Strengthening philanthropic programs
Who We Are
Lynn Upchurch, as Principal Consultant with the firm, is a nonprofit management and development consultant whose professional life has revolved around arts and cultural organizations since the 1970s. As Director of Development for the Crocker Art Museum from 2003 to 2009, she increased annual giving by 300%, launched a successful planned-giving program, and enabled the Museum to achieve $90 million toward its capital campaign goal. Her career began as Administrator of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, where she served from 1972 to 1977. She was recruited to become the Executive Director of the Western Association of Art Museums (WAAM) in San Francisco, which, in 1981, became the Art Museum Association of America. Ms. Upchurch served as the Executive Director of the Friends of Photography in San Francisco from 1987 to 1988; in 1989 she became the Development Director of the Oakland Museum of California, which she left in 1996 to form Lynn Upchurch & Associates.
David Featherstone provides grant writing services to the firm's clients. Drawing on more than fifteen years’ experience in curatorial and administrative positions with organizations such as the Friends of Photography in Carmel and its Ansel Adams Center in San Francisco, he has written many successful grant proposals to governmental agencies, corporations, and foundations. Since 1999, his funding requests have secured more than $11 million for museum clients that include the California Historical Society, San Francisco; the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; Habitot Children’s Museum, Berkeley; the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation; the Randall Museum, San Francisco; the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society; and the San Francisco Museum & Historical Society.
Emily Delk is a well respected event consultant and manager with more than fifteen years’ experience managing special events in California and specializing in events for nonprofit organizations. Emily’s unique experience working in the fund development field as an events manager provides clients with the added value of her experience soliciting sponsorships, cultivating donors, selling tickets and tables, producing and managing budgets, and managing people. Emily’s ability to collaborate with clients, vendors, and volunteers has earned her a well deserved reputation as a true professional. Her experience coordinating galas, receptions, donor cultivation events, and concerts gives her a broad base of resources to draw from.
In her six years as Special Event Manager for the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Emily raised net revenue of $1.7 million through fundraising events, doubling event revenue within 3 years. :: Visit her website