Justin Fincher

Justin has more than 20 years of experience helping higher education institutions, academic medical centers, and nonprofit organizations modernize their advancement programs, develop holistic campaigns, and integrate innovation and insights to drive sustainable, scalable growth.

Time and again, philanthropy has proven to be a powerful catalyst to transform institutions for the better, especially through periods of uncertainty and rapid change.”

About Justin

Justin provides consulting expertise to colleges, universities, academic medical centers, and nonprofit clients to develop comprehensive philanthropy and fundraising campaigns, build long-term organizational capacity, and integrate data and systems, enabling them to build agile and resilient plans, organizations, and teams. Justin approaches his work by taking the long view with urgency, helping clients build a clear plan and then implement it with speed and focus.

Throughout his career, Justin has:

• Led the fundraising strategy for a large public research university, resulting in a $500 million gift — the largest unrestricted endowment gift in American higher education’s history.
• Developed a multi-institutional fundraising plan for an innovative, new global climate nonprofit, resulting in an initial $170 million in philanthropic support.
• Led the planning and public launch of a $4.5 billion philanthropic campaign designed to inspire one million donors to invest in a large public research university.
• Managed the comprehensive strategic plan development for one of the country’s largest alumni associations, creating a clear road map for measurable alumni engagement and volunteer development.
• Developed the most extensive market research panel of alumni in higher education to support a large research university’s data-informed, customer-centered approach to create more strategic marketing, drive efficient fundraising strategies, and deliver exceptional constituent experiences.

Prior to joining Huron, Justin served as vice president for advancement and executive director of the Stony Brook Foundation at Stony Brook University. At Stony Brook, he also served as interim chief deputy to the president and senior vice president for government and community relations. Justin previously held the role of vice president for advancement strategy and administration at The Ohio State University. He began his advancement career at Johns Hopkins University as an associate director, developing the institution’s early engagement strategy.

Justin earned a doctorate and Master of Science from University of Maryland, College Park and a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University.

Justin is a founder and facilitator of the Advancement Leadership Lab. He volunteers with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Justin was awarded district professional of the year from CASE.