39: Fundraising Dads

Parents At Work

In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin interview Mark Versen and Dale Wright. Mark is the Chief Development Officer (CDO) of the Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Inc. In 2020, he set a record for total annual fundraising by hitting $7 Million including the largest gift in Lutheran Family Services history of the 128 years of $3 Million while surpassing 22% growth in total number of donors. Mark is a seasoned professional with experience in private and public higher education institutions and executive leadership in the health and human services non-profit sector. He’s a firm believer that philanthropy changes lives. Mark and his wife Jesse have two children and they reside in Louisville, Nebraska.

Dale is the Associate Dean and Chief Advancement Officer for the Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He’s responsible for the strategy and operations on fundraising and constituent engagement, and he’s the campaigns director for the college’s $550 Million goal in the With Illinois $2.25 Billion comprehensive campaign. As of today, the college is at 109% of its goal. Over the last 20+ years, Dale has held a variety of alumni and fundraising engagement goals in higher education. He’s an active CASE volunteer and also holds membership in organizations such as the African American Development Officers Network and The Association of Fundraising Professionals. He’s also involved in other non-profit work as well including serving on the executive committee of the board of directors for the American Legion, Boys State of Missouri. Dale loves his family and knows he wouldn't be where he is today without the support of his wife and his four daughters.

It’s going to be a really interesting episode as these two dads talk about the most exciting things in fundraising, how they look at things from a completely different angle in order to change advancement, the power of integrating ones family into their work, and the working parenthood challenges they’ve successfully navigated all through their careers. Tune in and get inspired.

Show Highlights

• Dramatic ups and downs Mark went through when he unexpectedly fell into his working parent journey (03:36)
• The value of having an incredible community of 120+ helpers (07:01)
• How Dale and his wife were able to navigate being first time parents and working on their thriving careers (08:48)
• Learning to turn off the fundraising mode whenever it’s time to go be a parent (15:41)
• Mark’s experience with being a parent who works as a fundraising professional (19:00)
• Parental workplace support systems that they have benefitted from all through their careers (25:13)
• Moving away from the previous way of doing things in fundraising to focus more on relationship building (29:59)
• Finding a way to shut things off in a constantly connected world (33:49)
• Why we should be mindful of the habits that we pick up (35:33)

Links and Resources

• Good to Great By Jim Collins
• All Labor Has Dignity By Martin Luther King Jr.
• What's a Freemie? A genius invention for working parents
• Jason's Website
• Jason on Linkedin
• Lori's Website
• Lori on Linkedin