Tyler Vacha

I serve as the University of South Dakota Foundation's liaison to the University's College of Arts and Sciences, the largest academic unit within the University, comprised of 17 departments with more than 50 academic departments.

• Successfully solicited and closed more than $2 million in gifts in the first 11 months of employment.
• Restored and built strong working relationships with University partners, especially in the College of Arts and Sciences.
• Enhanced relationships with current benefactors while actively identifying new high-value gift prospects.
• Managed a portfolio of major gift donors and prospects through the identification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship processes.
• Provided regular reports on advancements towards fundraising goals and metrics associated with donor relationship tasks to senior executives.
• Kept accurate records of donor interactions to monitor progress towards goals.
• Spearheaded cross-functional collaborations to ensure the successful promotion of philanthropy initiatives
• Participated in community outreach efforts by attending networking events or speaking engagements.

As the inaugural Executive Director, responsibilities included serving as an integral partner with the Foundation's board of directors, providing long-term and short-term strategic planning, managing day-to-day operations, developing and executing marketing and communication plans, serving as spokesperson/senior liaison for History Nebraska/The History Nebraska Foundation, participating as an ex officio member of the History Nebraska Leadership team, and providing philanthropic support and consulting services to History Nebraska.

• Secured funding from public and private sources totaling more than $1.1 million to fund History Nebraska projects and initiatives through grant writing activities or other fundraising efforts.
• Managed the organization's financial resources and operations to maximize efficiency and effectiveness and achieved a 5:1 ROI across the Foundation’s first two years of operations.
• Established, implemented, and maintained accounting systems, procedures, and reporting practices for operational and fiscal integrity, effectively managing designated budget.
• Developed projections for annual revenues covering donations, sales and grants to support cash flow management.
• Developed Foundation brand and marketing materials, website, and other marketing strategies to promote the organization's mission throughout the community.
• Researched, identified, and established Foundation constituent management system to ensure proper donor stewardship and engagement.
• Cultivated strong relationships with History Nebraska department chairs, board members, donors, sponsors, partners, and community leaders.
• Collaborated with external vendors to provide cost-effective solutions for services such as accounting, human resources, and marketing.
• Organized regular meetings with board members to discuss progress on initiatives and solicit feedback.
• Conducted outreach activities such as speaking engagements or attending networking events in order to build awareness of the organization's mission.
• Served as spokesperson at press conferences or interviews and liaised between executive leadership and external partners regarding philanthropic opportunities.

Duties within this role included providing leadership for Phase 1 of a $50 million capital campaign, building a major gifts and planned giving program, optimizing Northeast's donor management database, marketing efforts, and strengthening team functions. Responsibilities include strategic planning and budgeting, setting team goals, and managing a team of 3 gift officers.

• Co-led effort to submit a $7.5 million National Science Foundation grant focused on regenerative agriculture.
• Provided leadership for a successful $22.3 million capital campaign for new agriculture facilities.
• Co-led effort to gain 501(c)(3) status for the Community College Alliance for Agriculture Advancement.
• Negotiated agreements for contributions and sponsored programs with corporate and foundation partners.
• Served as a public spokesperson at industry events or conferences.
• Cultivated relationships with stakeholders to secure support and funding for key initiatives.
• Oversaw strategic planning and implementation to ensure organizational goals were met.
• Recruited, trained, supervised, and mentored staff members.
• Assessed employee performance against established benchmarks or targets.
• Conducted regular meetings with department heads to review progress on strategic initiatives.

Duties within this role included providing leadership for Phase 1 of a $50 million capital campaign, building a major gifts and planned giving program, optimizing Northeast's donor management database, marketing efforts, and strengthening team functions. Responsibilities include strategic planning and budgeting, setting team goals, and managing a team of 3 gift officers.

• Identified, solicited, and received a $5 million campaign lead gift.
• Provided leadership for a successful $22.3 million capital campaign for new agriculture facilities.
• Developed language for multi-phase marketing campaign and grant applications.
• Optimized Salesforce CRM for planned and major giving purposes.
• Served as a public spokesperson at industry events or conferences.
• Cultivated relationships with stakeholders to secure support and funding for key initiatives.
• Oversaw strategic planning and implementation to ensure organizational goals were met.
• Recruited, trained, supervised, and mentored staff members.
• Assessed employee performance against established benchmarks or targets.
• Implemented systems for tracking progress on key initiatives

Duties within this role included managing fundraising, communications, media, constituency, human resources and facilities departments for the Center. Responsibilities included strategic planning and budgeting, setting annual department goals, presenting quarterly board reports, and leading a team of 8 employees and contractors.

