News / Blog

Giving USA released Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024 earlier this week, revealing that US charities received $592.5 million, up 3.3%*, with growth in almost all charitable…

As part of Washburn McGoldrick’s 30th Anniversary year, each month we are featuring a brief conversation with one of our consultants. This month, Managing Principal Carla S. Willis sits down with Senior Consultant…

As part of Washburn McGoldrick’s 30th Anniversary year, each month we are featuring a brief conversation with one of our consultants. For May, Managing Principal Bonnie N. Devlin sat down with Susan H. Pettyjohn…

The Washburn McGoldrick March 2025 survey of advancement professionals is the twelfth in our Advancement Moving Forward series. The previous eleven surveys in this series were conducted in April 2020, June 2020,…

Summer 2025 Intensives: Creating Major Gift Success (July 21 – August 1, 2025) Creating Major Gift Success challenges gift officers to work collaboratively, think strategically, shorten their time horizons for…

As part of Washburn McGoldrick’s 30th Anniversary year, each month we are featuring a brief conversation with one of our senior consultants. For March, Managing Principal Carla S. Willis sat down with Randy Smith…

Managing Principal, Carla S. Willis comments in Chronicle of Philanthropy article on VSE report…

Washburn McGoldrick Co-Managing Principals, Bonnie N. Devlin and Carla S. Willis had the opportunity to have a conversation with Brian Flahaven, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at CASE to discuss the…

As part of Washburn McGoldrick’s 30th Anniversary year, each month we are featuring a brief conversation with one of our senior consultants. For February, Managing Principal Bonnie N. Devlin sat down with Carme…

During 2025, our 30th Anniversary year, each month Bonnie Devlin and I will introduce one of our very talented Senior Consultants. This month, meet Lil O’Rourke our newest member of the Washburn McGoldrick team….

As we turn the calendar to 2025, we are thrilled to kick off the celebration of Washburn McGoldrick’s 30 years in business!

As nonprofits & educational institutions face challenges from donors on polarizing issues, what are the best ways to address their concerns and keep them engaged?

Today, we share the news of the passing of our dear colleague and friend, Cynthia Khoo-Robinson. Over the years Cynthia worked with us at Washburn McGoldrick, she expressed such a zest for life, sense of humor…

During this season of joy and celebration, the Washburn McGoldrick team is appreciative of each and every one of our clients.

Winter 2025 Intensives: Creating Major Gift Success (January 21 – February 3, 2025) Creating Major Gift Success challenges gift officers to work collaboratively, think strategically, shorten their time horizons for…

This timely report released by The Generosity Commission offers some insights and data related to these declines and possible ways to reverse them. Washburn McGoldrick is a proud member of...

The Washburn McGoldrick June 2024 survey of advancement professionals is the eleventh in our Advancement Moving Forward series. The previous ten surveys in this series were conducted in April 2020, June 2020,…

Over the last three years, I’ve examined the inner workings of dozens of advancement shops, assessing and learning the philosophies and workflow challenges that propel excellence in alumni engagement and those dynamics that can prevent progress.

In a special blog for The Giving Institute and Giving USA, Washburn McGoldrick Managing Principals Bonnie Devlin and Carla Willis recently shared their insights on the Five Top Headwind Trends Facing Higher…

Episode 42: Navigating big change. On this episode, Carla Willis, Managing Principal at Washburn McGoldrick, joins host Kim Nyoni for a thought-provoking conversation on navigating the twists and turns of a career in philanthropy.

To celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Senior Consultants Carme Williams, CFRE & Susan Pettyjohn with Washburn McGoldrick have the pleasure of speaking with two women philanthropists,…

As Black History Month draws to a close, I have been reflecting on my prior work as the chief advancement officer at Florida A&M University from 2008 to 2011. During my time at FAMU we were the first to launch new…

In today’s highly competitive higher education development marketplace, the ability to understand and effectively use data analytics has become more critical than ever…

The Washburn McGoldrick November 2023 survey of advancement professionals is the tenth in our Advancement Moving Forward series. The previous nine surveys in this series were conducted in April 2020, June 2020,…

In last week’s episode of Alumless, Chris Marshall and Ryan Catherwood sat down with Carla Willis, Principal at Washburn McGoldrick, LLC and discussed what it takes to be successful at consulting in educational…

Winter 2024 Intensives: Creating Major Gift Success (January 22 – February 2, 2024) Challenges gift officers to work collaboratively, think strategically, shorten their time horizons for productivity, and practice the…

The Washburn McGoldrick June 2023 survey of advancement professionals is the ninth in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous seven surveys in this…

Summer 2023 Intensives: Creating Major Gift Success (July 24 – August 4, 2023) Challenges gift officers to work collaboratively, think strategically, shorten their time horizons for productivity, and practice the…

The Washburn McGoldrick December 2022 survey of advancement professionals is the eighth in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous seven surveys in this…

