G eorgia College welcomes Dr. Shelley Strickland, who has been named vice president of University Advancement and executive director of the GCSU Foundation. She will begin her duties July 1, 2022. 

“I was attracted to this position because of the opportunity to work for President Cathy Cox,” she said. “Also, as I looked at both facets of the mission—it’s a public institution, but it's also a dedicated liberal arts university—that unique combination really appealed to me.”

Strickland has a wealth of experience working in philanthropy, donor stewardship, alumni engagement, community interactions and board of trustee relations. She also has significant experience in building and managing effective teams, as well as planning for ambitious campaigns. 

Until June 3, she served as the vice president for Philanthropy at the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation in Michigan for nearly eight years. Strickland has held concurrent appointments at the University of Michigan: teaching an undergraduate philanthropy course and designing a concentration in fundraising and philanthropy for a master’s degree program. She also trained development and alumni staff at Emory University and served as director of Foundation Relations at Kennesaw State University. 

Strickland began her career as the annual giving director for Western Michigan University (WMU), following years in marketing and communications. 

She earned her undergraduate degree in English from WMU and her master’s degree in English from the University of Virginia. In 2013, she was awarded a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. 

Strickland never intended to get into fundraising as a career. Instead, it chose her.

“I’ve spent my career trying to encourage other people to be more intentional from the start,” Strickland said. “A dean at the medical school where I had been in marketing and communication said to me, ‘You should add fundraising to your portfolio because you get people excited about the institutional mission.’”

At the time, she was doing volunteer fundraising work for other organizations. 

“I didn't realize that development was this viable profession in its own right,” Strickland said.  “He set me on the path of looking into it and to understand it better. I did informational interviews. A WMU development leader I interviewed asked me to come work for him. That changed my career from that point on.”

The key to successful fundraising for Strickland is to treat people the way you want to be treated—like you would treat your friends and family. 

“People say that fundraising is about relationships, but then don't always apply the same principles they use in other relationships,” she said. “That means you don't forget about donors. You keep them informed and maintain that relationship throughout. It's really about giving people an opportunity to be informed and engaged so they can be part of something that's bigger than themselves and make a meaningful difference.” 

Strickland says alumni engagement starts the moment a student sets foot on campus and continues long after they’ve graduated.

“The needs of alumni and the ways they engage with the university will change over time,” she said. “So, it's really about a breadth of opportunities for people to engage in different ways over the course of their lifetime.”

Outside of work, Strickland enjoys cooking, golfing and spending time with family and friends.

An avid reader, Strickland reads a lot of work-related books on philanthropy and leadership, but balances that with fun novels, such as those written by the late Carolyn Gold Heilbrun under her pen name Amanda Cross. She was a literary critic Strickland studied as an undergraduate.

“I just finished the entire collection,” Strickland said. “One of the titles is ‘Death in a Tenured Position.’ These murder mysteries are set on a campus, and they're clearly done by someone who's an insider. They're fun and light, but at the same time thought provoking.”

Soon, Strickland will move from Michigan back to Georgia, where she’s excited to work with President Cox and help Georgia College embark on this next chapter of its path to preeminence.

“Georgia College & State University will benefit greatly from Dr. Strickland’s broad experience at both public and private universities, as well as from the expertise she gained working in philanthropy beyond higher education,” said Georgia College President Cathy Cox. “She joins us at an exciting time and will have the opportunity to enhance our capable team in fundraising, alumni relations and donor engagement by filling a number of vacancies in the advancement office and putting her own touch on its strategic direction. I look forward to working with her as we lay the foundation for ambitious philanthropic goals and aspirations.”

And that’s just the kind of challenge that excites Strickland.

“I actually get excited about waking up and being part of advancement work because I love it,” Strickland said. “It’s the opportunity to interact with amazing people who really want to help others to make a difference, whether it’s students who are furthering their studies, faculty work or construction of a building. People want to do something outside of themselves and even anonymously. I find that incredibly inspiring.”