Fundraising Stars

Michael Staff, senior development specialist at the Burlington County College Foundation, was working at another nonprofit when he met Rebecca Corbin. But her warm, welcoming energy left an impression.

Staff, who now works alongside Corbin at the BCC Foundation, lists her many fundraising successes, but we were most impressed with her ability to refresh and energize the BCC Foundation's board of trustees. "Never have I seen a board that is so active and dedicated to help an organization succeed as these fine trustees have, and by all accounts, this is in large part due to Becky's efforts to bring new people to the board, as well as motivate the seasoned individuals who have long-served the foundation," Staff says.

Board enthusiasm and involvement — or, rather, the unfortunate lack thereof — is a huge bugaboo for many organizations of all shapes and sizes. Rebecca's ability to engage BCC Foundation's board clearly qualifies her as a Fundraising Star.

Molly Duerr
associate director
American Diabetes Association/Minneapolis

Despite the sluggish economy, Molly Duerr not only has maintained her fundraising amounts from previous years, but she's increased them by implementing innovative and strategic approaches to her fundraising efforts.

Molly manages the American Diabetes Association EXPO and the American Diabetes Association Gala in the Minneapolis area. Since joining ADA in 2003, she has generated almost $4 million in contributed funds.

She did so by changing her focus from event-specific sponsorships to generating year-round packages in order to give corporations opportunities for broader, customized alignments with the organization.

"Molly doesn't believe in cookie-cutter packages but prefers to work closely with the corporate community to develop targeted sponsorship packages that serve their needs as well as the needs of the American Diabetes Association," says Sybil Freeman, director of corporate development for the American Diabetes Association/Atlanta.