Marilyn Foster Kirk is a collaborative, client-focused professional with more than 40 years’ experience as a major gift officer, fundraising executive, consultant, and educator.
Marilyn has led fundraising programs in small, medium-sized, and large organizations, growing grass-roots programs into thriving, sustainable fundraising endeavors as well as contributing to complex campaigns achieving billion-dollar goals. She has held progressively more senior positions at Carroll College, Garrett-Theological Seminary, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She combines this extensive experience with in-depth knowledge of fundraising best practices, leading engagements in fundraising assessment, campaign feasibility and planning, and board and staff development. Recent clients include Oakton College, Northeastern University, St. Ambrose University, College of Lake County, and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
Marilyn has taught graduate and professional studies courses at North Park University, DePaul University, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the former Donors’ Forum of Chicago. She is frequently an invited speaker at professional associations, conferences, and webinars.
She has served on numerous nonprofit boards, is a past president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Chicago and a past member of CASE Five. Currently, she is chairperson of the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Kansas Wesleyan University.
Marilyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Kansas Wesleyan University and a Master of Education degree from the University of Oklahoma. She pursued doctoral study in Educational Leadership at the University of Kansas and holds a diploma from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.
