Mary Baldwin University (MBU) is pleased to welcome Joshua McCoy to the role of associate vice president of university advancement. He started his new position at MBU in mid-October.
“My interest in MBU is really tied to the mission of the university,” said McCoy. “In particular, the idea of empowering leaders to pursue lives of purpose. This is something that my wife and I hope to impart to our children. I can see from the alumni that I have already met that MBU has a long track record of success in this area.”
McCoy will assist Charles “Chuck” Davis, vice president of university advancement, in providing strategic leadership to annual and major gifts, as well as supervising the office’s day-to-day operations, including budget management, strategic planning, systems, and assessment.
“Josh comes to us with over 16 years of experience in building high-functioning advancement teams, and he is a skilled fundraiser,” said Davis. “He balances the bigger picture of meeting goals with a unique ability to connect with donors at all levels. We are truly fortunate to have him join us at this pivotal time in the history of Mary Baldwin.”
McCoy most recently served for four years as the campaign director and assistant vice president of development at the University of Oregon (UO) where he managed and implemented a $2 billion-dollar campaign from initial planning stages through an extension to $3 billion. A major innovation McCoy brought to the process was redesigning fundraising metrics to be more data-driven and therefore more strategically focused and effective. The UO campaign saw an increase in the number of principal gifts, submitted proposals, and completed major gifts, plus the best year on record for annual philanthropy.
“It’s a great privilege to be able to play a small role in helping someone fulfill their philanthropic passions.”
Joshua McCoy, associate vice president of university advancement
Also at UO, McCoy was the giving staff lead on the project to develop the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, coordinating the solicitation from conception to delivery. The new campus was the result of a $500 million gift to support applied science at the university.
“My main goal — really on any advancement team that I have worked with — is to try and be a worthy steward of the trust and resources that our donors share with us,” said McCoy. “It’s a great privilege to be able to play a small role in helping someone fulfill their philanthropic passions.”
McCoy cohosted the 2018 Strategic Initiatives Conference at UO, the seventh annual meeting of colleges and universities — including Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of California at Berkeley — to examine emerging best practices and trends in interdisciplinary strategic initiative fundraising. He is also committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in his professional leadership, and served on UO’s Diversity Committee for University Advancement.
Before joining UO, McCoy worked at both the University of Florida Foundation and the Florida State University (FSU) Foundation in a variety of roles in college-based development operations. He graduated from FSU with a bachelor of science in economics and political science.