Paris Wilson

About Paris Wilson

From as early as I can remember, I have been driven to make a positive impact on people\'s lives. I produced my own \"Paris & Friends\" music concert to benefit a local nonprofit that helps islanders in need where I grew up on Orcas Island, WA, led a mentoring group to support local elementary students in Maine, and played my violin at the local farmer\'s market to raise money for local nonprofits when I was younger. This intrinsic ambition has shaped my career trajectory: I now help nonprofits achieve their fundraising goals. I have seen the enormous impact of charitable giving, and am proud to strategize with our clients to create transformative change through philanthropy. I am a mission-driven professional and dedicate myself to every new project. I understand how to effectively communicate an organization’s goals and vision to motivate volunteers and donors. I pride myself on my laser-focused execution, quick learning skills, and ability to build trusting relationships with volunteers, donors, board members, and staff.

Experience

1. Director

   CCS Fundraising

   Sep 2024 — Present · DC, US

   I collaborate directly with nonprofit partners to provide and implement tailored development strategies and plans. I have worked with clients in the faith, primary/secondary education, and human services nonprofit sectors.I have managed three capital campaigns to support capital projects/renovations, programming, and endowment funds, supporting our partners in raising more than $19M combined from gifts up to seven figures. I have created campaign plans, timelines, gift tables, Cases for Support, gift acceptance policies, and donor recognition opportunities. I have worked closely with our Data Analytics team to investigate clients\' donor pools and have conducted research on and prioritized top prospective donors based on capacity, affinity, and giving history. This work is in direct collaboration with our client partners (staff, stakeholders, donors, volunteers) on a regular day-to-day basis to make sure every resource we produce furthers their mission and vision. I led a Development Assessment to evaluate and provide recommendations for the organization\'s internal structure and how to grow fundraising capabilities and opportunities, as well as three Feasibility & Planning Studies to test nonprofits\' community support of their proposed campaigns. I created Background Papers and Executive Summaries for each, held over 100 personal discussions with and gathered gift indications from key stakeholders, and wrote and presented Final Reports & Recommendations. I have collected tailored sector benchmarking, researched potential institutional support, and developed individual donor research profiles.

Education

• Orcas Island High School

  High School Diploma

• Bowdoin College

  Bachelor's degree

• DIS - Study Abroad

  Sociology and Gender Studies