About Sam Connor

Sam serves the non-profit and cause sectors as an outsourced executive in strategy, marketing, and fundraising, and builds teams for transformative growth. He has served as head of the national marketing and communications team at the Anti-Defamation League and been a senior marketer and fundraiser for Save the Children, and held a range of executive field positions for leading international development agencies working in appropriate technologies, civil society development, and public health. He lived and worked abroad in Africa (Togo, Mozambique, Malawi) and Asia (India and Myanmar) for 15 years building life-changing social entrepreneurship programs.

Since returning to the US in 2008 Sam has been a key strategist and leader of teams raising over $40 million in creative charitable funding: launching pioneering work in 2010 in online fundraising innovations such as a ‘100 day / $1 million’ challenge grant with #1 PC gamer Athene and DC Entertainment, for We Can Be Heroes Ethiopian famine relief, leading to the subsequent creation of Gaming for Good; and Linkin Park’s Secret Show for Japan with Music for Relief, sourcing fan-based response to the 2011 Tsunami, among others. He also worked with the Bob Marley Foundation to launch ‘One Love’, the first feature film ever released on facebook, with proceeds to charity. On behalf of the Anti-Defamation League he led on wholesale re-envisioning of the marketing and communications efforts, raising their market share and direct engagement by over 600% while significantly increasing contributions through customized platforms.

Sam started his own firm for purposeful customer engagement and cause support including bespoke strategies on fundraising in 2015. Sam and his team of associates have raised over $2 million for the National Center for Learning Disabilities / Understood, launched a marketing strategy for digital archives of 2.4 million historical artifacts for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and been instrumental in launch strategy for the second year of Red Nose Day, a major UK charity, helping to increase the raise of $23 million in 2015 to $31.5 million in 2016.

Select recent clients include The Malala Fund, building multi-million dollar partnerships with new international corporate sponsors; The Non Violence Project ( Sweden), creating programs to fund conflict resolution education programs in US schools; COPE ( Laos) working to ensure productive lives for victims of landmine explosions; Wholesome Wave, leveraging philanthropic and commercial investments to make real produce available to low income people; and “I Have A Dream” Foundation providing academic, social, and financial support for low income children from Kindergarten through College.

Sam sits on the Advisory Boards of Give2gether, an international crowdsourcing online platform that specializes in the application of gamification for fundraising; and Long Island University Hudson School’s MBA / MPA Program.

A dual UK / US national who works globally, Sam continues to grow his partnerships around the world, thriving on bringing creativity and resources to fund innovations that can transform the US and beyond.