Shannon Durio Joins We Raise Foundation as Vice President of Development
Itasca, IL – We Raise Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Shannon Durio as Vice President of Development. Durio’s first day was July 10, 2023.
“Shannon joins the We Raise staff at a critical inflection point,” said Paul Miles, President and CEO of We Raise Foundation. “As we seek to redefine what it means to multiply generosity, Shannon will be a key member of our team that will share our story and invite people to participate in the process of investing in others through us. We are thrilled to have someone of Shannon’s caliber leading our development efforts and enthusiastically welcome her to our team.”
“Working in the philanthropic space in St. Louis has given me the opportunity to see how the investments that We Raise Foundation makes in its grantees yields generational impact,” said Durio. “What an honor to serve alongside this team and help connect generous individuals and families to the transformational work that these organizations and emerging leaders are doing in their communities.”
Durio joins We Raise after serving as Senior Director of Philanthropy at FamilyForward in St. Louis, Mo., since 2022. FamilyForward provides comprehensive therapeutic and educational services to support biological, foster, and adoptive families. Durio was responsible for helping the organization achieve its annual and campaign fundraising goals through the solicitation and stewardship of donors annually, and through planned gifts and comprehensive campaign gifts. She developed and executed several strategies that connected donor’s interests with specific giving opportunities. Durio also launched the first phase of a structured planned giving program for FamilyForward.
From 2019-2021, Durio was the Executive Director of Prison Performing Arts in St. Louis. In this role, she served as the primary development officer for the nonprofit, which engages justice-involved youth and adults in the arts. She managed grants, corporate support, events, and donor relations. In her first full year of leadership, Durio increased organizational revenue by 30%.
Prior to that, Durio served as Director of Donor Engagement at the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition in Brentwood, Mo., where she bolstered the fundraising and marketing efforts for the organization, which provides recruitment and wraparound support services for foster and adoptive families.
Throughout her 16-year fundraising career, Durio has also held fundraising and marketing positions with Concordance Academy in St. Louis, Fontebella Maternity Home in Belleville, Ill., March of Dimes, and the American Cancer Society.
Durio earned both a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies in 2005 and a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership in 2011 from Judson University in Elgin, Ill.
Durio and her husband, Beau, reside in O’Fallon, Ill., with their two children.
About We Raise Foundation
Motivated by the belief that freedom is grace in action (Galatians 5:1a), We Raise Foundation partners with Christian nonprofit organizations and emerging leaders working at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality. We have a preference for funding solutions within the areas of education, workforce development, and criminal justice and employ a unique approach to our investing by coupling program funding with a variety of robust value-added services that empower our grantees to grow their solutions. As a result of these value-added services, every $1 that donors invest through We Raise multiplies into more than double the benefit to the organizations we support. To learn more, please visit weraise.org. You can also find We Raise on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
