NYC Fundraiser, Madeleine Durante, Honored as AFP Outstanding Young Professional

CONTACTS:
Natalie Paskoski, Manager of Content, (434) 236 – 5583, Natalie.Paskoski@afpglobal.org

(Arlington, Virginia) Madeleine Durante, director for donor retention and direct response at progressive advocacy group, MoveOn, has been recognized as one of four Outstanding Young Professionals by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). The award will be presented in Toronto on April 7 during AFP ICON 2024, the largest gathering of fundraising professionals in the world.

The award recognizes fundraisers under the age of 31 who display excellence in raising funds, inspiring donors, and managing campaigns, while demonstrating dedication to the charitable sector.

“I am so grateful to be recognized as a part of this extraordinary legacy of leaders,” says Madeleine. “As fundraisers, we never work alone, and I am deeply appreciative of my mentors, the lineage of fundraisers advancing social movements, and today’s visionary practitioners at the intersection of philanthropy and social justice. Philanthropy can and should be a way to deepen relationships, collectively connect to our values, and foster equity, healing, and joy. I am honored to be a part of a profession where together, we are building a future where we take care of each other and can all thrive.”

Durante began her career as an intern at her local Planned Parenthood affiliate then joined the national office as a mid-level fundraising coordinator, eventually earning two more promotions during her four years at the organization.

The number of Planned Parenthood Federation of America mid-level donors doubled following the 2016 elections. Madeleine played an instrumental role in setting up the operational systems needed to acknowledge, welcome, and provide frontline support to this rapidly-growing donor base. Madeleine’s project management expertise, as well as understanding of frontline donor relationships and back-end data analysis, supported the mid-level program as it scaled up its solicitation, stewardship, and cross-channel campaigns. By the time they left in 2020, the midlevel program grew to comprise a significant share of PPFA’s individual giving portfolio. Madeleine also served as co-chair of PPFA’s LGBTQ employee resource group, where she supported the federation’s equity work and successfully co-led policy to advance the wellbeing of transgender and nonbinary staff.

In her current role as director for donor retention and direct response, Madeleine leads MoveOn’s sustainer and donor retention work. She directs retention for the more than 100,000 grassroots sustainers who comprise the majority of MoveOn’s donor base through an excellent donor experience, multichannel campaigning, upgrading, stewardship, and cultivation. Under Madeleine’s leadership, MoveOn has exceeded retention goals and improved retention rates following surge acquisition moments. Madeleine has also built out MoveOn’s multichannel fundraising strategy by growing, scaling, and integrating multiple new fundraising channels while deepening cross-channel integration and stewardship.

In addition to her career fundraising work, Madeleine is concluding her term service this quarter as a board member for the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF), for which they have volunteered for over seven years. As a working board member beginning in 2020, Madeleine co-led the organization to an incredible 750% revenue growth over three years, hiring its first staff member, and diversifying revenue to meet an unprecedented surge in requests following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. In partnership with the interim executive director, Madeleine deepened the fund’s major gifts and institutional giving strategy, securing multiple five- and six-figure commitments, including the organization’s largest grant in its 20-year history — a $900,000 unrestricted gift over three years.

Madeleine is a member of the AFP-NYC chapter, for which she participated in the mentorship program from 2020-2021 and facilitated a workshop for the AFP PhilanthroCon 2021. From 2022-2023, she was a member of the North Star Fund’s People Power Giving Project, a multiracial, cross-class cohort where Madeleine learned firsthand about the visionary donor organizing of social justice giving projects, and worked with her cohort to raise over $190,000 to support Black-led community organizing in New York.

“On behalf of everyone at AFP, I want to offer my congratulations to Madeleine Durante, one of our amazing Outstanding Young Professionals this year,” said Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, president and CEO of AFP. “Her passion for fundraising and belief in the impact it can make is undeniable. Not every fundraiser takes on the additional challenges of a volunteer role, on top of their career. Madeleine has demonstrated her ability to go above and beyond on behalf of the causes they support and we can’t wait to recognize this commitment with the presentation of this award."

For more information about this award and AFP ICON, please contact Natalie Paskoski at (434)-236-5583 or natalie.paskoski@afpglobal.org 
  

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Since 1960, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has been the standard-bearer for professionalism in fundraising. The association works to advance effective and ethical philanthropy by providing advocacy, research, education, mentoring, collaboration and technology opportunities for the world’s largest network of professional fundraisers. AFP’s more than 26,000 members in over 220 chapters raise over $100 billion annually for a wide variety of charitable organizations and causes across the globe. For more information, go to afpglobal.org. 

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