Tim Oleary is Principal & CEO at Next Generation Fundraising, where he leads the company’s strategic direction and business development.  He became a partner in the company in January 2012, after serving for nearly 10 years in client services and company management.  Tim has led fundraising and communication projects for leading public broadcasting stations, colleges and universities, preservation and conservation organizations, government agencies and advocacy groups, helping them to raise money and public support for their mission.

Before coming to Next Gen, Tim served as an active-duty U.S. Navy Journalist, working in public affairs, broadcast management, video production and web development. He spent six of his eight years overseas at duty stations in Asia, the Pacific and Europe. While in the Navy, Tim earned two Humanitarian Service Awards and served on a joint service information bureau supporting the evacuation of Kurdish refugees through Guam in 1996.  He later helped create a comprehensive marketing web site for recruiting sailors and their families for duty in Europe and the Mediterranean theaters of operations.

In 2002, Tim co-authored a Communications Manual for statewide and local preservation groups published by The National Trust for Historic Preservation. In October 2003, he presented a communications plan before a multi-national panel in Geneva, Switzerland for the United Nations’ Environment for Europe project.

Tim’s work in fundraising has helped the agency’s clients raise millions of dollars in support of their missions and has led to several awards in development and direct marketing.

He has recently presented on fundraising strategy and direct marketing trends for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, The Direct Marketing Association, The DMA Nonprofit Federation, PBS Development, New York University, Blackbaud, Convio and several other organizations.

Tim has been a multi-year judge for the Fundraising Success Gold Awards and has served on the Membership Committee and Mentor Steering Committee for the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Philadelphia Chapter.

He holds a Communications degree from The University of Maryland and has completed graduate coursework in business at Penn State University.  He is a graduate of the military’s Defense Information School and a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Tim volunteers as an athletic coach, photographer and business advisor for several community organizations. He resides in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and three children.

Carol Leister is Principal and COO at Next Generation Fundraising, where she oversees corporate operations and strategic planning.  She became a partner in the company in January 2012.  She is an expert in fundraising strategy and analysis, and organizational and process management.  She plans and implements fundraising campaigns for clients in public broadcasting, the arts, higher education and conservation.

Carol has over twenty-five years of experience working for nonprofits in every aspect of development with an expertise in integrated fundraising. She has managed direct mail, telemarketing, online and on-air fundraising initiatives that have raised millions of dollars for the institutions where she has worked. Carol also has overseen development operations including donor database and online fundraising software selection, gift and acknowledgement processing, premium fulfillment and customer services.

Carol got her start helping to plan Cornell University’s class reunions. She then relocated back to New York City to join the Development Department at Columbia College where she managed the $8.5 million direct mail solicitation program and supervised the back office operations for the department which included identifying and converting to a new comprehensive donor database.

Carol then worked at some of the most beloved institutions in New York City including WNET/Channel Thirteen, WNYC/New York Public Radio and most recently at Sesame Workshop where she was hired to create an Annual Giving Program.

Carol received her undergraduate degree from Cornell and her MBA from Columbia University. She also received a professional culinary certificate from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

Carol is a member of Women in Development in New York City. She sat on the conference planning committee for Nonprofit Federation and Direct Marketing Fundraising Association, and PBS TASC. She has presented on direct marketing strategy at conferences for NPR, PBS Development, the DMA Nonprofit Federation and the Target User’s Forum. Her fundraising programs at Sesame Workshop and WNYC Radio have won industry awards.

Carol lives in New York City.

Richard founded Next Generation Fundraising (formally McPherson Associates) in 1984 and currently serves as its Chief Innovator, where he continues to help non-profit organizations increase public support through direct marketing, online communications, and training. His roster of clients in the U.S. has included major U.S. universities and libraries, the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, children’s hospitals, women’s rights funds, and conservation organizations. He was fundraising advisor to the late Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to Nobel Laureate and former President Jimmy Carter.

