56: Jessica Jones Wilson, Dickinson College

<p>On this episode of the RAISE podcast, Brent gets the scoop from Jessica Jones Wilson, Associate Vice President for College Advancement at Dickinson College. Jessica got hooked on fundraising when she secured her first $1K gift as a student telefund caller at Albright College. Since then she’s had experience in just about every facet of development work, and it shows. Jessica and her team of prospect researchers at Dickinson have launched some amazing initiatives, including their Presidential Fellows program through which students connect with alums in their hometowns every summer (and gather invaluable data through those conversations); and the Revolutionary Challenge that empowered the Dickinson alumni community to suggest, vote on, build out, and promote the priorities of their new capital campaign. It’s clear that Jessica fits in well at the helm of her team of creative, inspired, data-loving go-getters who continue to shoot the moon.</p><p><strong>About Jessica</strong></p><p>Jessica joined Dickinson College in 2015 and currently serves as the Associate Vice President for College Advancement. Jessica manages Advancement Services, Prospect Research, Donor Relations, Alumni &amp; Parent Relations and the Annual Giving offices. She served as the Advancement representative on the College’s Strategic Planning Committee in FY16 and the 2017 Presidential Transition Committee where she led the national tour to introduce the new president. In FY17, she led her team through a successful database conversion from Banner to Raiser’s Edge. In 2019, Jessica&#39;s team established the Presidential Fellows program- approximately 25 current students were hired to go home over the summer and interview alumni. This discovery initiative resulted in over 800 interviews. In 2020 despite Covid challenges, students interviewed over 1300 Dickinsonians. Jessica served on the college&#39;s FY21 Financial Working Group. She currently serves on the Fall 2020 Reopening Implementation Committee - specifically on the subcommittees for Hea