Linda Wise McNay

Linda Wise McNay is the founder, owner, and principal consultant with Our Fundraising Search in Atlanta. She has completed more than fifteen years of consulting and has served more than 175 clients. Linda's nonprofit background includes work with higher and secondary education, the arts, human services, and faith-based organizations. It has included work in capital campaigns, annual fund, planned giving, membership, development, and executive search. Before launching Our Fundraising Search,...See more

Linda Wise McNay is the founder, owner, and principal consultant with Our Fundraising Search in Atlanta. She has completed more than fifteen years of consulting and has served more than 175 clients. Linda's nonprofit background includes work with higher and secondary education, the arts, human services, and faith-based organizations. It has included work in capital campaigns, annual fund, planned giving, membership, development, and executive search. Before launching Our Fundraising Search, Linda served as the Chief Development Officer for the High Museum of Art, leading its efforts to raise $95 million to bring great art from the Louvre and China to the Atlanta community. She also managed an endowment campaign, initiated the institution's first full-time planned giving effort, and increased the museum's membership to a record fifty thousand. During her High Museum tenure, Linda served as national president of AMDA, the Art Museum Development Association. Linda served as Director of Advancement at Pace Academy, a K-12 private school in Atlanta. She led the school's largest and most successful capital fundraising campaign, with a goal of $15 million. The campaign reached its goal ahead of schedule and under budget; and achieved 95 percent parent participation, 100 percent board participation, and 100 percent faculty/staff participation. In higher education, Linda held positions including Vice President of the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Executive Director of the Emory Challenge Fund at Emory University, Director of Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and alumni and development roles at her alma mater, Transylvania University.She has been a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) for more than thirty years. Her volunteer work with AFP includes serving as a mentor in the Diversity Fellows Program, serving on the National Philanthropy Day Steering Committee, and serving as Past-Honoree Chair for many years.Linda wrote three books for nonprofit practitioners: Fundraising for Schools: 8 Keys to Success Every Head of School Should Know, Fundraising for Museums: 8 Keys to Success Every Museum Leader Should Know, and Fundraising for Churches: 12 Keys to Success Every Church Leader Should Know co-authored with Sarah B. Matthews, with whom she also co-created an online course based on the book.Linda is dedicated to raising the next generation of philanthropists, co-authoring a children's book, The Adventures of PhilAnThropy, with fellow passionate fundraisers Ailena Gibby Parramore and Del Martin. She is a regular speaker and presenter at workshops and conferences and author of numerous articles for publication. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled, "The Relative Cost-Effectiveness of Three Direct Mail Techniques on Non-Alumni Prospects."Linda earned her Doctorate in Philosophy of Higher Education from Georgia State University, a Master of Business Administration specializing in Personnel Administration from the University of Kentucky, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Linda and her architect husband, Gary, have two adult sons. In her spare time, Linda likes traveling to new places with family and friends, reading, writing, walking, and playing board games. See less