Responsible for leading strategy and fundraising for the AVMA’s Foundation.

I love to travel and so I figured I could help others have awesome travel experiences! I am a super organizer and when we travel there is lots of research done before the trip. Would love to help you plan your next adventure!

I have been in this role for seven years and manage / mentor two junior fundraisers. I also manage a portfolio of 90+ donors in all stages of the giving process. Every year I have raised between $6 and $8M in annual and estate gifts from alumni and clients. For the past seven years The College of Veterinary Medicine has met or exceeded our financial fundraising goal, even during the pandemic. I have experience working with attorneys on estate gifts and creating donor recognition programs for capital projects. I also work closely with team members in alumni relations, communications and career management as all have interactions with alumni and clients. When I started I was tasked with starting a grateful client program and building relationship with faculty who were skeptical about “fundraisers.” This program has grown and now includes two client specific events annually called Vino with the Vets which help to raise awareness and donations for a particular service. I have helped each service at the Veterinary Medical Center create wish lists for their respective sections and giving buttons on their section websites to help encourage giving from clients. I also work closely with several of the other faculty within the college on specific fundraising efforts. During this time, I was also involved in the Association of Veterinary Advancement Professionals. I was on the Executive Committee from 2016 until 2020 and served as the President for two years. I was often asked to present at this conference about our Grateful Client Program or other collaborations I had with others within the college. I also was the one in charge of the conference that was held in Washington, DC in 2019. I was also one of three who was charged with maintaining the website and getting all relevant conference materials posted after.

When I was in this role my job was to secure gifts of $50,000 from clients and alumni. I also served as the liaison to the central university annual giving team which included implementing the Commitment to Care Campaign. I also managed the establishment of the naming levels and donor recognition for the Veterinary Medical Center Enhancement and Expansion project as well as helped to fundraise for the $32 million capital project. I also started our client giving program by working with a few of the higher producing services. This program was one of the first and was shared with other veterinary colleges in the country. As part of the Advancement of Veterinary Professionals group, I was often asked to speak about our accomplishments with this program and how I built successful relationships with faculty and staff.

The longer I was at LLS, I became responsible for oversight and strategic management of Light The Night department while my direct reports did more of the event management. I also started to work with the Patient Services Manager to develop and maintain relationships with local foundations as well as assist with submitting grants. I worked closely with Executive Director on building relationships with individual and corporate donors who have the potential to make a larger outright gift.

I managed and developed the Light The Night Campaign into a $640,000 event, with the event often doubling in size year over year. I was also responsible for adding additional walk site in Zanesville, OH and finding the location and building relationships in the area. I also managed a staff of two. I was asked to be a national Peer Consultant for other chapters and as asked did chapter visits to assess their Light The Night Campaigns and what they could do to grow them. I also worked closely with our Board of Trustees to expand the corporate involvement in the Walk and solicit sponsorships.

I was responsible for managing staff on the sales floor, opening and closing of registers and store, assisting customers with issues that arose and maintating a clean organized look for the sales floor. After college, while I was searching for a job in my field, I took this position to pay for bills.