Testimonials

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I worked with Leslie on cold calling and my visit numbers increased exponentially. Leslie is great to work with, and she tailors her coaching to the audience to ensure maximum success. She knows there is no one single approach in development work, and she is able to bring out the best in advancement professionals. I recommend working with Leslie because she helped me get better and I'm still using her coaching years later.

Working with Leslie was a game changer for me!  Her guidance was invaluable in helping me look at discovery calls as an enjoyable part of my work. All development professionals know discovery calls are an important part of the development process, but who knew they could be fun?! Leslie's experience in development gives her a critical understanding of what it takes to be successful, and she shares her knowledge in a way that is practical and provides structure and accountability. She is an excellent coach and her energy is contagious. I highly recommend Leslie as a speaker to motivate your development team and as an individual coach.

Working with Leslie Chambers and Degrees of Connection has been an awe-inspiring experience.  Leslie’s passion for “cold calling” and helping Development Officers secure visits is contagious.  Her innovative Scheduling Office program has set new heights in our development shop and has reinforced the “good prospecting habits” amongst the development officers. Our number of visits has increased and the development officers feel motivated that they have a program that helps complement their current prospecting efforts.  At the end of the day, we know that more calls mean more visits. This leads to more gifts. I highly recommend this program to any development shop that is looking for new ways to increase productivity and 

re-energize staff.
Thanks Leslie Chambers for bringing this program to the development world! 

If you havent had the opportunity to partner with Leslie, I highly encourage you to explore the opportunity. I worked with Leslie at the University of Rochester. As someone that came up in the phonathon, i had an appreciation for the work Leslie did on a day-to-day basis.  It was when I started utilizing her services that really left a lasting impression on me. Leslie approaches everyone in a unique way and sees the value in every relationship built. I have so much respect for Leslie, i brought her in to train my staff and they had the same experience as me the first time I met her, a first class interaction that was genuine.

I was a major gift officer at the University of Rochester for eight years and relied on the Scheduling Office, founded and formerly-managed by Leslie, for many of those years.  This resource is every gift officer’s and every Advancement Office’s dream!  And now that I know what it’s like to have a scheduling office and how beneficial it can be to fundraising success, I cannot imagine it any other way.  The schedulers not only boost visit numbers, get you in the door to see high-wealth but hard-to reach prospects, but they also free up your time as a gift officer so that you can focus on cultivating qualified prospects and you don’t have to worry about spending a significant amount of time on scheduling discovery appointments.  Additionally, I don’t think just anyone can create a successful scheduling office immediately, but Leslie can and will because she has done it before and has learned a great deal along the way.  I also want to say that on a personal level, Leslie is a fun, energetic, and very supportive colleague, which is a tremendous asset as well.  She is one of those “go-to” people in the office, which makes it no surprise that she left a successful career at an elite private University that is in the middle of a $1.2 billion campaign to start a new venture on her own.​

I have to admit that when I was first approached with the idea of hiring staff specifically to make phone calls on behalf of our gift officers, I was somewhat dubious. However, Leslie was able to convince me to give it a try and I'm glad that she did. Since working with Leslie and Degrees of Connection to hire and train our first development caller, we have hired a second part-time caller and will likely add another full time caller. The ROI, including increased meetings and prospect qualifications, has exceeded my expectations. I now recommend to anyone who is considering a calling program that their first step should be to speak with Leslie. 

Leslie is an outstanding advancement professional.  I had the pleasure of working with her, as she led the development of the University of Rochester's first professional scheduling office.  These were not simply people who made appointments.  They were professionals who employed a variety of skills and techniques to initiate meaningful engagement with our alumni, parents and friends.  Her team, through her management and knowledge, connected with thousands of individuals and helped set them on a course for a close relationship with the University.

Leslie came our way by a wonderful 2nd degree of connection… her husband is a Roadrunner, earning a Masters from UTSA in computer science some years ago.  She could not have been introduced to us at a more opportune time!  
Coming on the heels of our first-ever campaign in our nearly 50-year history as an institution, we “exhausted” all likely donor sources and need to refill our pipeline.  As also happens post-campaign, we have gone through some staff transition and reorganization so find ourselves with a new team to engage our relatively shallow donor base.  From the very beginning, Leslie was eager to meet us where we were, learn our institution, and offer a tailored program that addressed our specific needs.  I was impressed by the customization she delivered and her willingness to be available to us as an ongoing resource.  
As we work again to broaden our base of donors, we are launching new discovery officer and regional development programs.  With Leslie’s know-how and infectious enthusiasm, our new team is well-positioned to begin their efforts in earnest.  Leslie’s facilitated training session created a sense of camaraderie and collaboration among junior officers and seasoned members of the time alike.  No team-building retreat has ever yielded such results.  I look forward to seeing the results of our collective efforts come together as a direct result of the firm foundation in tactics and proper attitude that Leslie’s training brought.

I worked with Leslie during my time as a manager in the Regional Advancement office at the University of Rochester. Leslie’s stellar reputation and volunteer management skills were evident when she worked for the School of Medicine and Dentistry, but I came to know Leslie best when she joined our team to lead a new scheduling office for the major gift officers in Regional Advancement as well as other divisions across university advancement. Leslie developed a cutting edge scheduling office that greatly increased the productivity for our gift officers. She was a leader in utilizing statistical analysis and demonstrated positive return on investment in the resources dedicated to her department. Leslie also served as an adviser and trainer for our gift officers, not only teaching them how to analyze their regional alumni community, but also how to connect with potential supporters and secure meaningful appointments with promising philanthropists. Leslie knows fundraising, but more importantly, understands people. She is a valued contributor who fills a missing component to most advancement programs.

I worked with Leslie Chambers for a number of years when I was a Regional Director of Advancement at the University of Rochester. I worked in a complex region with many other major gift officers and Leslie consistently helped me to identify and schedule meetings with top prospects in the region. Leslie's dedication and professionalism extended to her team as well. She trained them all to be as effective as she was. Now that I am the president of a small, private liberal arts college, I frequently reach out to Leslie for advice on establishing and maintaining a robust fundraising program. Leslie Chambers embodies all that is good about the development trade and can add significant value to any organization with which she is associated. 

​​I knew Leslie when I served as the Senior Director for Regional Advancement at the University of Rochester and became a fan of her process in scheduling discovery visits for my staff. Subsequently I became the Associate Vice President for Major Gifts and the Campaign at Georgia Southern University.  In my new role one of my primary responsibilities is the establishment of gift officer performance metrics which includes tracking monthly progress against annual prospect visit goals, solicitations and asks.  As I was tracking the monthly visits I identified a member of the team who appeared to have some real issues in securing discovery calls.  After speaking with Leslie, we devised a program for her to come to campus to deliver an intensive and supportive multi step coaching process for this staff member.  The end result was that this major gift officer went from the lowest number of completed visits over two quarters to second highest in the fiscal year.  Leslie's results with this one gift officer were so positive that I brought her back to campus two additional times to work with the entire team and to also provide one on one coaching for those gift officers who desired that level of individual support.
Needless to say I have been very pleased with the results of her programmatic approach to coaching and training gift officers in discovery calling. I will be bringing her back to campus for annual tune-ups with the major gift and leadership annual giving staff.    

In my role as Education Chair with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, countless people told me I needed to connect with Leslie Chambers. I am so glad I listened! Leslie customized a two-hour workshop for our members on how to make successful discovery calls. Her thoughtful preparation led us to our most successful and highest attended program. Leslie is not only an expert who provides relevant, easy to use information but she’s also extremely engaging. She places a priority on finding joy in our work which is truly motivating!