His international clients have included the United Nations Environment for Europe Program (Geneva), Mama Cash (Amsterdam), Boys Town South Africa and the American University in Bulgaria.

Mr. McPherson has conducted fundraising and communications training programs for the AFP, CASE, DMA Nonprofit Federation, Blackbaud, Convio, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, PBS, NPR, Planned Parenthood and the Women’s Funding Network. He has also led workshops for the International Fundraising Congress (Amsterdam), the Management Centre (London) and the International Workshop for Resource Mobilization (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

Mr. McPherson is a faculty member of the New York University Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, and received NYU's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009. He is the author of Digital Giving: How Technology is Changing Charity (iUniverse, a Barnes & Noble Company, 2007).

Susan has over 25 years of experience in sales, printing and production. She has extensive experience in project management, production services, creative kit development and customer sales. Susan is a merchandising graduate from Widener University and has worked for highly successful and cutting edge companies, such as National Liberty Corporation/Aegon and Donnelley/Wallace Computer Services. She also brings extensive advertising agency experience to the Next Generation Fundraising team.

As Production Manager, her knowledge in vendor regulation and cost-effective purchasing allows Next Gen the ability to offer its clients the most competitive creative kit design efficiencies, project pricing and postal efficiencies. Susan is responsible for stewarding all direct mail purchasing, vendor management, production efforts and activities.

Katie works as a liaison between Next Gen's clients and designers to ensure that the artwork we produce reflects our clients' needs.

Katie graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in English and an emphasis in Publishing. She brings her invaluable experience from Rodale Inc., where book editors relied on her to ensure that all requirements were met to allow for a seamless transition through the book publishing process. She utilized the editorial skills that she acquired in college to copyedit manuscripts and ensure that all editorial changes were made accurately and efficiently. Katie then transitioned to Rodale's direct mail department where she reviewed the final copy of artwork to check for errors and verify that the measurements of each mail piece were adequate for mailing.

After accepting a job with The Vanguard Group, Katie developed her client relationship skills as she interacted with clients both via telephone and e-mail while addressing their retirement plan concerns. She continued to develop both her writing and editing skills responding to clients' written requests. One of her main responsibilities was to approve other writers' responses after verifying that they were accurate, grammatically correct, and met compliance guidelines. Thanks to her previous experience, Katie is also able to assist Next Gen in creating fresh appeal language and handling agency e-communications.

Runica is responsible for Next Gen's finance, accounting and human resources. Prior to joining Next Gen, Runica worked as a Controller at CoreProfit Solutions, Inc. Runica has over 15 years of experience in the finance and accounting field having working in both private and public companies throughout her tenure. She has over eight years of experience with human resources, which makes her a valuable addition to the team.

Runica earned her bachelor's degree in business and accounting from San Francisco State University, and is currently perusing her MBA.

Amanda works as a Client Services Coordinator at Next Generation Fundraising.

Amanda graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. During her time at Penn State, she held internships with Boscov’s Department Stores and Phillip Morris, USA where she gained valuable experience in sales, customer service, and organizational analysis. Also during her time at Penn State, Amanda was an active member of the Smeal Student Mentors, an organization within the Smeal College of Business focused on acclimating freshman students to life at Penn State. Amanda served in several capacities within the organization, notably as the group’s Communications Director where she was responsible for disseminating operational information to the organization’s 120 members via email and social media. During her time on the Board of Directors, the Student Mentors were recognized by the University as the Outstanding Board of the Year and they were also recognized by the College of Business as the Most Collaborative Organization within the college.

Before coming to Next Gen, Amanda worked for two years as a member of the Sales Support team at ReminderMedia, a Philly Top 100 fastest growing, privately held company. While working at ReminderMedia, Amanda was responsible for acting as a liaison between the company’s corporate office and 125 outside sales independent contractors. Amanda worked to ensure thorough product knowledge, assist presenters in handling customer service related issues, and assisted in schedule management. She also worked to support several administrative functions in the corporate office including editing, preparing, and shipping all media samples from the company’s inside sales team.