Demont
Team
Robert
D. Demont, CFRE, President, has been a proponent of the
highest standards in direction and counsel to philanthropic institutions,
their staff, and volunteers since 1979. In addition to managing,
directing, and counseling hundreds of clients and helping them
raise over $600,000,000, Bob has been a teacher, coach, camp counselor,
board member, political campaign manager, international performer,
and marketing representative. He formed Demont & Associates,
Inc. in 1993 after serving as regional manager and president of
the New England Division of Ketchum, Inc., when it was the largest
fund-raising counseling firm in the world.
He
is a leader and a sought-after speaker by the Association of Fundraising
Professionals (AFP), Council for the Advancement and Support of
Education (CASE), the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy,
and other professional and volunteer associations. He is past
president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Northern
New England Chapter and was a faculty member of AFP's First Course
and Survey Course, and a guest lecturer at Lesley College. He
also has completed the Executive Leadership Institute sponsored
by AFP in conjunction with the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.
Bob currently chairs the Board of Visitors of the University of
Maine at Machias and the Board of Directors of Agawam Council,
a private character-based camp serving American youth since 1919.
He has been an active volunteer and class capital campaign chair
at his alma mater, Bowdoin College, and also chaired Up With People's
Alumni Association Founders Campaign.
Porter
D. Caesar II, CFRE, Executive Vice President,
joined the Demont team in 1997, after 30 years of experience in
education as headmaster, administrator, facilitator, and fund
raiser. Pete provides clients with comprehensive campaign counsel
including strategic planning, institutional counsel, financial
planning and internal assessments. He brings special expertise
in education and youth agencies, including summer camps. During
his years with Demont he has worked in education (at the elementary,
secondary, and college levels), youth groups (YMCA, Scouting,
Boys & Girls Clubs, and summer camps), libraries, a nationally
recognized museum, and a historic performing arts center. His
professional expertise includes administrative management; development
and public relations; supervision and evaluation; strategic planning;
problem solving; team building; financial management; human resources;
and written and oral communication.
Pete
formerly served as academic dean of Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro,
New Hampshire, and as headmaster of Providence Country Day School
in Rhode Island. His career has included positions focused on
admissions, long-range planning, fund raising, and curriculum
development.
As
a life trustee and former president of the board of Camp Agawam
in Raymond, Maine, Pete led the board through a strategic planning
process and helped Camp Agawam exceed their capital campaign goal.
A graduate of Princeton University with a M.Ed. degree in Curriculum
& Supervision from the University of Pittsburgh, Pete is fluent
in Portuguese and has a strong command of Spanish and French.
Mary
Alice Bird, Senior Advisor, brings to Demont clients
more than 20 years of capital campaign and development experience
in major cultural, educational, youth, and religious institutions.
Mary Alice has supervised a wide range of Demont campaign projects
and has directed the firm’s efforts to develop a flexible,
alternative database for clients, and a set of operating standards
and procedures for associates. A graduate of Wilson College, Mary
Alice has extensive experience as a secondary school and college
faculty member; museum and church administrator, and development
director. As a professional writer and former academician, she
has special expertise in developing successful corporate and foundation
proposals, strategic institutional and financial planning, and
comprehensive advancement counsel.
Mary Alice is an active volunteer with St. Peter’s Episcopal
Church in Rockland, Maine, the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, and
the Georges River Land Trust. Her regional and national board
experience has included membership on the board of the Witness
publication, the Panel of American Women, and various committees
within the Episcopal Church.
James
J. Boyle, Ph.D., Senior Associate,
has been a successful institutional development professional for
30 years. Jim provides Demont’s not-for-profit clients with
institutional advancement counsel, comprehensive capital campaign
management and counsel, strategic planning, and awareness and marketing
program development. He also serves as chief editor of the firm’s
quarterly publication Accent on Philanthropy. Previously, he served
as vice president and senior development officer at the State University
of New York (SUNY) at Cortland for seven years. In 2000, SUNY Cortland
received a CASE Circle of Excellence for overall improvement in
educational fund raising. Prior to his work with SUNY Cortland,
Jim served as vice president of LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New
York.
