About
If you’re a VP, AVP, or Director of Development tasked with raising many millions or even billions of dollars for a campaign that’s already in progress or on the horizon, you will need to:
✅ Plan and create campaign communications from feasibility study to post-close.
✅ Ensure major gift officers have the communications tools they need for a range of prospects and donors at different stages of engagement.
✅ Help your board, colleagues, and volunteers to confidently convey organizational priorities and specific needs.
I know because I've been in your shoes. Before founding Weiswood Strategies, I spent nearly 25 years working as a fundraiser and advancement communications specialist. Now, I routinely draw on my fundraising experience and communications expertise to help colleges, universities, and other nonprofits secure more 7-, 8-, and 9-figure gifts.
What I love most is creating persuasive, authentic, and informative cases for support that inform all of the other tools in your major gifts communication toolkit: proposals and templates, one-sheets, slide decks, website copy, impact reports, and more.
We also work with our client partners—advancement leaders like you—to:
➡️ Assess your current development communications to determine what’s working, what’s not, and what’s missing.
➡️ Create a clear roadmap for getting the right message to the right people at the right time at every stage of a campaign, or between campaigns.
➡️ Free up gift officers’ time for relationship building by relieving them of proposal and report writing.
➡️ Coach staff writers to be better persuasive writers.
➡️ Serve as an executive-level thought partner on new ideas, opportunities, and hires.
Just a few of our successes include:
✅ Producing a full suite of campaign communications for a college that reached its $225M campaign goal more than a year ahead of schedule.
✅Developing a case for support for an advocacy organization’s campaign, which began with a $30M goal but raised $145M by the time the campaign launched publicly.
✅ Writing a principal gift proposal that yielded $2M to fully endow a STEM program for low-income, underrepresented students.
Ready to learn more? Visit WEISWOOD.COM or message me to start a confidential conversation.
Articles by Emily
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FOUR FUNDRAISING ESSENTIALS IN A POST-COVID WORLD
FOUR FUNDRAISING ESSENTIALS IN A POST-COVID WORLD
By Emily Weisgrau
Contributions
Activity
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In June, I flew from Chicago to West Lafayette, Indiana—not on a fancy jetliner, but on a small propeller plane. At first glance, it might seem…
In June, I flew from Chicago to West Lafayette, Indiana—not on a fancy jetliner, but on a small propeller plane. At first glance, it might seem…
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I’m in Fast Company today, talking about KM Strategies Group’s work to fight mis- and disinformation around Project 2025 on behalf of our clients…
I’m in Fast Company today, talking about KM Strategies Group’s work to fight mis- and disinformation around Project 2025 on behalf of our clients…
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Join our incredible and passionate development team at Dartmouth Cancer Center! https://lnkd.in/ehbtMYj2
Join our incredible and passionate development team at Dartmouth Cancer Center! https://lnkd.in/ehbtMYj2
Liked by Emily Weisgrau
Experience
Education
Volunteer Experience
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Board Director, Alumnae/i Association of Vassar College
Vassar College
- Present 2 months
Education
The Alumnae/i Association of Vassar College (AAVC) Board of Directors is a group of dedicated volunteers that serves the College and its more than 41,000 alums at the highest level. The Board manages the affairs of the AAVC, working closely with the College’s Associate Vice President for Alumnae/i Engagement and Executive Director of the AAVC.
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Panelist, Arts Education
National Endowment for the Arts
- 4 months
Arts and Culture
The NEA relies on panels composed of individuals who represent a broad range of artistic and cultural viewpoints, as well as wide geographic and ethnic diversity, to provide advice about the artistic excellence and artistic merit of funding proposals. Most panelists are arts professionals who are qualified by their activities, training, skills, and/or experience in one or more art forms. Every panel also includes a layperson – someone knowledgeable about the arts but not engaged in the arts as…
The NEA relies on panels composed of individuals who represent a broad range of artistic and cultural viewpoints, as well as wide geographic and ethnic diversity, to provide advice about the artistic excellence and artistic merit of funding proposals. Most panelists are arts professionals who are qualified by their activities, training, skills, and/or experience in one or more art forms. Every panel also includes a layperson – someone knowledgeable about the arts but not engaged in the arts as a profession either full- or part-time. I was pleased to serve as the lay panelist for arts education grants in 2021.
