The NEDRA News staff has decided to revisit an old column formerly featured in NEDRA News - our Researcher Spotlight! We will regularly select a member of our diverse NEDRA constituency to get their take on prospect research and life. Let's get to know one another!

This month, we spoke with: CARL PITRUZZELLO

What is your position and where do you work?

Director of Advancement Services at the University of New Haven.  The areas I am responsible for are research, advancement services, and the annual fund.

Describe your experience with NEDRA – how long have you been a member? What made you get involved with the organization?

I became involved with NEDRA in the mid 1990s, when I was at Bentley University.  NEDRA has always provided me an opportunity to network with colleagues who are dealing with the same issues on a daily basis that I am at my own institution; having a network of people to contact who may have encountered the same issues is an invaluable resource.  In addition, the educational opportunities NEDRA affords,  including the annual conference and RINGs, have provided me an opportunity to see what other institutions are doing.

 

What’s your philosophy on life?
Work hard, play hard, spend time with family and friends, but don’t take life too seriously… because most of life’s minutia is not going to matter in 10 minutes or 10 decades.

 

What’s your philosophy on development?
A former colleague created what he referred to as the I³ (or “I-cubed”) strategy, and it’s one that has guided me well.  “I cubed” stands for Informed – Involved – Invested.  Basically, if you keep your donors informed and involved, they will ultimately be invested in your organization.

What’s your favorite music to listen to while you work?
Mostly classical as background sound, but after 5 PM, if I am still in the office, anything between the 1960’s and 1980’s.

 

What’s your favorite television show?

The Big Bang Theory.

 

What’s your favorite book?
The Four Hour Work Week.  I have by no means mastered it, but there are some great tips about work life and philosophies on lifestyle design.

 

What initially interested you about working in your field?

I initially had no interest in beginning to work in development after college, but one of my first assignments at a new job I had at a university was to handle running a “few reports” for development.  I had a general idea what development did, but after about 6 months I really took to it and have been in the field ever since.  I left development for roughly a year in 2000, and found that I absolutely missed it.  The thing that still keeps me interested in development is that the work we do benefits the lives of so many people – that is the biggest metric for me that keeps me coming to the office everyday.

What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment, professionally or personally?

I think the greatest accomplishment for me professionally has been elevating the operational side of development.  MGOs can’t go out and ask for the those big gifts if there is not a researcher who is able to find them, or a gift processor who can process and acknowledge that gift, or an annual fund officer who has been soliciting small gifts for many years. I am a strong believer that to have a long-term sustainable fundraising program, you need to have a strong internal operation that can handle new campaigns, new funding priorities, new staff, and all of the many challenges that happen in a development organization from year to year.

How do you define success?

Working with people I enjoy, and at the end of the day knowing that I had a small part in making my institution and my community a better place.

What’s your greatest pet peeve?
People who feel they are entitled to everything.
 

If you could have a dinner party with any five individuals, living or deceased, who would you invite?

Thomas Jefferson
Larry Bird
God
Katherine Hepburn
My parents and wife

If you could be a character in any novel you’ve ever read, who would you be and why?

Tom Sawyer, just because it would be so out of character for me. 

 

If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be?

I would want to survey our alumni non-donors and ask them the real reason why they don’t give.