Washburn & McGoldrick

What Washburn & McGoldrick does

Washburn & McGoldrick is a privately held consulting firm headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania that provides campaign planning and execution, feasibility studies, program reviews, strategic advancement planning, planned giving counsel, interim leadership, alumni engagement, data analytics, and trustee/volunteer training exclusively to educational institutions. Founded in 1995 by Sue Washburn and Bill McGoldrick, the firm has served more than 300 colleges, universities, and independent schools across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Spain, with named clients including Brown, Princeton, Cornell, Georgetown, Duke, Vanderbilt, Smith, Spelman, Hotchkiss, Sidwell Friends, and Harvard-Westlake.

The firm's core offerings span three layers. The first is bespoke consulting engagements — campaign counsel, program assessments, strategic planning, planned giving workshops, interim CAO support, principal gifts program development, board retreat facilitation, and alumni engagement strategy — delivered by a team of approximately 18 professionals, each a former chief advancement officer or senior development leader at a recognized institution. The second is the Intensives training product, a structured set of interactive workshops (Creating Major Gift Success, Qualifying Prospects Remotely, Preparing for Virtual Solicitation, Gift Planning Strategies) priced at $2,500 per participant and qualifying for CFRE continuing education credit. The third is the National Alumni Survey, a co-developed research product operated with Chris Marshall Advancement Consulting (CMAC) and Parisleaf that has collected over 150,000 alumni responses since inception and underpins the firm's proprietary benchmarking and analytics practice.

The firm generates revenue through project-based professional service fees (quote-based, multi-year contracts for campaign counsel and feasibility studies) supplemented by per-seat Intensives training fees. Go-to-market is sales-led and referral-driven, anchored by CASE Educational Partner status, sustained conference presence, and former-client introductions. In 2025 the firm completed a generational leadership transition — Bonnie Devlin and Carla Willis assumed co-managing principal roles, replacing founders Sue Washburn and Bill McGoldrick who remain Of Counsel — and rebranded to Washburn & McGoldrick during its 30th anniversary.

Name

Washburn & McGoldrick

Legal name

Washburn & McGoldrick LLC

Website

https://wash-mcg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Washburn & McGoldrick is a Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-based consulting firm providing campaign counsel, feasibility studies, strategic planning, alumni engagement, and advancement training exclusively to 300-plus colleges, universities, and independent schools globally, founded in 1995.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Advancement Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategy & Corporate Development Consulting (BPAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Strategy, Decision-Making & Business Acumen Coaching (EDABANAH)

Keywords

• Educational advancement consulting
• Fundraising campaign counsel
• Alumni engagement services
• Capital campaign consulting
• Planned giving counsel

Headquarters

HQ city

Bryn Mawr

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Professional consulting fees for educational advancement services including campaign counsel, program reviews, strategic planning, feasibility studies, interim leadership, and training programs. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements and professional service fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Washburn & McGoldrick is an educational advancement consulting firm that helps colleges, universities, and independent schools plan and execute capital campaigns, conduct program assessments and feasibility studies, develop strategic advancement plans, design alumni engagement programs, deliver planned giving counsel, and train advancement officers through its Intensives workshop series. The firm also produces proprietary research products including the National Alumni Survey and the Advancement Moving Forward survey series.

Product overview

Washburn McGoldrick is an educational and institutional advancement consulting firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of consulting services and training products. The core offerings include Intensives (a suite of interactive training workshops including Creating Major Gift Success, Qualifying Prospects Remotely, Preparing for Virtual Solicitation, and Gift Planning Strategies), the National Alumni Survey research product, and the Advancement Moving Forward survey series. Consulting services span campaign counsel, program reviews, strategic planning, planned giving counsel, executive support for presidents and heads, trustee/volunteer training, retreat facilitation, interim leadership, principal gifts programs, alumni engagement (strategic planning, program reviews, volunteer management, metrics), and data analytics. The firm was founded in 1995 and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Intensives: The firm's comprehensive program of training and professional development workshops for gift officers, volunteers, and academic leaders in educational advancement.