• Achieved a 600% gain in total donations and increased cash revenue by 347% in 4 years.
• Managed client relationships for more than 2,000 donors and 25,000 constituents and stakeholders in all 50 U.S. states.
• Researched, laid groundwork, and launched a $6 million capital campaign.
• Transitioned the CRM database from Raiser's Edge (Blackbaud) to Salesforce and optimized it for Center purposes.
• Led all marketing and communication efforts, such as social media marketing campaigns, bi-monthly newsletters, e-newsletters, annual reports, website content, blogs, marketing materials, and research reports.
• Served as the hiring manager for the organization.
• Recruited, hired, trained, coached, and performed regular evaluations for the development and marketing team.
• Co-led effort to develop and launch the Nebraska Civic Engagement Table, a new 501(c)(3) organization, and served as founding board secretary.
• Prepared quarterly reports on development and marketing activities for board members and other stakeholders.
• Developed and implemented donor recognition programs.
• Collaborated with external vendors on website design projects related to online giving platforms.
• Created and wrote content for annual fund brochures, direct mail appeals, e-solicitations and phonathon scripts.
• Prepared and managed the development and public relations department budget.
• Cultivated strong relationships with board members, donors, prospects, and philanthropic community.
• Established goals for soliciting funds, developed collection and security policies and coordinated funds disbursements.
• Directed work of fundraising team to successfully achieve fundraising targets on or ahead of schedule.

Duties within this role included serving on the organization's executive team, management of the Center's annual fundraising campaign, management of constituent communication efforts, overseeing constituent recruitment and retention, presenting quarterly board reports, carrying out facilities management, and managing a staff of three.

• Built donation forecasts and schedules to reflect desired productivity targets.
• Established ambitious goals for employees to promote achievement and surpass business targets.
• Coached, developed, and motivated team to achieve revenue goals.
• Developed and implemented fundraising strategies to increase donations.
• Managed a portfolio of major donor relationships, providing stewardship and solicitation support.
• Coordinated with internal teams to ensure accurate tracking of all donor information.
• Developed the Center's online merchandise store and inventory.
• Oversaw the development of the Center's style guide, outlining the look, feel, and voice of the Center's communication and media efforts.
• Established communication plans to inform stakeholders about organizational updates.
• Oversaw the creation of all organizational marketing materials.
• Created and delivered board reports and presentations summarizing progress against development goals and objectives.
• Created relationships with businesses, community leaders, and citizens through events to promote the company and add new donors and volunteers.
• Made appearances at special events as an official client representative to develop new relationships with possible donors.
• Supervised and updated the organization's social media accounts and websites, delivering fresh and exciting content to platforms.

Duties within this role included managing client relationships with more than 140 Chapter Leaders in 35 US States and 4 Canadian Provinces, recruitment of new FS4JK chapters, collection of annual dues, management of national outreach programs, public speaking at national, state, and local ag industry and farm safety events, hiring and management of staff of up to 12, and reporting program goals and results to FS4JK board and corporate sponsors.

• Developed, implemented, and managed a 12-state outreach program, producing more than 180 farm safety events and educating more than 23,000 children, youth, and family yearly.
• Provided team leadership to 12 remote positions.
• Recruited and trained two national youth FS4JK spokesmen.
• Developed strong and lasting relationships with FS4JK chapter leaders across the country through effective stewardship.
• Represented FS4JK in public speaking roles at more than 50 local, national, and regional events, including national safety and health summits, ag industry trade shows, and local farm events. Developed and implemented new member recruitment initiatives.
• Managed membership database, ensuring accuracy of data entry.
• Assisted with the development of marketing materials to promote membership benefits.
• Conducted outreach activities to engage potential members in a variety of settings.
• Created and maintained records of all memberships, including payment information and contact details.
• Maintained detailed reports on all membership activities, including renewal rates, attrition statistics.
• Researched industry best practices for developing effective member engagement strategies.
• Implemented systems for tracking key performance metrics related to membership growth.
• Negotiated expectations and financial commitments with major agriculture corporate sponsors and annually reported ROI.