Blog
March 15, 2023
2022 was a big year for Attain Partners. In addition to serving our clients and developing innovative solutions, Attain Partners was recognized as the Salesforce.org 2022 Partner of the Year – Education and achieved the monumental status of Salesforce Summit Partner.
These incredible achievements have increased the number of opportunities coming down our pipeline, which led us to one of our favorite tasks – hiring the industry’s best to help us reach new heights!
At Attain Partners, we take pride in leading our clients in advancing their missions with highly impactful Salesforce solutions. But it doesn’t stop there. We lead by example, always working to improve the communities in which we live and work.
The Attain Way is comprised of seven core values that are dependent on each member of our expert team being their personal best, obsessing externally, helping invent the future, and executing with discipline. Finding individuals that embody these values and inviting them to join our team is an absolute joy.
Today, we have the pleasure of introducing two of our newest team members serving our education and nonprofit clients with Salesforce-based solutions. We sat down with Pamela Fitch, Associate Business Development Director, Nonprofits and Philanthropy Director, and Kathy Malone, Associate Business Development Director to explore their expertise and journey to Attain Partners. Please join us in welcoming Pamela and Kathy to our growing team!
Attain Partners (AP): Why did you choose to join Attain Partners?
Kathy Malone (KM): Before joining Attain Partners, I worked as an Account Executive at Salesforce where I had experience working with the Attain Partners team and really liked their consultative approach. The team constantly asked questions to understand the client’s needs, were very responsive, flexible, timely, and went out of their way to ensure it was a positive experience for everyone involved. I chose to join Attain Partners because I admired the professionalism and trust the team builds with customers. It’s not just a business transaction—Attain Partners builds relationships and trust.
Pamela Fitch (PF): Attain Partners presented an exciting opportunity to work with a community of talented Business Development professionals that I had the pleasure of working with previously, and an opportunity to focus in some new areas of engagement. Joining Attain Partners also addressed my desire to return to my career roots in grantmaking and corporate social impact as I help Attain Partners build a framework for comprehensive corporate purpose programs.
AP: Pamela, can you tell us more about your experience in grantmaking and corporate social impact?
PF: Absolutely! I started my career as a Developer of Financial Systems and then moved to a role as a Program Officer at Prudential Financial where I drove global community development. I absolutely love the work on the grantmaking side and had the opportunity to help implement technology-based systems to improve efficiency.
Since then, I always try to find jobs that combine these two functions—grantmaking and technology. That led me to my position as Executive Director at Dell, where I led corporate giving initiatives and resultantly increased workplace participation by 300%.
I enjoy philanthropy but wanted to help as many foundations as possible, which led me to Blackbaud where I managed large corporate sales of market-leading enterprise grants management software (GIFTS), SaaS solutions, professional services, and annual maintenance contracts. When I met Susan Tobes, Managing Director, Strategic Growth at Attain Partners, during my Philanthropy Practice role at Exponent Partners, she married my love of business development and philanthropy, and it was an offer I simply couldn’t turn down.
AP: What excites you about business development?
KM: I love helping customers solve problems. A lot of times people have great ideas, but struggle bringing them to life. Working in business development, I get to help higher education professionals shape a better experience for their students.
PF: Every day is something new in business development. At times it can even be crazy. I’ve done business development for over 20 years and it’s work that’s different every day. I enjoy working in process improvement and assisting people in meeting very specific goals.
AP: Can you tell us a little more about your expertise in Salesforce?
KM: I have a lot of experience helping large higher education accounts use Salesforce to move from decentralized systems to streamlined, Salesforce-based digital transformations. Higher education institutions’ dynamics can be complex, but Salesforce helps optimize their processes.
PF: I have spent the last seven years in the Salesforce ecosystem focused on nonprofits and the value they can extract from Salesforce solutions. I enjoy helping nonprofit organizations leverage Salesforce for fundraising, grantmaking, and business transformations.
AP: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for education and nonprofit clients right now?
KM: I believe the biggest opportunity is for higher education clients to tap into the wealth of internal knowledge, both technical and business, to transform the student experience into one that defines our education system. Today, many higher education institutions do things one way because that’s how they’ve always been done.
When education professionals come together and find new ways to approach age-old issues, they’re capable of impactful changes in student affairs, student experience, student advising, and more. The opportunity for institution leaders to be open-minded about the student experience they provide differentiates them from other institutions and empowers students to see the value in their education from a cocurricular standpoint and how that education is actively preparing them for their future.
PF: Business transformation is always at the forefront. Nonprofit organizations don’t get a lot of time and money to think, but they need to be healthy and productive to have the impact they want in the community. Nonprofits can start by funding general operating support and measurement of their efforts. At Attain Partners, we partner with nonprofits to lead business transformation and make their organizations more effective.
AP: How does your Salesforce business development approach align with The Attain Way?
KM: Attain Partners has a long history of proven projects in student success at higher education institutions. This is a logical place for me because I want every organization I work with to be the best. Higher education faculty, staff, and students deserve the very best.
PF: I’ve always been one to obsess externally. I enjoy helping Attain Partners focus on the constituent public and the communities in which we all live and serve. Helping employees of nonprofit organizations do good work and serve people on the ground is very important to me.
Attain Partners – Salesforce Experts
Regardless of where your organization is in its Salesforce journey (or if its yet to start!), Attain Partners is here to help you achieve your goals and serve your community. Contact our team today to learn how we can help your organization advance its mission by harnessing the power of Salesforce.
To learn more, check out our Salesforce Innovation services, read case studies about our transformative work, and explore blog posts from our Salesforce experts.
Learn more – Pamela Fitch
Pamela Fitch is an Associate Business Development Director and Philanthropy Director at Attain Partners. Pamela is a familiar face in the philanthropy arena with a career spanning 20+ years helping hundreds of foundations in the ever-evolving field of philanthropy technology. As a champion for change, she has been helping foundations and nonprofits leverage the Salesforce platform for organizational transformation and expansion since 2016. Pamela is known for freely sharing her deep expertise with a thoughtful, consultative, and witty approach to solving every problem. Her approach is always “community-centric,“ whether working as a foundation executive or engaging in business development. Her role at Attain Partners allows Pamela to again apply those skills to the communities she desires to see grow, evolve, and increase their social impact to change the world.
Pamela holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and is an unabashed lover of tennis, rescue pets, and margaritas.
Learn more – Kathy Malone
Kathy Malone is an Associate Business Development Director at Attain Partners. Since 2015, Kathy has been helping Higher Education institutions transform their business and processes to meet students where they are in their educational journey, while also helping her higher education customers deliver a better student experience. Kathy has been part of the Salesforce ecosystem for the past four years. From her most recent experience in the higher education market to her prior corporate experience, Kathy takes a very consultative approach to her client engagements. Change is never easy, so Kathy focuses on helping her customers identify their goals, as well as meaningful metrics, to measure their success.
