Shane Carlin
Director of Development for the American Red Cross in the Chicago & Northern Illinois Region
Shane Carlin is currently the Director of Development for the American Red Cross in the Chicago & Northern Illinois region. He is also the President/CEO of Asian Student Achievement (www.learnasa.com), a company he started to help move Asian and Asian Americans through the pipeline to leadership. Carlin has had over 20 years of higher education and non-profit experiences in fundraising and student affairs. He received his BS at the University of Kentucky and MS at Miami University, in Oxford, OH. He has also been a fundraiser at NASPA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Northwestern University. Carlin has also supported, attended, organized, past AADO/CASE Diverse Philanthropy and Leadership Conferences. He’s also a supporting author in the new NASPA book, Student Affairs Fundraising: “Raising Funds to Raise the Bar”.
How did you get interested in the fundraising profession?
I started volunteering in fundraising through the NASPA (www.naspa.org) IV East Regional board and from there it became a full-time opportunity. Then moved from NASPA to University of Illinois, Northwestern University and now the American Red Cross.
What is something you wish you knew early on in your fundraising career?
Understanding more about internal advancement/development budgets within the university.
What is the one quality every fundraiser should have?
Not be afraid of asking and asking big
What inspires you about the fundraising profession?
That I’m helping the people who need the money for whatever the issue is
How do you want to be remembered as a professional?
He was never afraid to ask and he helped so many by the gifts he secured.