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Member, Vassar Fund Committee
Vassar College
- Present 4 years 1 month
Education
The Vassar Fund Committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Vassar Fund Office, which is an important arm of the Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development. The Vassar Fund Committee advises the Director of the Annual Fund on the development and implementation of strategies to encourage and enhance contributions to the college. This culminates with the announcement of reunion gift totals at the AAVC Annual Meeting at Reunion Weekend every June.
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Awards Judge
Council for Advancement and Support of Education
- 8 months
Education
2021 Circle of Excellence Awards: Judge Coordinator
2021 District II Accolades Awards: Executive Committee Member and Judge Coordinator -
Class Fund Co-Chair
Vassar College
- Present 8 years 3 months
Education
I lead peer-to-peer fundraising efforts within my class, from solicitation to stewardship.
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President, Board of Trustees
Bala House Montessori School
- 4 years
Education
Past president, board member, and alumna. Worked closely with school director on policy, budgeting, strategic planning, and operations. Advised committees and led board meetings.
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Chair, Get Out The Vote Committee
Swarthmore College
- 1 year 8 months
Civil Rights and Social Action
I led a committee of faculty, staff, and students to develop and implement a comprehensive and evolving plan that enhances and increases democratic engagement among the campus community, with particular emphasis on increasing the voting rate of students. During my tenure as chair, Swarthmore was designated a Voter Friendly Campus and more than doubled its voting rate from the 2014 midterms (16.9%) to the 2018 midterms (39.2%). I partnered with the Office of the President, Office of the Provost,…
I led a committee of faculty, staff, and students to develop and implement a comprehensive and evolving plan that enhances and increases democratic engagement among the campus community, with particular emphasis on increasing the voting rate of students. During my tenure as chair, Swarthmore was designated a Voter Friendly Campus and more than doubled its voting rate from the 2014 midterms (16.9%) to the 2018 midterms (39.2%). I partnered with the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, the Dean’s Office, Borough of Swarthmore, Delaware County Board of Elections, Campus Vote Project, and ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge.
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Panelist
Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts
- 3 months
Arts and Culture
Read and rated grant applications as a member of a review panel.
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Golden Lion Tamarin Monitor
Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
- 1 year
Animal Welfare
Participated in international research and conservation project on golden lion tamarins.
Projects
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Smart Gets Paid Podcast
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How do you get clients coming to you for your expertise? That’s the question I asked myself as I started to grow my consulting business. So how did I do it? Find out in Episode 52 of the Smart Gets Paid podcast with Leah Neaderthal.
Other creatorsSee project -
I AM CEO Podcast
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Find out my CEO hacks and what being a CEO means to me in Episode 1041 of the IAMCEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr.
Other creatorsSee project
Honors & Awards
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Bronze for Single Page Publications
CASE District II Accolades Awards
Worked with in-house colleagues and outside graphic designer Rose DiSanto to produce "Swarthmore At-A-Glance," an oversized infographic publication for volunteers to use in campaign fundraising.
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Silver and Bronze for Individual Fundraising Appeals
CASE District II Accolades Awards
Served as a member of the Mott Challenge Day of Giving team, and helped strategize and craft two award-winning communications: Silver for the Mott Challenge Self-Mailer and Bronze for Mott Challenge Email #1.
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Bronze for Fundraising: Challenge Grant/Matching Gift Programs
CASE Circle of Excellence Awards
Supported communications for "Rise Up with the Garnet Athletics Challenge"—Swarthmore's first one-day giving challenge focused solely on athletics.
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Gold for Single-Page Publication Design
CASE District II Accolade Awards
Collaborated to write, design, and produce an invitation to Swarthmore's 2018 Parrish Salon donor event.
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Silver for Fundraising Program
CASE Circle of Excellence
Was a member of the team that launched Haverford's first Young Alumni Giving Month.
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Good morning, my friends! The GREATEST organizations and teams achieve #excellence by holding themselves and eachother to a high standard of…
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I'm thrilled to announce that I will be joining Cairney & Company this autumn as Senior Partner. Looking forward to contributing my experience in…
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THANK YOU to The Duke Endowment for making a generous $30M award to Duke University to elevate research in computing, artificial intelligence (A.I.)…
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I love living in Cleveland, Ohio. It is a treasure of good food, incredible lakefront, world class healthcare at Cleveland Clinic and the best museum…
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It's going to be a beautiful Move-In Day! See you on Monday! #vassar2028
It's going to be a beautiful Move-In Day! See you on Monday! #vassar2028
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After nearly 25 years of unwavering dedication, we announce the retirement of Liliana Kelhart from #NewBethany 🎉 She began her journey with us as an…
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