“AFI’s audit provided useful strategies that impacted the Annual Fund immediately. The analysis empowered us to make needed changes to our annual fund plan which resulted in a better overall development program.” 
 Penny Helms White, Director of Annual Giving
   Radford University

“When I asked AFI to come to Westminster College, I wasn't sure what the end result would be.  Would the suggestions fit my institution?  Would the large school experience translate to my small, private school?  Would I be able to implement the recommended changes? I am happy to report a resounding YES to all of the above! I received clear-cut, concise suggestions that I could start using the next day. AFI built their recommendations around the unique components of my college, alumni and staff.  AFI truly helped me take my program to the next level.” 
 Kris Jensen, Director of Annual Giving
   Westminster College

"Having been in this field for ten years, I had strong opinions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of our program.  We contracted with AFI to obtain an unbiased, external review of our operation. In addition to confirming our internal evaluation, AFI provided additional insight and strategies we had not put together. The detailed recommendations are proving to be right on target."
 Kerry Witcher, Assistant Vice President
   University of Tennessee

“Starting from scratch with a brand new program in annual giving and with a new call center, we wanted AFI to come and tell us if we had a functional system in place. AFI’s input regarding both the annual giving program and the call center was invaluable. AFI could see that our donor recognition was going to overwhelm us quickly and the appropriate recommendations were made. AFI worked hard on getting the administration to realize that we did not have a “whining” habit but did seriously lack the data and tech support we needed. AFI made sure we understood the interacting dynamics between our mailings and our calling and helped us to set realistic priorities and goals in both areas. They also helped us decide where and how we could spend our limited resources most effectively. We are looking forward to having AFI come back in about two years to help us fine tune and upgrade our system.” 
 Christina Pianezolla, Director of Annual Giving
   Utah Valley State College

"I received a copy of the newsletter today. I'm very impressed with this piece. It so happens that this issue has a lot of info on student training for phonathons, or telefunds ... and we are having a student phonathon this evening. I plan to use some of the information from the newsletter in my training tonight!"
 Kathleen Leone
   Emma Willard School

"Great publication and good timing to receive the last complimentary copy. I was just getting ready to pull data for our spring mail appeal and your tips on compiling customized gift amounts will save me lots of time."
 Kim Herhold, Annual Fund Coordinator
  University of Houston-Clear Lake

Stephen F. Austin State University
The Citadel
University of Colorado
University of Connecticut
University of Dayton
University of Georgia
University of Hawaii
University of Houston - Clear Lake
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Michigan
University of Northern Iowa
University of Notre Dame
University of South Dakota
University of Southern Indiana
University of Tennessee
University of Toledo
University of Toronto
University of Tulsa
University of Utah
University of Virginia
Utah Valley State College
Vanderbilt University
Virginia Tech
Weber State University
Westminster College
Wheaton College
Winthrop University
Yale University

The AFI Consulting Team consists of active practitioners within the field of annual giving.

They are in the trenches, just as you are, working to build and enhance their respective programs.

Possessing the benefit of years of experience, consulting, and conference  presentations/participation, the AFI team is a valuable resource for the annual giving community within the higher education and non-profit worlds.

Mike is currently the Vice President for University Advancement at Eastern Washington University, having previously worked as Associate Vice President for Advancement at Radford University. Mike also worked for the University of Toronto as Director, Alumni Advancement, overseeing a staff of 20+ in alumni relations and annual giving programming targeting 360,000+ alumni.

Mike has risen through the development ranks serving Virginia Tech, Michigan State University and Georgetown University.

Active within CASE, Mike has chaired and presented at numerous CASE Annual Giving conferences.

Within the telefund spectrum, Mike has served as a national telefund user group chairperson, supervised calling programs of 60, 48 and 30 stations ($2,000,000+ in annual pledged revenue), and presented at numerous telefund conferences.

Direct mail highlights include three CASE Awards of Excellence, a three-fold increase in annual results at VT, and a 25% increase in annual matching gift results.

E-fundraising experience includes frequent presentations, an extensive Annual Giving website study/review and multiple CASE Currents article contributions.

Education
Indiana University Bloomington, B.S. General Studies (Education)

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