Fundraising campaign counsel for third spaces.
Anne Murphy is co-founder and CEO of Empowered Fundraiser Consulting, with 35 years leading advancement strategy across the nonprofit sector and more than $10 billion in campaigns. She guides teams through campaigns and leadership transitions.
She rose through the Oregon State University Foundation from Director of Development for the College of Science to Senior Director of Development for Engineering and Business, exceeding goal every year and managing a portfolio with $400M in donor capacity. Earlier campaigns took her through the University of Illinois, Ohio University, and UC San Francisco.
Her work reaches well beyond the university. In her own community she has led and advised campaigns and initiatives for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park, The Arts Center of Corvallis, and Common Ground Food Co-op. The same disciplined approach, at the scale a nonprofit works in.
Anne is a keynote speaker on AI and fundraising, and on fundraising campaigns. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon with her family and three doggos.
B.S. in Recreation Administration and M.S. in Leisure Behavior from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · Speaker for CASE and AFP · ARCS Oregon Chapter
Don brings more than 25 years in sales, marketing, and business development to Empowered Fundraiser Consulting, with an MBA in Marketing from Oregon State University. Before fundraising, he led sales and marketing for regional companies across the Willamette Valley, most recently as Vice President of Sales for a specialty wine company and Sales and Marketing Manager for a sustainable packaging manufacturer.
As Lead Marketing and Campaign Counsel, Don shapes the language, materials, and campaign communications that move a donor from interest to gift. As COO, he runs the operational side of the firm, from scope and capacity to the cross-organization partnerships a campaign depends on.
Kate develops software and the systems that support it for Empowered Fundraiser.
She runs marketing campaigns across all three brands, including communications and graphic design. She also produces podcasts and other media and plans and executes events from concept through delivery.
Her work connects software development with the marketing, creative, and operational work required to move ideas into the world.
Our team includes subject matter experts we bring into client engagements based on the work at hand.
Talk through a fundraising question with Anne. She’ll help you make sense of the situation and decide what to do next. You get clear next steps, the replay, and a follow-up playbook.
Anne Murphy and Don Wackerly lead Empowered Fundraiser Consulting. Anne is co-founder, CEO, and lead fundraiser and campaign counsel. Don is co-founder, COO, and lead marketing and campaign counsel.
Anne brings 35 years in fundraising, with roles in successful campaigns totaling more than $10 billion. Her experience includes major and principal gifts, campaign feasibility and strategy, and fundraising for community facilities.
Specialists join engagements according to the agreed scope. Their fields include board governance, planned giving, fundraising operations, proposal development, and communications.
