Katherine Driskell Felts

While a graduate student at the University of Miami, Katherine Driskell (Felts) served as the interim Executive Director of a small non-profit organization.  She helped that organization refocus on it's mission, planned and hosted a wildly successful board member retreat, redesigned its logo and letterhead, developed board member recruitment strategy and packages, cleaned the database and sent two successful select mail pieces.  

Ms. Felts then worked as a policy intern in the office of a United States Senator before being hired onto a political campaign in Arkansas.  As Campaign Finance Manager, Ms. Felts managed the phone solicitation and two constituencies of direct mail solicitation.  She identified lists, helped to recruit volunteers, trained phone solicitors, developed suggested scripts for each list, ensured successful follow-up on pledges and phone solicitation contributions and helped coach the candidate on key major donors from each list.  She also wrote two different direct mail pieces to two different lists she identified and acquired, oversaw logistics of personalized printing of the pieces, stuffing, addressing and ensuring bulk mail regulation compliance.  Ms. Felts also took on some responsibility as the traveling aide, cultivating key supporters and prepping the candidate for speeches.

As a volunteer, Ms. Felts has helped numerous political campaigns, church committees and non-profit organizations including stints as a Sunday School teacher and volunteer on a mission trip.

In the past year, we have raised over $800,000 for our clients.  Since founding kdfconsulting, Ms. Felts has developed grant proposals, research, and inquiry letters for numerous organizations including public and private schools; an excellent pre-school serving low-income families of student-parents, a counseling agency; an emergency shelter for troubled teens; and a medical, humanitarian and housing organization with major projects in six states.

As a member of the Orange County Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Ms. Felts has availed herself of many seminars and conferences on topics from fundraising post 9-11, major donor prospect research, legal issues for fundraisers, creating a fundraising plan, individual donor cultivation, and more.  She has attended conferences and seminars on planned giving, training, and, one of her favorites, the inaugural CharityChannel Summit

Committed to  developing skills and abilities for herself and others in the profession, Ms. Felts teaches a beginning grant writing class at the Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County, and is a  contributor to the Grants & Foundations Review, published by CharityChannel.  She also works to help interested members of clients' staff and other novice grant writers increase their writing skills and ability.