Katharine DeShaw is the Deputy Director for Advancement and External Relations for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, currently under construction in Los Angeles. Throughout her career, Ms. DeShaw has served as an executive, consultant, and teacher devoted to best practices in philanthropy and non-profit management. She has designed record-breaking fundraising campaigns and strategic grant making programs in the arts, health, and social services. She is completing The Secrets of Fundraising, a memoir set to be published by the web platform NationBuilder in 2018.
From 2005-2013, she served as the Founding Executive Director of United States Artists (USA) and its crowdfunding site USA Projects. Recruited by the presidents of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, during her tenure, USA Fellowships of $50,000 each were awarded to 350 artists across the nation in all artistic disciplines, a $17.5M investment. Concurrently she incubated USA Projects—now called HatchFund—the world’s first crowdfunding website for artists which has raised $12M+ in tax-deductible gifts for projects worldwide. She built a national Board of Directors and a donor base of leading arts patrons securing $56M for both USA and USA Projects, including $10M in endowment funds for the USA Fellows program.
Previously, she led development efforts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis. She launched the first fundraising curriculum for the Getty Leadership Institute in 2014.
Ms. DeShaw lives in Los Angeles with her husband Mark McConnell.
Fundraising