gina schmeling
About Gina
Gina Schmeling is a professional fundraising consultant with vast experience and know-how in all areas of individual giving. Trusted by donors, and respected by colleagues, she is known for being intelligent, kind, and positive. She is a steady hand during times of any organizational change.
Her approach crafts reachable goals that are doable while also a stretch. Gina advises, troubleshoots, and solves issues with knowledge and care. She’s had senior staff roles at leading national and Jewish nonprofits (a special focus), having managed and planned numerous record-breaking campaigns. Her work in non-profit technology, social media innovation and communications trends sets her apart and makes her a keen fundraising voice in the mix – bringing sophisticated, tech-driven data and communications plans to engagement and solicitation planning. With an affinity for Jewish philanthropy, LGBTQ+ equality, youth leadership, support for older people, synagogue and membership campaigns, social justice, and climate action, she is a passionately invested professional.
A seasoned distance runner, her disciplined approach to her profession and her running life often overlap and inform each other. Both require a baseline starting point and a strategic action plan to be ready for the future – all with encouragement and an eye on the finish line.
Gina has partnered with such esteemed clients as ACLU, Vera Institute for Justice, The Hunger Project (U.S.), Healthy Schools Chicago, Congregation Beth Elohim, and the Institute for Sustainable Communities, to name a few. She has been on staff at WBEZ, WNYC, UJA Federation NY, Hazon, and Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. Gina is a graduate of Stanford University with honors and holds a master’s degree from New York University. She was a Critical Studies fellow at the Whitney Museum. At NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service, Gina focuses on leadership, inclusion, and financial management strategies. A Chicago native, she lives and runs in Brooklyn, New York, and serves clients throughout the U.S. and overseas.
“We hired Gina Schmeling to help us when we suddenly lost our key marketing and communications staff during a critical moment in our annual campaign. She was just what the doctor ordered! She quickly honed in on the essence of our mission and brought a new, authentic voice to communicate our work and impact. Not only did she help us manage the many pieces and deadlines of direct mail and an online communications campaign, she shared her depth of knowledge and translated lessons learned from larger organizations to our smaller shop. A keen communicator and strategist, Gina is also responsive, timely, a great listener and teacher and a joy to work with.”
– Lisa North, VP for Institutional Advancement, Institute for Sustainable Communities