Exploring the CFO’s role in a nonprofit organization’s fundraising
In this episode of The Beacon Podcast, Lighthouse Counsel Senior Consultant Dr. Lilya Wagner talks with Harry Dorcus about the role of the chief financial officer in a nonprofit organization’s fundraising.
Harry has 39 years of international financial management experience, with special emphasis on establishing new missions for the United States Agency for International Development, an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
Harry addresses topics including:
- Helping CFOs understand and commit to fundraising and the idea that it costs money to raise money.
- Outlining a reasonable role for a CFO to play in an organization’s overall fundraising plan
- How the CFO can practically and ethically share information from the finance office that will make the fundraiser’s job easier and better
About Our Guest
Harry Dorcus has 39 years of international financial management experience with special emphasis on establishing new missions for USAID. He most recently spent 10 years as senior controller for the USAID-Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs and has held numerous positions in finance within USAID over the course of his career, including principal USAID financial officer in Niger, Chad, Panama and East Africa Region.
Other assignments include the Nicaraguan Contra Task Force and deputy director of the Loan Management Division in Washington, DC.
Harry has held chief operating officer positions at Counterpart International and the International Republican Institute and was the financial analyst/assistant treasurer at Prince Georges County Public Schools in Maryland.
Additionally, he served 10 years with the US Army Reserve, attaining the rank of captain while performing duties of a hospital administrator.
