SANDRA K BAKER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER

A longtime development professional with over 25 years of repeated successes in senior level non-profit fundraising management, Sandy founded her consulting practice in 2001 to provide innovative and effective full service fundraising consulting to leading nonprofit organizations. Advancement Consulting Services provides expertise for arts and culture groups; educational; environmental; healthcare organizations; social service and religious institutions. She is especially passionate about her work serving children and youth.   

Sandy’s track record provides abundant proof of her expertise in every aspect of development.  Her talents as an initiator and strategic thinker, along with her special skills in effective relationship building, give organizations powerful tools that have brought results again and again for programs that depend upon customized and innovative philanthropy to carry our their mission. Clients typically consider her a valued friend, advisor and coach.

In South Florida, Sandy has worked with a variety of organizations including the world-class Cleveland Orchestra, Miami Residency. Focusing on effective strategies to cultivate, involve and solicit key major donors and prospects, creating development plans and materials while bringing important new relationships to the table, her effective counsel resulted in critical new gifts and program growth. Simultaneously, Sandy also provided valued mentoring for the Director of the Miami Residency.

At United Way of Miami-Dade, Sandy partnered on strategies and relationship building leading to significant gifts for the highly successful $30 million Center for Excellence in Early Education Capital Campaign. A nationally recognized school and training ground for individuals involved in educating pre-school children.

While working with an accredited museum, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Sandy impacted their bottom line by establishing and managing their major gifts and planned giving programs. Introducing Chihuly to the Garden was among her most powerful ‘matchmaking’ successes.

Sandy guided Miami’s Pew Institute for Ocean Science in creating every aspect of their advisory board. Her consulting with the YMCA of Greater Miami included leading their comprehensive development program from creating annual fund appeals; winning strategies and proposals for major gifts; valued leadership and advice for their gala; to a feasibility study; nucleus stage planning; and launching their $12 million capital campaign.

The Boys & Girls Clubs Foundation of Miami, Inc. outsourced their management to her and quickly enjoyed significant program growth including the documentation of numerous planned gifts. Sandy has developed important South Florida philanthropic relationships and a respected reputation as a consummate consulting professional.

At the prestigious University School, Nashville, Tennessee, Sandy provided lead counsel and effective advice for a $10 million private school capital campaign which exceeded goal by 50%.

Prior to leading her own consulting firm, Sandy spent 14 years as an internal consultant designing, building, and administering comprehensive development programs for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a highly respected research based academic institution. Her leadership roles included academic projects, multi-million dollar endowments, cultural programs, healthcare and patient programs, and nationally recognized fundraising special events.

She has been a guest lecturer for Vanderbilt University’s Institutional Advancement Program and served as a graduate school mentor. Among her credits are numerous highly successful capital campaigns, which she guided from pre-campaign feasibility studies through completion and recognition. She was a key member of the $125M campaign leadership team which exceeded their goal. Her legacy at the prominent university includes many volunteer boards and more than $40 million in major and planned gifts.

Previous to her Vanderbilt experience she conceived and managed marketing and development programs for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, where she later joined the Board of Directors and served as its president. She served on the executive board of the Nashville Section, National Council of Jewish Women, NCJW, for many years and remains a life member. She was also founder and president of the Tennessee Home Monitor Society and serves on the board of the Children’s Bereavement Center, a South Florida organization supporting bereaved families where she also served as board chair.

Among her longtime professional memberships are CASE and AFP where she has been involved for over twenty-five years and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. Sandy created the syllabus and taught The Essentials of Effective Nonprofit Fundraising in conjunction with the nonprofit leadership series presented by Center on Nonprofit Effectiveness (C-One) & FIU Eugenio Pino & Family Global Entrepreneurship Center.