“Attain Partners’ Invent the Future mindset is particularly powerful at this moment in time. Institutions are calibrating their operations to drive innovation and adopt new solutions and technology. I love developing proven services that deliver both choice and control. By moving away from resource-consuming legacy adoption cycles, we can apply Advancement operational solutions as true growth accelerators. Attain Partners’ offerings distill decades of experience into practical models that drive productivity, engagement, and measurable impact across the sector.”

Donna Freddolino serves as Executive in Residence and Advancement Domain Leader at Attain Partners, where she partners with clients and internal teams to advance early-stage advisory services, thought leadership, and growth across higher education, healthcare foundations, and mission-driven nonprofit organizations.

Donna brings more than 35 years of experience supporting Advancement, fundraising, and constituent relationship management at enterprise scale. She has worked with more than 100 universities, academic medical centers, colleges, and nonprofit organizations, advising executive leaders on Advancement strategy, CRM and ERP modernization, data governance, and operational transformation. Her work consistently bridges strategy and execution, helping institutions modernize complex environments while delivering measurable fundraising and engagement outcomes.

At Attain Partners, Donna collaborates closely with growth, digital, and delivery leaders to shape Advancement advisory offerings, support complex pursuits, and bring market insight directly into client engagements. She is a trusted advisor to Chief Advancement Officers, Chief Development Officers, and senior technology leaders navigating organizational change, digital transformation, and data-driven decision-making.

Prior to joining Attain Partners, Donna held senior leadership and advisory roles with Raising Insight, Plante Moran, Michigan State University, Davenport University, and SunGard Higher Education, now Ellucian, where she served as Vice President of Professional Services. She has led Advancement services and operations at large institutions and advised on major CRM replacement initiatives, campaign readiness, prospect development, and shared services strategies.

Donna is a recognized industry thought leader and frequent speaker at national conferences, including EDUCAUSE and CASE events. She is a CASE Laureate and a recipient of the CASE Crystal Apple Award for outstanding teaching, earned through more than a decade of conference instruction and leadership.

Donna holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications and Information Systems and a bachelor’s degree in Social Science from Michigan State University.

Community Involvement

• Virtual Connections technology delivery for older adults
• Career mentor for mid-career professionals in Advancement, engagement, and philanthropy
  
  

Industry Involvement

• Council for Advancement & Support of Education (CASE), Laureate
• Association of Advancement Services Professionals (aasp), Member