David Wu

David Wu, Vice President, brings more than 30 years of professional experience in development and fundraising. David currently serves President of the San Diego Zoo Foundation where he provides overall leadership for the Development and Membership teams that raise over a $100 million annually. Prior to this appointment, he served as Chief Advancement Officer at Woodland Park Zoo, where he provided leadership for a highly integrated group of professionals in the fields of communications, development, membership, marketing, and government relations.

David previously served as Chief Development Officer for PATH, an international nonprofit that transforms global health through innovation. In this role, he led PATH in achieving its first $125 million campaign and increased private support by 250% in four years. As the Associate Vice President for Campaign and Development Programs at the University of Washington (UW), he worked closely with the president, provost, and other development staff and volunteers to provide leadership and direction for a comprehensive capital campaign with a working goal of $2 billion over seven to eight years. He was also responsible for leading and managing university-wide campaign and development programs, which included campaign programs (campaign operations, prospect management tracking), individual gift programs (principal and leadership gifts, regional and international programs, planned giving), and corporate and foundation relations.

Prior to this, David served as Acting Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at UW. In this position, he was responsible for providing overall leadership and direction for UW’s comprehensive campaign, as well as its development and alumni relations staff. David created solicitation strategies for $5 million to $100 million gifts and restructured the alumni and development senior management team to respond to the needs of the organization during the campaign planning and leadership transition.

During the seven years prior to this appointment, he served as Assistant Dean for Development and External Affairs at UW College of Arts and Sciences and was a member of the College’s executive committee. David was responsible for leading the College’s development, alumni relations, and communications programs, with the goal of maximizing fundraising and external relations opportunities. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the College’s first strategic planning initiative, and he managed the growth of the department from seven staff members to 23. Prior to that, David also held development positions with Seattle University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Bowling Green State University.

David has been a member of both the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and CASE District VII Board of Trustees. He served as a CASE faculty member for the Summer Institute for Fundraising at Dartmouth College and Fundraising for Newcomers. He also has been a Board Member for the National Society of Fundraising Executives, Seattle Chapter, and acted as a Visiting Expert with The Chinese University of Hong Kong Philanthropy/Fundraising Resource and Advisory Unit. He is currently on two boards: Global Impact and the Association of American Museums.

David received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Virginia Tech, and his master’s degree in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University.