There is a new member of the Advancement team at Williston Northampton ready to lead the charge on annual giving: Ally Murphy. Murphy joins the Advancement staff after serving as Director of the Annual Fund at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. She steps into her role on the Advancement staff as the school continues to celebrate the success of our recent campaign, Williston Builds, which helped raise more than $86 million for the school.
A native of Western Massachusetts, Murphy grew up in Longmeadow before matriculating to the University of Hartford. Murphy’s introduction to the world of giving and fundraising came as a student, when she and a friend started the Student Philanthropy Club at the university, and she hasn’t stopped working in that field since.
To help introduce Murphy to the school community, we sat down with her to ask six questions.
Q: What is your background in fundraising?
A: As a junior in college, I co-founded the Student Philanthropy Club. There was a need for connection between our development office and the students, and getting word out there about scholarships and how that impacts all of us. That was my first taste of development work, and I was not planning on going down this path—but I soon loved it. I loved the people, I loved the work, the mission, and from there I was offered a position at my alma mater as Assistant Director of Annual Giving, which gave me a great understanding of how a development office runs. I was there for two years and I had the opportunity at Canterbury School pop up. I was not super familiar with independent schools, so it was a new experience to learn. But as soon as I started to learn the independent school way and how it’s very different than higher ed, I was all in. It seems like people really loved where their prep school experience. So at Canterbury, the donors loved Canterbury, and I see that here, too. I fell in love with independent schools, and I love what I do.
Q: What attracted you to the job at Williston?
A: I was excited to step into a position that was already very successful. Ellie Ballard, [now Williston’s Director of Advancement] was in the position for eight years and has done great things with the Williston Northampton Fund. And when I interviewed, I just felt something warm in my heart and could tell that the team was made up of great people. It feels very special to be here, and it’s obvious that the students are happy to be here, feel supported, and feel like they can be themselves. It’s not a typical independent school environment.
Q: What do you think you will bring to this position, and what are some things you hope to accomplish here?
A: I think I bring a fresh set of eyes. At the University of Hartford, I was able to experiment with everything that comes with working in advancement. At Canterbury, I was also able to try out different ideas, while learning from each thing I did. So, I think I bring a lot of expertise and experience with fundraising, and knowing that we’re already successful, I can help tweak small things here and there, and that’s what will continue to elevate us. I think asking questions is really important. What is our goal? Why are we doing it this way? That will help keep us from just going through the motions.
Q: Outside of your advancement work, tell us about yourself.
A: I grew up in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and my husband [Nathaniel] grew up in Palmer, and we both love Western Massachusetts. We live in Connecticut right now, but this area feels like home. Outside of work, I enjoy reading—I’m an avid reader. I listen to audiobooks on my commute. I also recently got into running—I’ll let you know how that goes. And then just spending time with friends and family and my two cats.
Q: What is something that you always carry with you when you leave the house each day?
A: I don’t want to sound lame, but I always have a coffee koozie. My sister-in-law got me into these, and I have a whole collection and whatever I’m feeling that day, I pick. I have like, 30 of them.
Q: And finally, what has been your impression of Williston so far?
A: I think each person and each department here strives for excellence. It’s very thoughtful work that we’re doing, planning for the future, and really being intentional about everything that we produce like our great campaigns, our interactions with parents, the events we host. Everything seems very strategic, so it feels really great to be part of something where everybody’s held to that level of excellence.