Jim also served as chief development
officer for SUNY at Binghamton. During his nine years at Binghamton,
Jim earned a Ph.D. in higher education research at Syracuse University,
completed a dissertation on college quality and alumni giving
that was funded by the Lilly Endowment, and won an outstanding
dissertation award in 1992 from the American Association of Fund-Raising
Counsel and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
After
graduating from Boston College and earning an M.P.A. from Penn
State University, Jim served as a consultant to more than 100
Red Cross chapters across New England, focusing on development
and membership campaigns. Jim’s professional and volunteer
affiliations included serving on the board of directors for Maine
Endwell Dollars for Scholars and on the board of education for
the Maine Endwell School District.
Robert
J. Buckla, Ed.D., Senior Associate, offers Demont clients
more than 21 years of fund-raising, public relations, and consulting
experience. For the last seven years at Demont, he has served
clients with comprehensive capital and endowment campaign counsel;
institutional advancement counsel; strategic planning; program
assessment & analysis; and marketing program development.
Rob serves as vice president of development & external relations
at Hyde Schools where he oversees a four-campus group of boarding
and public charter schools. Prior to his appointment to Hyde’s
administration, Rob engineered the boarding school’s $16.3
million capital and endowment campaign as a Demont & Associates’
consultant and campaign director. He has served as vice president
for institutional advancement at Averett University in Virginia,
as well as associate vice president for Development at Regis University,
in Denver, CO, Director of Development at Theological College
of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, Director
of Development and Alumni Relations at Central Catholic High School
in Lawrence, MA, and Director of Development and Alumni Relations
at Doane Stuart School in Albany, NY.
Throughout
his career, Rob has specialized in fund raising at values-centered,
religious-affiliated institutions and organizations. He holds
a bachelor’s degree from St. Bonaventure University in New
York and a master of education degree from Vanderbilt University.
He also holds a doctorate from Vanderbilt, where he studied the
impact of organizational culture on fund-raising effectiveness.
Rob has been actively involved in the Council for Advancement
and Support of Education (CASE) throughout his career and has
attended Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) conferences.
He volunteers his time and expertise at his undergraduate alma
mater, St. Bonaventure.
Christopher
E. Crooker, Consulting Associate, has been connecting
alumni, parents and friends with Cornell University since 1997.
Most recently, as the assistant dean for alumni affairs and development
for the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, he has experience
in all phases of alumni relations and fund raising for Cornell.
During his career he has been entrusted to work with key volunteer
leaders throughout the organization, from trustees to class officers
and alumni club presidents. Crossing the spectrum of non-profit
fund raising, Chris has built participation in annual fund and
reunion giving programs, provided staff leadership to campaigns,
developed and executed major gift strategies and coordinated and
conducted gift planning discussions. He has worked on the project
teams for Cornell’s $200 million scholarship challenge campaign
and an $85 million campaign for the university’s athletic
programs. He currently leads the ILR School’s $60 million
capital campaign.
Prior to his time at Cornell, Chris served in the U.S. Navy as
a surface warfare officer for seven years, including service in
the Northern Arabian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield and Operation
Desert Storm. He remains in the Navy Reserve.
Chris volunteers his time as a board member of the Ithaca, NY
Babe Ruth Baseball League, and as a trustee of the Alpha Psi of
Chi Psi Fraternity Educational Trust.
J.
Patrick Gugerty, Consulting Associate, brings to Demont
nearly two decades of corporate and philanthropic experience.
Throughout his professional career he has been involved with many
aspects of consumer marketing, executive administration, human
resources management, education and development, and not-for-profit
board governance.
Pat
held a variety of key leadership positions for MBNA, which at
the time was one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing
banking organizations. He was responsible for partnerships and
marketing with numerous organizations headquartered in New England.
As an executive Board member for a national education foundation,
he and his colleagues were responsible for the approval of teacher
grant requests and student scholarship awards for the New England
portion of the $60 million fund.
As
board and committee member, Pat has played a pivotal role for
various organizations, including: Penobscot Bay Medical Center’s
occupational health arm, Health Connections, Penobscot Bay YMCA,
and Tanglewood 4H Camp and Learning Center, all located in mid-coast
Maine, and Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Delaware. Pat has also
worked independently as a consultant to organizations to develop
strategic plans, case statements, and campaign planning and feasibility
studies.
