MCC Foundation director named outstanding fundraiser
MCC Foundation Executive Director Kim Patterson has been named “Outstanding Fundraising Professional” by the Central Texas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Patterson has served in a variety of roles at McLennan Community College for 26 years and began her role as executive director of foundation in January 2017. She served as associate director of the Foundation 2006-2013.
Since becoming executive director, the foundation has raised an average of $1.3 million in private donor support each year, in addition to numerous grant awards. Patterson has successfully navigated complex capital and real property gifts, estate gifts, major gifts for scholarships and capital projects, and she has established major endowments to support student success.
MCC Foundation assets under management have increased from $16.2 million in 2016 to more than $32 million as of August this year.
Aside from fundraising success, the foundation has implemented creative donor stewardship efforts, including refining the Scholar, Donor, and Alumni Appreciation event to provide intentional connection between major donors and their scholarship recipients. Even during the pandemic, revenue from the Foundation’s Hearts in the Arts Gala and Golf Classic reached new fundraising records.
In 2018, the MCC Foundation was named a “Charity Champion” in recognition of its efforts to support the Men of Color Success Initiative at MCC. Since then, the foundation earned a Cooper Foundation grant to support the program and partially fund its first paid coordinator, and has created an endowed scholarship for the program’s outstanding participant.
Patterson works with a 27-member board of directors comprising community leaders, and she leads a four-person team in the Foundation and Resource Development areas. She has volunteered for or served in leadership positions in numerous community and professional organizations, including Rotary Club of Waco, Central Texas AFP, Central Texas PRSA, Baylor University Journalism, Public Relations and New Media, Talitha Koum, KWBU Public Radio, McLennan 100 Club and National Charity League.
The Outstanding Fundraising Professional award is presented to an individual fundraising professional who practices his or her profession in an exemplary manner. Nominees must hold a least eight years of professional experience in fundraising, and show evidence of quality of leadership that is effective, creative, stimulating and collaborative. He or she must actively participate in AFP and promote the Code of Ethical Principles, show a commitment to continuing professional development, and exhibit a commitment to philanthropy through voluntary service and financial support of nonprofit organizations.
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