Tamisha Keith
Donor Relations Officer
The Winston-Salem Foundation
Tamisha Keith is an experienced development professional with over 10 years of experience in program management, fundraising, community engagement, and strategic planning in the non- profit sector. As Donor Relations Officer for The Winston-Salem Foundation, Tamisha is responsible for managing a portfolio of donors for cultivation and stewardship while maintaining knowledge of trends and legislation impacting philanthropy. Prior to working for The Winston-Salem Foundation, Tamisha worked as the Director of Development and Community Relations for the North Carolina Housing Foundation, an organization which provides services to homeless individuals in Winston-Salem, where she was responsible for the cultivation and stewardship of donors while analyzing market data to meet fundraising goals. Tamisha also served as Development Director for The Free Clinic of Rockingham County, where she was responsible for gift planning, grant writing, marketing and fund development for the organization. She also planned the organization’s flagship fundraiser, The Hearts and Hands Charity Ball, raising thousands of dollars to support healthcare costs of low income, uninsured residents of Rockingham County.
In earlier experience, Tamisha worked for The Enrichment Center, an affiliated chapter of the Arc, a nonprofit organization that advocates for individuals with developmental disabilities. At the Enrichment Center, Tamisha worked in the Community Relations Department and maintained the organization’s membership database. She also led the United Way workplace campaign, wrote and edited a monthly newsletter, and was responsible for recruiting and training volunteers. Tamisha is involved with various professional associations such as The North Carolina Planned Giving Council, HandsOn Northwest North Carolina Board of Directors, The Winston-Salem Transit Authority Trans-Aid Appeals Committee, and the Grants Committee for The Women’s Fund of Winston Salem.
Tamisha earned her law degree from Indiana University School of Law and she is a graduate of Florida A&M University where she majored in Political Science. In her spare time, Tamisha enjoys wine tasting, traveling, and writing for her blog The Broke Epicure.
How did you get interested in the fundraising profession?
One of my first professional jobs after graduating from law school was working as a Program Director for an educational mentoring program in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, soon after I left the organization, I learned that it became insolvent due to a lack of funding because there was not a fundraiser on staff. It saddened me to learn that an organization that was doing such meaningful work was unable to fulfill its mission due to financial reasons. That is when I learned of the importance of fundraising and became interested in the field.
What is something you wish you knew early on in your fundraising career?
I wish I would have learned early in my career about the value and importance of incorporating planned giving into a comprehensive fund development plan. Most fundraisers fear it because of the technical aspects of the planned giving vehicles, but it is essential to a thriving fundraising plan and it was the largest gift that I received in my career.
What is the one quality every fundraiser should have?
The one quality that every fundraiser must have is intentionality. Fundraising is often a thankless job but it is demanding and purpose driven. If you don’t approach this work with intentionality and believe in the mission of your organization you will not be able to effectively advocate for your organization and raise money to support the cause.
What inspires you about the fundraising profession?
What inspires me about the fundraising profession is the ability to connect individuals to their passions and philanthropic goals. As fundraisers, we have the opportunity to bring out the humanity in people.
How do you want to be remembered as a professional?
I want to be remembered as a person who uses my position to bring awareness to the concerns of the underserved and one who uses philanthropy as a vehicle to ameliorate the conditions impacting the disenfranchised, particularly within the black community.