Pat
holds a bachelors degree from the University of Maryland at College
Park and resides in Wilmington, Delaware.
Patricia
Hubbard, Senior Associate,
with more than 15 years of professional development expertise,
serves Demont’s clients in the areas of feasibility studies,
capital and endowment campaign management and counsel, ongoing
periodic counsel, annual fund development, strategic planning,
grant writing, and major donor research and identification.
Patricia
also holds the role of supervising Demont client services in capital
campaigns. Under her direction or supervision, campaigns have
ranged between $1 million and $22 million in total funds raised.
Prior to her association with Demont, Patricia served as the founding
executive director for Lincoln Street Center for Arts and Education,
where she worked with the board to build an organizational infrastructure
from the ground up, resolving political issues and building broad
community consensus. Previously, she served as the deputy director
of planning and development at N.O.W. Legal Defense and Education
Fund in New York City where she was responsible for national program
development and a one million dollar annual appeal. She instituted
a development program for the Adirondack Mountain Club in Lake
George, New York, and served as its first development director.
Patricia
has a broad-based background in writing with many publications
to her credit, including founder, editor, and publisher of Outdoor
Woman, a national magazine-format newsletter targeted to women
who enjoy outdoor recreational sports, and authored a book with
a similar title, Outdoor Woman: A Handbook to Adventure (a Doubleday
Health Book Club Alternate). For the last 25 years she has staged,
annually, a black-tie event in New York City for Power Ten New
York, a nationwide organization that supports the sport of crew.
Patricia received a B.S. in international business from Marymount
College and has served as a Mellon Fellow at University of Texas
at Austin. She resides in Thomaston, Maine where she enjoys renovating
an historic home, quilting, watercolor, gardening, and kayaking.
Susannah
H. Kerest, Associate, provides campaign and study direction
for Demont clients. Throughout 13 years of fund-raising experience,
Susannah has conducted major gift fund raising in organizations
of varying scale across New England.
Susannah
has held development positions in leadership giving at Wesleyan
University, Cornell University, University of Vermont, and the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Prior to re-locating to Maine,
Susannah served as a major gifts officer at Horizons for Homeless
Children in Boston.
A
graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, Susannah
has held volunteer roles with Wesleyan University, local public
radio stations, and as a member of the Council for Advancement
and Support of Education and Women in Development of Greater Boston.
She currently serves as a volunteer at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy
Project as well as her childrens' school, Ocean House at the Farm.
David
W. Lawrence, Senior Associate, an expert in healthcare
fund raising and advancement, provides Demont’s not-for-profit
clients with institutional advancement counsel; comprehensive
capital campaign management and counsel; ongoing/periodic program
counsel; and strategic planning, awareness, and development program
marketing and operational organization counsel.
In addition
to his role as senior associate with Demont & Associates,
David has served as senior philanthropic advisor for the Office
of Resource Development at Harvard Medical School, providing strategic
guidance for philanthropic support of medical research and educational
programs. He currently serves in a similar capacity for the Sick
Kids Foundation of the Hospital for Sick Children, University
of Toronto. He has also counseled Duke University Medical Center,
Eastern Virginia Medical School, Georgetown University Medical
Center, Jackson Laboratory, Bates College, National Parkinson
Foundation, and several health systems nationwide.
Previously,
David served two years as president of the Northwestern Memorial
Foundation affiliated with Northwestern University Medical School.
He also served 18 years as chief development officer for Mayo
Foundation, leading the Mayo Clinic’s multi-site philanthropy
activities.
A
graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, David holds a master
of arts degree from George Washington University. David completed
23 years of service as an active and reserve naval officer retiring
at the rank of Captain.
Sheri
M. Leahan, Director of Campaign Systems, provides expertise
in capital campaign procedures and documentation to client staff
and Demont campaign directors and associates. She facilitates
the set up of campaign offices, gift and acknowledgement procedures,
database management, prospect and foundation research, and campaign
communications materials. Sheri has served Demont & Associates
as a campaign associate for numerous capital campaigns throughout
New England and as the firm’s marketing coordinator.
Sheri earned her M.A. in history museum studies through the Cooperstown
Graduate Program at the State University of New York College at
Oneonta. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine
with a B.A. in history and is an active volunteer for the Central
Kennebec Heritage Council (Maine) and the New England Museum Association.
