Sarah Tanner to Rejoin Financial Development Agency as Partner, Principal

AMHERST — The development and fundraising consulting firm Financial Development Agency Inc. (FDA) announced that Sarah Tanner is re-joining FDA as a full partner and one of three principals. Ms. Tanner had worked for FDA for several years prior to becoming director of Development at Friends of the Homeless and Clinical and Support Options.

With more than 20 years of resource-development experience, Tanner has helped a broad range of nonprofits within and beyond Western Mass. to succeed in meeting their fundraising and communications goals and objectives.

“We are very excited to have Sarah back on board as a principal and partner,” said FDA’s Matt Blumenfeld. “Her wealth of experience, familiarity with FDA’s mission and practice, and passion for excellence will serve our nonprofit client base effectively and well, and we look forward to many fruitful years of working together.”

Tanner started her career at the Mile High United Way in Colorado, serving as a marketing manager for information and referral services. She continued in the United Way system, serving in leadership positions with United Ways of New York City, Hampshire County, and the Pioneer Valley. After her tenure as senior vice president of Strategic Communications and Resource Development at the United Way of Pioneer Valley, she worked as a senior program manager at FDA, where she ran several successful capital campaigns as well as providing a variety of consulting services to more than a dozen FDA clients.

In addition to her work in resource development, Tanner serves on the faculty of the graduate programs in nonprofit management and philanthropy at Bay Path University and serves as president of the Western Mass. chapter of Assoc. of Fundraising Professionals. At FDA, she will manage training and coaching programs, as well as executive-search and interim-development services.

Tanner received her master of public administration degree in the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the School of Public Health at UMass Amherst. She is a graduate of the Human Service Forum’s Emerging Leaders Institute, as well as an inaugural graduate of the Leadership Pioneer Valley class of 2012. She was also named to BusinessWest’s inaugural 40 Under Forty class of 2007.