Elizabeth Kolb Farr

Elizabeth Kolb Farr, Vice President, serves the firm’s independent school and higher education clients, supporting these institutions in identifying and seizing opportunities for fundraising growth. She possesses particular expertise in sustaining and accelerating annual giving, instituting and orchestrating high-performance major gifts programs, preparing for and executing capital campaigns, coaching frontline fundraisers, and training Boards in fundraising and campaign best practices. With significant experience in performing program assessments that result in clear, actionable recommendations for accelerating fundraising in either a campaign or between-campaigns environment, Liz is an expert in designing moves management protocols and ensuring their effective use; developing individual prospect strategies; and utilizing Raiser’s Edge or other databases to set and analyze fundraising metrics.

Before joining GG+A, Liz enjoyed a 27-year career in independent schools. Beginning as a teacher in boarding and day schools, she maintains a passion for teaching and learning. Her roles in independent school advancement were primarily in annual, major, and planned giving at a diverse set of institutions that included K-12 and elementary schools of both coed and single-sex student bodies. Liz most recently served as Associate Director of Development at The Shipley School, a coed day school of 850 students in Bryn Mawr, PA that completed a $50+ million campaign during her tenure.

An active volunteer for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Liz has served on the Planning Committee of three CASE-NAIS Independent Schools Conferences and has presented several Conference sessions, each time earning Stellar Speaker honors. Liz has also taught both professionals and volunteers assembled by the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools, the Association of Independent Maryland Schools, and the Association of Junior Leagues International. She is a past President of the Junior League of Philadelphia, where she was a five-time member of the Board of Directors, chaired the Annual Fund twice, and co-chaired the organization’s first-ever capital campaign.

Liz is an alumna of Friends’ Central School and holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Vassar College. She lives in South Kent, CT with her husband, Chris, an independent school advancement professional.