Benjamin B. Gunning

Experience

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  Hanover College

  Jan 2007 - Jan 2008

  Development Assistant

  •Oversaw Phonathon program; recruited and supervised 15 student workers, managed budget, set and met aggressive goals, established incentive programs, tabulated and reported results. Results include a three-year high dividend in pledges despite its lowest contact rate in as many years, exceeded its $150,000 annual goal, came in below budget, and increased the number of donors at the $1,000 or above giving level by double digits.•Implemented a “Giving Green” initiative that resulted in double-digit increases in online giving and in the percentage of fulfilled pledges, while yielding a net decrease in overhead costs for the institution•Drafted and co-designed layout for annual fund marketing pieces.•Personally solicited donations from alumni, parents, and friends.•Researched prospective donors and updated donor profiles; segmented prospective donors into a coordinated solicitation strategy; created and updated records in a multi-relational database. Show less

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  Medical College of Wisconsin

  Mar 2009 - Aug 2012

  Assistant Director of Annual and Special Giving

  Served as member of 3 person annual and special giving team responsible for soliciting alumni of the Medical College of Wisconsin's Medical School and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. In this role I:•Managed all event logistics of alumni phone solicitation program including securing alumni speakers, soliciting incentives from local businesses, and recruiting, hiring and training 100+ student workers.•Planned, executed and evaluated cultivation and solicitation efforts of 5,500+ faculty and staff. •Drafted direct mail pieces and conducted face-to-face solicitations. Results included a record for gifts, from faculty and staff in a single year, in excess of $1.6 million—300+% of the $500,000 annual goal set by the Committee.•Managed the “Faculty and Staff Gift Drive Committee,” •Managed annual and reunion fundraising efforts for young alumni; particularly 10th,15th and 20th reunion classes. Results included institutional records for class gift totals. •Led Senior Gift Drive effort. Identified and recruited 4th year medical students to serve on Senior Class Gift Committee. Achieved 2nd highest class gift in school history.•Set a 5 year record for Student Financial Aid appeals. Show less

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  Consulting for Purpose Driven Development

  Jan 2010 - now

  Consultant

  • Leveraged relationship management, and deal negotiation skills to advise clients on $25M+ in investments in B-corps, nonprofits, and real estate for purpose driven development.• Coached more than 250 executives on sales strategy, strategic communication, and negotiation in 1:1 and group facilitation settings.

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  Milwaukee Film

  Aug 2012 - Jan 2014

  Development Director

  Served as chief development executive for Milwaukee Film, an organization that puts on the 5th largest film festival in the US and provides year round educational programs. In this role I:• Led financial turnaround of organization in FY12, doubling FY11 income by increasing membership base from ~500 to 2100+ and growing corporate sponsorships to $1.6M, a 40% increase.• Secured all funds for the organization by developing and executing strategies for corporate, foundation, and individual donors.• Staffed the board of directors on all development initiatives.• Oversaw a development department of six fundraisers.• Manage all stewardship activities.• Established innovative sponsorship structures to maximize revenue.• Developed annual giving and sponsorship outreach plans. Show less

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  UCSF

  Mar 2014 - Jun 2016

  As lead development officer for the UCSF School of Pharmacy and Graduate Division provided strategic vision, leadership, and direction for all fundraising efforts. Closed transformational philanthropic commitments for research and educational initiatives. Manage a portfolio of 150+ prospects. Established and maintained effective working relationships with deans, faculty, and senior administrative leaders. Supervised a team of 5 major gift officers and administrative professionals. Closed major and principal gifts ($1M+) for innovative biomedical research projects and educational initiatives within UCSF's School of Pharmacy and Graduate Division. Manage a portfolio of 150+ prospects.• Served as 1 of 4 fundraisers for UCSF’s $80 million Discovery Fellows campaign for graduate education - increasing the number of donors from 14 to 1500+ per year, resulting in the creation of the largest endowment for graduate education in University of California system.

  • Interim Senior Director of Development (promoted)

    Jul 2015 - Jun 2016

  • Director of Development for the School of Pharmacy & the Graduate Division

    Mar 2014 - Jun 2016
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  Designit

  Oct 2017 - Sept 2020

  I led operations and business development functions for a team focused on offering best-in-class creative leadership and design thinking education to Fortune 500 companies worldwide. A few of our clients: Clorox, Cisco, Starbucks, NASA, Pixar, Visa, and NBC.• Led business development achieving 120% YOY growth on corporate training programs leveraging qualification skills to double proposal win rate.• Analyzed historic burn rates and profitability ambitions, created new pricing structure, increasing profit margins of operating unit from 55% to 70%+. Show less

  • Senior Operations Manager, Cooper Professional Education (promoted)

    Jan 2019 - Sept 2020

  • Operations & Business Development Manager, Cooper Professional Education

    Oct 2017 - Jan 2019
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  Propelland

  Jan 2021 - Mar 2023

  Led global high-performing cross-functional team of 40+ leveraging team management, and strategic planning to exceed profit targets by 20%.• Closed largest deal in company history: $1.96M with Coca-Cola – surpassing previous record by $1.2M+. Utilized deal negotiation, account strategy, stakeholder management, and contract writing skills to win initial deal, subsequent upselling, and maximized profits throughout.• In 2022, company ARR was $4.4M, and I closed $2.7M on a $2.5M goal, securing Coca-Cola as a new client & upsell and cross-sell from existing portfolio, and Coca-Cola.• Closed 19 enterprise deals in 24 months with an average contract size of $355,867, average deal was 2.5x company average Show less Oversaw North American sales and business development strategy and execution for design, strategy, and engineering consultancy – including pipeline planning, lead generation, account mapping, channel sales, and deal negotiation resulting in most profitable year in company’s 10 year history.• In 2021, company ARR was $5M, and I closed $2.6M on $1M goal – securing HP, Adobe, Zepp, and Bank of the West as new clients.• Landed and grew a single new account by strategically leveraging pricing, deal strategy, customer relationship management, and project leadership skills to secure $1.5M+ and 7 projects in 6 months. Show less

  • Client Lead (promoted)

    Jan 2022 - Mar 2023

  • Growth Lead

    Jan 2021 - Jan 2022