Kate
White Lewis, CFRE, Senior Associate, provides campaign
and planning study direction for Demont clients. As a campaign
associate, she is responsible for creating and implementing campaign
plans; recruiting and training volunteers; managing donor and
prospect databases; conducting prospect and foundation research;
developing marketing materials; organizing campaign activities;
and managing campaign solicitations. She also assists with the
firm’s marketing efforts.
Kate
has diverse experience in political campaigns and public interest
organizations, most recently having completed a fellowship program
with the state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG). Her experience
in that capacity included fund raising, lobbying, directing media
relations, building membership, financial office systems, and
training, managing, and motivating staff and volunteers. Kate
holds a bachelor of arts in political science and French from
the University of Vermont, where she concentrated in environmental
studies. She is former co-chair of the Board of Directors for
Maine People’s Alliance, current volunteer treasurer for
the Maine People’s Resource Center, and is active with the
Sierra Club and South Portland Land Trust.
Phyllis
A. Lockhart, Senior Associate, brings extensive professional
business development; project and office management; and marketing
and public relations experience to Demont clients. She serves
as the on-site Campaign Coordinator, managing all aspects of capital
campaigns such as prospect research and review; database management;
public awareness and cultivation programs; volunteers; and campaign
divisions. Phyllis’ experience combines healthcare administration
and business development, having worked for medical centers, large
physician groups, major health plans, and the United Way.
Phyllis
has served as a loaned executive and campaign aoordinator for
the United Way of Greater Portland. As a former senior practice
administrator for PracticePartners of Portland, Maine, she provided
leadership and direction on planning and coordinating the operations
of 10 primary care physician practices. Phyllis has provided business
and project management for Connecticut Multispecialty Group in
Hartford, Connecticut and the Permanente Medical Association in
Dallas, Texas. While in Dallas, she also provided product development
and marketing services for Baylor Health Care System and Cigna
Healthplan. Phyllis is a graduate of Trenton State College with
a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. She is an active volunteer
for the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle, and is on the
Board of Directors of the Carpenter’s Boat Shop and the
Coastal Chorale.
Lauren
Geiger Moye, CFRE, Senior Associate, supports Demont
clients with extensive experience in development, public relations,
and media. She serves on the Demont Management Team.
Prior to joining Demont & Associates, Lauren served as executive
director and co-producer at Kingdom County Productions (KCP) in
Barnet, Vermont, where she was responsible for fund raising, public
relations, sales and distribution, special events, donor relations,
and publications. While at KCP, Lauren co-produced two full-length
feature films and one Emmy-award winning independent TV Series,
Windy Acres.
From 1998-2003, she served as the director of external relations
at Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium (St. Johnsbury, VT), responsible
for increasing the Museum’s resources through management
of annual and corporate giving, membership, foundation support,
marketing, and public relations.
Before moving to Vermont, Lauren was associate manager of Public
Relations at the New York Public Library and publicist at Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts. Lauren graduated Phi Beta Kappa
with a B.A in English literature from Middlebury College. She
currently serves as a council member of the Vermont Women’s
Fund and a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals
(AFP) Youth In Philanthropy Task Force. She is a former president
of the Board of the AFP-Northern New England chapter.
Lauren is
a Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium Fellow, and the recipient
of the AFP Chamberlain Scholarship.
She
lives in St. Johnsbury, Vermont with her husband Richard and daughter
Lizzie.
Erica
Mullen, Communications Coordinator,
provides support for client and staff communications. Her responsibilities
include production of study reports and marketing communication
materials; maintenance of professional memberships, sponsorships,
and advertising; website management; preparation of conference
presentations; and associate support as it relates to client service.
Additionally, Erica assists Demont’s executive vice president.
Erica
received a B.F.A. in art from the University of Southern Maine
and has experience with layout design, digital photographic editing,
and marketing in addition to her administrative talents. She volunteers
for Riding to the Top and resides in Saco, Maine.
Anne
Peyton, CPF, CFRE, Senior Associate, has experience with
academic and medical librarianship, adventure and experiential
education at Hurricane Island Outward Bound, and major gift and
campaign fund raising. Her work with not-for-profits focuses on
fund raising and strategic planning, with facilitation and training
as additional areas of expertise. She has worked with hundreds
of not-for-profits and consults throughout New England as an independent
consultant and as a charter partner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting,
Washington, DC.