Recently we had the privilege of speaking together at Washburn McGoldrick’s annual client conference in New York City. We covered a lot of ground regarding leadership vision (see Lisa’s PRG Blog post for more),…

After 2 1/2 years, it was so energizing to be back in New York City at our 2022 Washburn McGoldrick, LLC client…

The Washburn McGoldrick April 2022 survey of advancement professionals is the seventh in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous six surveys in this…

Whether launching a new principal gifts program or working to maximize an existing one, it is frequently tempting to begin with questions like “How much?” and “How many?” While they represent important practical…

Our colleague Carme Williams is one of the most respected and talented educational advancement and philanthropic leaders in the industry. In recognition of Black History Month, she recently shared her journey in…

In my executive coaching work, I will often ask those I’m coaching: “What’s keeping you up at night?” I ask the question to prompt thought and reflection. If we are ever to consider new ways of working, thinking,…

Randall W. “Randy” Smith recently completed a 25+ year career at Vanderbilt University. During his tenure, he established a reputation as a builder of new results-driven fundraising programs, a seasoned...

As we approach the end of the calendar year, I would like to offer a few observations for 2021 year-end giving and legislative changes that might impact fundraising efforts in…

Carme Williams joins Washburn McGoldrick after almost three decades in corporate and non-profit leadership positions. Carme’s most recent experience has been in higher education advancement at Rice University, Houston Community...

The Washburn McGoldrick November 2021 survey of advancement professionals is the sixth in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous five surveys in this…

Since our founding 26 years ago, Washburn McGoldrick has been known for the quality of our feasibility study interviews and our ability to synthesize quantitative and qualitative information from those…

The Washburn McGoldrick May 2021 survey of advancement professionals is the fifth in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous four surveys in this series…

Last month, as we celebrated Women’s History Month and commemorated a full year of the COVID-19 crisis, I wondered about the pandemic’s effect on women donors as they make their...

The Washburn McGoldrick January 2021 survey of advancement professionals is the fourth in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The first three surveys in this…

For the past 14 years, the Washburn McGoldrick consulting team headed to New York City every January for our annual client conference. We eagerly anticipate this annual event to serve...

Spring Intensive, Feb 22 – Mar 5: Creating Major Gift Success challenges gift officers to work collaboratively, think strategically, shorten their time horizons for productivity, and practice the language of…

We began 2020 with great anticipation. We had big plans to celebrate Washburn McGoldrick’s 25th anniversary year…. 25 years serving colleges, universities, independent schools, museums and other educationally related organizations....

I am an advancement leader with years of experience and a very large network of colleagues. For years, I have been exchanging ideas with colleagues and journaling about my advancement...

The Washburn McGoldrick September 2020 survey of advancement professionals is the third in our Advancement Moving Forward series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The first two surveys in this…

I clearly remember the day we reluctantly postponed our second annual Day of Giving, scheduled for March 25, 2020. So much effort and energy had been expended planning for the...

Since mid-March, the philanthropic world has endured dramatic changes to “business as usual.”  Major gift officers have become proficient in the use of Zoom, Skype, TEAMS, and, yes, even landline...

As we continue at Washburn McGoldrick to help our clients navigate the new realities of engagement and philanthropy strategy, our blog this month focuses on enriching alumni engagement through digital...

The past three months have been a journey for all of us with a passion for education and philanthropy. At Washburn McGoldrick we work with our clients to develop strategies...

How can I… inspire donors to make their best gifts? tighten the time between solicitations? prepare campus leaders to get involved? and do all of this in a time of...

The June 2020 survey is the second in our series on the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first survey was conducted in early April 2020.

As daughters of educators, we were taught by our parents about the power of education to change lives. The Noels and the Lees were first-generation college students whose inspired teaching...

Each member of our Washburn McGoldrick team is working with clients on a daily basis to help them navigate the many challenges they face as a result of the Covid-19...

At Washburn McGoldrick we understand how tremendously difficult it is for our clients to operate their institutions during this unprecedented time in our lives. We know that now, more than...

Leaders in higher education are being called upon to lead as never before. Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, currently President of Prairie View A&M University, offers the following for all leaders:...

Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): Impact of new tax law changes As of January 1, 2020, the new Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act could alter the way...

The Washburn McGoldrick consulting team will commemorate our silver anniversary in numerous ways, including a series of monthly blog posts, which we happily kick off today. Step back 25 years...

Chris has over 32 years of experience as a leader in higher and secondary education. His primary areas of focus are engagement, philanthropy, external relations, board development, and planning. He...

We are thrilled to add their expertise as we continue Building Relationships to Advance Education and Philanthropy. Eileen Bertsch Donahue, Senior Consultant Carla Willis, Senior Consultant Chris Marshall, Consulting Partner

It’s been many weeks now since the 2019 Boston Marathon and I am still licking my wounds and analyzing what went so wrong. I’ve been a runner since I was...

The E. Burr Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals whose professional accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact on the field of institutional advancement.