December 4, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
The award: The 2012 CCS Award for Outstanding Fundraising Professional, given to top veteran fund raisers
Who gives the award: Association of Fundraising Professionals
The winner: Claudia Looney, senior vice president of development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
About the winner: Ms. Looney, 65, took her first hospital fund-raising job in the late 1970s at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She left in 1980 and returned in 2000, after fund-raising stints at other nonprofits, including Northwestern Memorial Foundation, in Chicago, and the California Institute of the Arts, in Valencia.
Why she won: She oversaw a $1.03-billion capital campaign, which ended in June. The 11-year drive is the largest and most successful capital drive ever by an independent children’s hospital in North America, says the Association of Fundraising Professionals. During her tenure, Ms. Looney also increased annual giving at the hospital from $25-million to roughly $100-million a year.
Advice to young fund raisers: “The key to fund raising is being very passionate about what you’re raising money for and being enthusiastic in all that you do,” says Ms. Looney.
Plans for the future: Ms. Looney says she’ll oversee another fund-raising campaign within the next two years for the hospital. This time, the goal will be more than $1-billion.