Anne serves on the board of the Upper Valley Community Foundation,
the Vermont Community Loan Fund, is an incorporator for the Visiting
Nurse Alliance of New Hampshire and Vermont, and is an alumna
of the Vermont Leadership Institute. She has served on multiple
nonprofit boards and organizes an annual auction for a nonprofit.
She is a founding member and vice chair of the Strafford Conservation
Commission, which has received grants for riverbank restoration
and for Keeping Track. She teaches regularly at the annual Training
Conference for the National Community Capital Association in areas
of board development, planning, and fund raising.
Anne has a B.A. in sociology from American University, an MSLS
from Syracuse University, an MS Organization and Management from
Antioch New England, is a certified professional facilitator with
the International Association of Facilitators, and a certified
fund raising executive with the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
She has been an emergency medical technician and served on a local
rescue squad, and is a wilderness first responder (WFR or "Woofer").
Misha
I. Rolfe, Assistant to the President, is responsible
for associate and client coordination with the President and as
liaison to the Executive Vice President. She serves on the firm’s
Management and Marketing teams. Responsible for tracking the company’s
strategic progress, Misha also coordinates marketing and conference
presentations and activity, and manages production of proposals
for prospective clients.
An alumna of the University of Miami, Misha previously served
as Executive Assistant to the President and CEO and Executive
Reservations Manager for Auto Europe, a travel industry firm employing
more than 300 staff. She was responsible for management of the
training department, 15 supervisory staff, and the 180-person
call center. A resident of Yarmouth, Maine, Misha volunteers in
the local school system as well as for Camp Agawam in Raymond,
Maine.
Laura
C. Smith, Associate, serves Demont clients through campaign
and planning study direction. As a campaign director, she is responsible
for creating and implementing campaign plans; recruiting, training
and coordinating volunteers; managing donor and prospect databases;
conducting prospect and foundation research; grant writing; developing
marketing and public relations materials, including campaign videos;
organizing campaign activities and events; and managing campaign
solicitations. She also assists with the firm’s marketing
efforts. Laura has also been an editor for Demont’s publication
The Demont Developer.
She
has participated in campaign counsel and planning studies for
organizations and currently serves on the Board of Directors at
the Sanford Springvale YMCA. Laura has served as assistant director
of admissions, director of futureschool admissions, instructional
support, and writing center teacher at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro,
New Hampshire. Laura was the assistant director of admissions
and director of financial aid at St. Andrew’s School, in
Barrington, Rhode Island. She is a graduate of the Taft School
and received her bachelor of arts degree from Hamilton College
and has completed graduate studies in education at Lehigh University
and University of New Hampshire. Laura lives in South Berwick,
Maine with her husband and three children
Thomas
W. Smith, CFP® With more than 30 years of planned
giving experience, Tom is a private consultant in planned giving
and senior philanthropic advisor at The Vermont Community Foundation.
His additional experience includes eight years at the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, and 11 years at the University
of Vermont, in Burlington, Vermont. Tom is active in local and
national levels of planned giving and currently serves on the
Editorial Review Panel of The Journal of Gift Planning, published
by the National Committee on Planned Giving. Prior to his career
in development, Tom was a language professor on the college level.
Tom
has an A.B. degree from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, and
an M.A. degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana.
In 1986, he received his certified financial planner designation
from the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado. He
currently resides in Ripton, Vermont.
Aric
L. Walton, Office Manager, is responsible for overseeing
day to day operations at Demont headquarters, including financial
account management, technology management, personnel matters,
and supervision of client deliverables production. Since joining
Demont in 2006, he has served clients throughout New England as
a campaign office manager for capital campaigns, phonathon coordinator,
and prospect researcher and analyst.
Aric’s
volunteer experience includes work with the STRIVE program of
Portland, ME, where he serves as an advisory council member; Special
Olympics of Maine; and Club Chameleon, a wilderness therapy program
for community youth ages 10 to 16 based in Newmarket, New Hampshire.
He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a B.S.
in recreation management & policy with an emphasis in program
administration.