognition program for various giving levels of Annual Fund.
• Coordinated efforts of the Board of Directors and Development committee.
• Managed and reviewed annual development budget of $1,300,000. Developed innovative programs that increased local corporate sponsorship by $400,000.
• Increased National Corporate Sponsor support over 700% through strategic networking and negotiation.

Memphis, TN

Lockport, NY

Williamsville, NY

Master'S Degree, Higher Education/Higher Education Administration

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Political Science