William & Mary was recently cited as being “the No. 1 public university in the U.S. for annual alumni giving.” We interviewed Matthew Lambert, VP of Advancement and CEO of the W&M Foundation to learn more about their strategy for success.
Matthew shared valuable insights on several topics that are critical to all nonprofit organizations, including:
- How donor values and behavior vary by generation.
- How William & Mary seeks to “meet donors where they are” to drive participation across all generations.
- The impact of technology and innovation when it comes to their success.
About Author
Matthew T. Lambert
VP of Advancement and CEO of the William & Mary Foundation
As Vice President for University Advancement, Matthew T. Lambert '99 oversees all William & Mary efforts related to alumni engagement, private fundraising and philanthropic outreach, university marketing and alumni communications and career development & professional engagement. Under Dr. Lambert's direction, University Advancement's overarching goal is to create a lasting, robust culture of engagement and philanthropy among the greater William & Mary community.
Engaging students, alumni, parents and friends, employers, corporations and foundations, and faculty and staff is critical to William & Mary's future. As part of William & Mary's commitment to creating a university community that is representative and inclusive of individuals with different backgrounds, talents and skills, University Advancement strives to foster lifelong relationships among all constituents with the university. William & Mary's ability to thrive and advance as a world-class university depends largely upon the active support of all key stakeholders.
Dr. Lambert and the leadership team successfully completed For the Bold: The Campaign for William & Mary in July 2020. The campaign concluded with $1.04 billion raised, ties among alumni and alma mater strengthened and its status as the No. 1 public university for alumni participation cemented several years in a row. Only the university's fourth comprehensive campaign, For the Bold infused revolutionary ideas and bold initiatives into the nation's first university. The campaign led to wide-ranging transformations across the university and new opportunities and experiences for generations of students, faculty, alumni and staff.
In March 2021, the All In Campaign for W&M Athletics was launched with the focused goals of building community engagement, increasing annual giving and raising $55 million by 2023. The All In campaign will build stability, engagement and excellence across W&M's athletics programs and will strengthen the future of the Tribe for generations to come.
A graduate of William & Mary with a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology, Dr. Lambert earned a master's degree from The Ohio State University, and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to returning to William & Mary in 2013 as the vice president for university development, he was associate vice president in Georgetown University's Office of Advancement. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, he is active in public policy research and scholarship and is the author of the book Privatization and the Public Good: Public Universities in the Balance (Harvard Education Press) and co-editor of Advancing Higher Education: New Strategies for Fundraising, Philanthropy, and Engagement (Rowman & Littlefield). Lambert and his wife, Karen Silverberg Lambert '98, live in Williamsburg with their two sons, William and Harrison.
Dr. Lambert is also chief executive officer of the William & Mary Foundation. As CEO, he works with the Board of Trustees and W&M Foundation staff to ensure the Foundation's stewardship of more than $1 billion in endowments for the benefit of William & Mary. He also oversees Foundation Services, LLC, which is responsible for the management and coordination of services supporting all of William & Mary's affiliated foundations.
Contact Matthew Lambert at [email protected] or 757-221-1012.
