Mary Combi

Fundraising Advisor
Grand Blanc, MI

Mary, a lifelong Michigander, grew up in Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) and now lives in Grand Blanc. Before joining The Better Fundraising Co team, she held various marketing, communications, and design roles at a national nonprofit for more than 15 years. Mary is passionate about nonprofit visual storytelling and inspiring donors to make a difference. In addition, she loves to travel with her family, teach dance to teens, and further her education.

Melissa Kruse

Senior Fundraising Advisor
Eugene, OR

Born and raised in Hawaii, Melissa is an islander at heart who currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two kids, and four ducks. With over 12 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Melissa is a seasoned fundraiser who excels in direct mail fundraising, graphic design, and copywriting. Her passion lies in crafting compelling stories that inspire donors to make a difference. Melissa enjoys building relationships and collaborating with individuals and organizations advocating for a variety of worthy causes, both locally and globally.

In her role as a Senior Fundraising Advisor, Melissa is committed to leveraging her expertise to empower organizations to achieve their fundraising goals and make a lasting impact.

Sarah Lundberg

Senior Fundraising Advisor
Grand Rapids, MI

Sarah is a lifelong Midwesterner living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has been part of the nonprofit world for over 18 years, most recently as Director of Marketing and Communications at an international ministry. She recently earned her Fundraising Management Certificate from North Park University in Chicago. Sarah loves helping organizations see what’s possible when they put proven fundraising practices into place. In her spare time, you can find Sarah searching for unique finds in antique stores, wrangling the cello she’s determined to learn how to play, or trying to keep up with her 100-year-old home.

Gretchen Miller

Director of Operations
Bentonville, AR

Many people view chaos as something they run from, or something they actually help create; Gretchen views it like a beautiful, wild mustang with incredible potential to accomplish great things if harnessed and focused in the right direction. She loves to organize projects, clear hurdles and wrangle calendars just about as much as she enjoys coffee on the beach. However, when faced with the tension and uncertainty of her daughter and son’s many basketball games and her husband, Daniel’s annoying ability to remain calm, you will find her in the corner of the gym practicing self-awareness and all the latest and greatest techniques for managing stress.

McKenzie Mitchell

Fundraising Advisor
Wenatchee, WA

McKenzie has spent most of her career at nonprofits, gathering experience across marketing, communications, annual giving, capital campaigns, public affairs, and most recently donor membership programs at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her motivation each day is to wake up and help you make the most impact, and raise more money. McKenzie is Northwest through and through – she loves the outdoors, skiing, hiking, and playing in their backyard state park in Wenatchee with her husband Brad, and vizsla Rory.

Jacob Redway

Fundraising Advisor
Terlton, OK

Jacob Redway has been in the nonprofit world for close to six years. He brings diverse experience in marketing, communications, and fundraising. Jacob’s true calling is to help people and use his gifts of storytelling to inspire people to action. He is excited to use those gifts to help your organization grow to new heights.

Jacob and his family enjoy a quiet, rural life on their homestead in northeast Oklahoma, close to Tulsa.

Steven Screen

Co-Founder
Bainbridge Island, WA

Steven Screen is an experienced Fundraiser who gets energized helping organizations understand how they can raise more money. He’s a second-generation fundraiser, a past winner of the Direct Mail Package of the Year, and data-driven. His superpower is summarizing things. Steven is married and has three kids.

Jim Shapiro

Co-Founder
Seattle, WA

Jim Shapiro is the fundraising coach you’ve always wanted, the proven Sherpa who can help you get to the top of the mountain. Jim has 30 years’ experience raising money, including serving as the VP of Development for a global $100m nonprofit. He co-founded The Better Fundraising Co. to help small-to-medium nonprofits raise more money. Outside his fundraising work, he serves his community as a high school football coach and finds great joy playing with his grandkids. Jim is married, has three kids, and three grandkids and a dog named Jovi.

Melissa Sims
(she/her)

Fundraising Advisor
Seattle, WA

Melissa has a professional background in nonprofit fundraising and marketing. She has her Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Visual Communications and started out as a graphic designer in the nonprofit space. Over time she took on a greater scope of work with copywriting and strategy. When asked about her goal in life she says it is to leave the world in a better place than it was when she entered it.

In her spare time you can find Melissa in the gym lifting weights, coaching fitness & nutrition, coming up with new recipes or creating artwork. She’s a Pacific Northwest native and gets excited for the start of the rainy season - though ask her about it come February each year and she will likely be ready for some sunshine!

Jonathan Steck

Creative Director
Seattle, WA

An Aussie living in Seattle, Jonathan Steck proudly represents the Commonwealth by spreading vegemite on his toast, using the metric system, and having Siri respond with an Australian accent. But as Better Fundraising's Creative Director, Jonathan is much smarter. He brings more than 15 years of fundraising knowledge to the team and looks forward to helping your mission grow!

Tracey Calderon

Fundraising Advisor
Los Angeles, CA

Tracey Calderon was born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, CA, where she lives with her husband, Andrew, and their children, Noah and Eden.

Tracey spent 10 years working in the nonprofit sector, serving underrepresented communities including people experiencing homelessness, those impacted by incarceration, and migrants and refugees. The majority of her nonprofit experience was in fundraising, where she saw firsthand the impact that proven fundraising practices can have on helping organizations grow and expand their mission.

In her spare time, Tracey enjoys long runs at the beach, reading while sipping a warm cup of tea, thrifting, and gardening with her family.

Connor Owen

Fundraising Advisor
Marion, IN

Connor is a Hoosier who was born and raised in a small town where he met his wife. Together, they have three children who keep them busy and very thankful. He has spent over 11 years in the communications world: four of those in radio, and seven years at a missionary sending agency. His passion is to help others tell their story in a way that produces results. In his previous role, he and his team were able to create resources for missionaries that helped them effectively and easily tell their stories in ways that raised more money and deepened donor relationships. And it was during this time that he fell in love with fundraising after seeing the power it has to transform how stories are told.

Connor studied media communications in his undergraduate and then went on to study practical theology for his masters. Connor loves running, reading, and watching his kids in their extracurricular activities.