Products and services

• Campaign Counsel and Feasibility Studies

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 300 educational clients served around the world
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Giving InstitutecoreOthers · 27 June 2025Washburn McGoldrick is a proud member of The Giving Institute and Giving USA. Managing Principal Carla Willis serves on the board of Giving USA. The firm sponsors Giving USA reports and blogs.
• CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 25 February 2025Washburn McGoldrick is an Educational Partner of CASE. The firm attends and sponsors CASE conferences (Districts I & II, DIII, Summit for Leaders) and its consultants serve on CASE boards and commissions. CASE is the primary professional association for educational advancement.
• Chris Marshall Advancement Consulting (CMAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023CMAC, led by Chris Marshall, collaborates with Washburn McGoldrick as a consulting partner. CMAC focuses on alumni engagement strategy and the National Alumni Survey initiative. Chris Marshall serves as consulting partner with Washburn McGoldrick while also leading his own firm.
• ParisleafcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Parisleaf is a presenting partner for the National Alumni Survey, a collaborative research study conducted with CMAC and Washburn McGoldrick. The survey is the largest research study of its kind with over 150,000 responses collected since inception.
• Association of Governing Boards (AGB)minorOthersConsultants serve as faculty at AGB-sponsored conferences and programs for trustees and governance training.
• Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)minorOthersConsultants present at AFP conferences and programs.
• National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP)minorOthersConsultants present at CGP conferences for planned giving professionals.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Grenzebach Glier and Associates: Largest dedicated advancement and fundraising consulting firm serving colleges, universities, healthcare, and nonprofits. Direct peer — overlapping service lines including campaign counsel, feasibility studies, gift planning, and analytics; several Washburn & McGoldrick team members previously worked at GG.
• Marts & Lundy: Long-established fundraising and advancement consulting firm focused on higher education and nonprofits. Direct peer offering campaign counsel, feasibility studies, and development audits to a similar Ivy-and-elite-college client base.
• CCS Fundraising: Large-scale fundraising consulting and outsourced campaign management firm serving educational, healthcare, and nonprofit clients. Direct peer competing for the same campaign counsel and feasibility study engagements.
• Graham-Pelton Consulting: Fundraising and advancement consulting firm serving higher education, healthcare, and nonprofits. Direct peer with overlapping campaign, feasibility, and major-gifts services aimed at similar institutional buyers.
• Development Guild DDI: Consulting and executive search firm focused exclusively on the nonprofit and educational advancement sector. Direct peer providing campaign counsel, development audits, and CAO/CEO searches — overlapping on the consulting side and adjacent on talent.
• Chris Marshall Advancement Consulting (CMAC): Alumni engagement strategy and National Alumni Survey partner firm led by Chris Marshall, who is also a consulting partner at Washburn & McGoldrick. Direct peer for alumni engagement and survey work; relationship is partly cooperative.

Emerging players

• Renée C. Schultz & Associates: Boutique advancement and campaign consulting firm serving higher education institutions. Emerging player / direct peer with similar boutique scale and focus on alumni relations, campaign counsel, and assessment work.

Broad incumbents

• Huron Consulting Group (Education practice): Large management consulting firm with an education and research-administration practice. Broad incumbent competing for institutional effectiveness, advancement operations, and strategy engagements at larger universities.
• RNL (Ruffalo Noel Levitz): Large-scale higher-education enrollment, fundraising, and student-success solutions provider. Broad incumbent offering fundraising counsel, donor analytics, and engagement platforms overlapping with Washburn & McGoldrick's analytics and campaign services.

Others

• Giving USA / The Giving Institute: Industry association producing the annual Giving USA report on US philanthropy; Washburn & McGoldrick is a member/sponsor. Not a competitor but an ecosystem participant providing benchmark data that the firm and peers leverage in their consulting work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/washbrnmcgold1

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Washburn & McGoldrick