Message From Your Chair

Whether you work at a zoo or it just feels like it, all major gift officers have one goal in mind: developing long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships between donors and our institutions. Whether you are in need of a refresher or just getting started, come to this conference to learn time-tested skills, strategies and tactics from dedicated practitioners who have the insights and experience that will make an impact on all you do.

Mark A. Stuart, Conference Chair
President, Foundation for the Zoological Society of San Diego
Chief Development and Membership Officer, Zoological Society of San Diego

Mark Stuart leads a staff of 60 for the San Diego Zoo's Development and Membership Department. The zoo raises approximately $45 million in gift income and memberships each year. This 93-year old institution maintains 500,000 adult members and 140,000 child members-all up for renewal each year. The San Diego Zoo is in the mid stage of its first-ever comprehensive campaign (approximately $280 million).

Previously, Stuart served as assistant/associate dean of development and alumni relations for the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. During his tenure, the school prepared, launched and executed a five-year $100 million campaign-the largest fundraising effort for any veterinary school at that time. He also wrote and managed a Kresge Foundation proposal that secured a $1.5 million commitment for the campaign. It was one of the foundation's largest challenge grants in higher education. At the time of his departure, the campaign had secured $116 million in gifts and pledges.

Stuart is a graduate of Albion College and holds a master's degree in educational administration from McDaniel College.

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Faculty

Karen Cochran
Executive Director, Development
Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center

Karen Cochran is the executive director of development and associate director of development and communications for the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center (DCCC). She has been with the Cancer Center since 2003 and with Duke University since 1997. Since joining the Cancer Center in this leadership role, she has worked to shift the culture from special events to major gifts, resulting in decreased costs and increased fundraising results. Previously, she held senior development positions at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke, John Hopkins University and Western Maryland College. While associate dean at Fuqua, she instituted the International Alumni Retreat-a blend of social and executive education opportunities featured in desirable locations around the globe.

Cochran is responsible for coordinating all fundraising activities for the Cancer Center. She manages major and principal prospects while utilizing volunteers to accomplish both annual fund and capital objectives. She maintains an active interest in staff development and training opportunities. In her role as executive director, she has established a faculty philanthropy committee and worked collaboratively with a team of physicians to secure the largest gift ($14M) in the history of the center.

She received her bachelor's degree in marketing from West Virginia University and her master's degree from Western Maryland College. She also completed the Hopkins Fellows in Change Management, a graduate program focusing on leadership, management and organizational development.

Cochran serves as a member of the board of trustees for The Duke School for Children and as a co-chair of the Parents Committee for the Congregation at Duke Chapel.

Myrna Hall
Senior Consultant
Marts and Lundy

Myrna Hall joined Marts & Lundy as a senior consultant in 2005, following nearly eight years at the University of Colorado Foundation and twenty years in higher education fundraising. From 1997 through 2003, she served as the vice president of development for the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2003, Hall was promoted to senior vice president.

Prior to her work at the University of Colorado, Hall was director of development and special gifts and later interim vice president, university relations and development, for San Diego State University. Before San Diego State, she held various key leadership roles in the Development office for Washington State University.

Hall served on the Marts & Lundy Board of Directors from 2006-2008. A frequent presenter at national conferences and seminars for CASE and others, she has also served on CASE's Commission on Philanthropy and as co-chair of CASE's International Assembly (now the Summit for Advancement Leaders.) She recently received the CASE Crystal Apple award for outstanding teaching.

Janet Redding Richardson
Director of Advancement
Almaden Country School

As Almaden Country School's director of advancement, Janet Redding Richardson brings a wealth of experiences from her years of work for both educational and nonprofit organizations. As a vice president at San Diego's Natural History Museum, Richardson landed millions of dollars of grants and gifts which underwrote fascinating projects of historic significance, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. In her several executive roles at San Jose State, she built up the endowment and alumni programs. Additionally, she planned the campaign that funded a signature downtown landmark, the Martin Luther King Jr. Library, a unique collaborative effort between the city of San Jose and San Jose State.

Richardson is familiar with the world of independent private schools; earlier in her career she planned a campaign to build an endowment that would underwrite teacher salaries, and she spearheaded a successful capital campaign which resulted in a new arts complex for Castilleja School of Palo Alto.

While Richardson has worked in high powered environments, she is enthusiastic about working with the Almaden Country School administration and breathing in the atmosphere of childhood once again. "I love being able to watch the children grow and develop-it's like being in a laboratory," she notes.

Keynote Speaker

Harvey McKinnon
President
Harvey McKinnon and Associates

Harvey McKinnon is recognized as one of North America's leading direct mail experts. He is the author of Hidden Gold: How monthly giving will build donor loyalty, boost your organization's income, and increase financial stability (Bonus Books, Chicago).
An award-winning copywriter, he has won international acclaim for his direct mail packages and has hosted a six-part TV series on fundraising.

McKinnon has two best-selling training videos and an audio CD of his popular seminar, How Today's Rich Give (Jossey-Bass), and has written for numerous publications, including Donors, Grassroots Fundraising Journal, and Contributions. He is a columnist for Canadian Fundraiser and a contributing editor to Successful Direct Mail, Telephone and Online Fundraising.

Heis also a highly rated trainer and has taught fundraising to thousands of nonprofits. He has twice earned the highest rating of any speaker in the direct response and annual giving tracks at the U.S. Association of Fundraising Professionals annual convention, where he regularly speaks. He has helped groups raise hundreds of million dollars.

He is co-author of the Amazon.ca #1 best-seller, The Power of Giving (with Azim Jamal). All profits from sales go to charities.

Before founding Harvey McKinnon Associates in 1989, McKinnon spent ten years with Oxfam Canada as senior development officer. He was a 1998 finalist for the B.C.-based "Ethics in Action Awards".

He has served on many boards including the Advisory Board of the Brainerd Foundation (U.S.), Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (SPUD), Oxfam Canada, and the Vancouver International Comedy Festival.