About The Giving Fern
I believe fundraising
can do more.
I’m Shannon Schumacher. I bring more than 25 years of advancement and philanthropic leadership, and along the way I’ve worked alongside donors considering some of the most meaningful philanthropic decisions of their lives, with gifts ranging from someone’s deeply personal first contribution to a transformational commitment of more than $100 million.
I’ve led advancement teams, built fundraising strategies, and sat with executives and boards in the rooms where these decisions actually get made. I created The Giving Fern to help organizations and the people who lead them reach that next level.
$101M
A central role in stewarding the donor relationship and coordinating the strategy behind a transformational gift for Montana’s healthcare workforce.
$1B
Raised by advancement organizations and teams I’ve helped lead, including more than $500M during my senior leadership tenure.
25+ years
In philanthropy, across higher education, community colleges, science centers, and art museums.
How I think about this work
People give because something matters to them. Our job is to understand what that is.
Annual giving, events, and broad-based philanthropy all matter. They create community, introduce people to a mission, and build an essential foundation for giving.
Growth, however, often requires a deeper level of focus. It comes from understanding who is most connected to the mission, what they care about, and where their interests align with an organization’s boldest ideas. It means giving fundraisers and leaders the strategy, clarity, and confidence to pursue opportunities that may once have felt out of reach.
The best fundraising combines the art of human connection with the discipline of strategy. Today, technology, data, and AI can help us see opportunity more clearly. But they do not replace trust, curiosity, or relationships. They help us invest in them more intentionally.
The goal isn’t more efficient fundraising. It’s more meaningful philanthropy. That is where extraordinary giving can happen.
Selected experience
Many regions, many missions, one discipline.
Seventeen years in Seattle’s arts and science community came first, so the complexities of a museum development shop are familiar rather than theoretical. I also led a community college foundation as executive director, and at the MSU Alumni Foundation I oversaw fundraising teams covering regions across the country, traveling widely to meet donors where they live. I’ve led teams of three and teams of thirty, inside advancement organizations as large as 250 people, and each asks for something different.
Previous roles include Vice President of Development at the Montana State University Alumni Foundation, Executive Director of the Flathead Valley Community College Foundation, and fundraising roles at Pacific Science Center and Seattle Art Museum.
Credentials
- Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE)
- Certified Fundraising Leader (CFRL), with certificates from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
- B.A., University of Montana
Based in Bozeman, Montana. Working with organizations nationally.
The Giving Fern meets organizations wherever they are, whether building a major gifts program, growing an established individual giving strategy, or pursuing the transformational gifts that change what is possible for a mission.