LLLS chatted with Debbie Dutton,Vice President of Advancement, President of University of New Hampshire Foundation as she reflected on her job, her leadership style (pros and cons), and the subtle yet important differences between development staffs, which you can view here.
One of the questions asked during the interview was: How and why did you get into development?
Her response:
I answered an ad in the newspaper to do special events for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I had been president of my sorority in college and we did special events to raise money for a homeless women’s shelter in Bangor, Maine, so I thought, “I know special events! I can do this.” So that was how I got into it, and I just absolutely loved the idea of working with community leaders who really wanted to enrich people’s lives. After that, I started consulting, primarily with churches, YMCAs and libraries, to help them do capital campaigns, anywhere from half a million to three million. It was fabulous training, because in the future, when advising on larger campaigns, it was just adding more zeroes to it.