Loree Lipstein

Strategic philanthropy in action

From fundraising to founder

My career path has been focused on the nonprofit sector, both before and after Fuqua. The common thread between all my career experiences has been a deep commitment to social impact. After completing my undergraduate degree at Duke University, I had two nonprofit roles that were program-focused before finding myself in a fundraising role that turned out to be a great fit for me. Prior to attending Fuqua, I spent several years fundraising from individuals, corporations, and through special events at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and KaBOOM!. 

It was through these frontline fundraising experiences that the idea was born for a consulting firm that partners with smaller nonprofits to build their fundraising capacity. I pursued by MBA at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, concentrating on social entrepreneurship, as my pathway to launching Thread Strategies. Thread Strategies works with small to mid-sized nonprofits to build fundraising capacity and with individual fundraising professionals to build their skills and experiences in fundraising.  

How I spend my days

As the CEO & Founder of Thread Strategies, I split by time between managing and building Thread as a business and working directly with Thread’s nonprofit clients. This means I rarely have two days that look the same. My days range from meeting with prospective clients, to providing 1:1 coaching to a development staff member through our foundation partnership, to delivering a training on a fundraising topic to a group of professionals, to meeting with one of my team members about how to continue improving Thread’s services, to writing a development assessment for one of our partners, to a thousand other things in between. I enjoy switching between delivering services to clients and working on building a business. 

A recent impact highlight I am proud of

Thread Strategies celebrates 10 years of service in 2025 and in these ten years we’ve helped over 150 small nonprofits build strong and sustainable development departments. In addition to this one-on-one work with nonprofits, we’ve also partnered with four large, national foundations to provide fundraising coaching and advising to their grantee communities, allowing us to support another 200+ organizations. Fundraising is the backbone of any nonprofit’s ability to create change, and by strengthening this core function, we’ve empowered hundreds of organizations to grow, innovate, and deepen their impact. We consistently hear from fundraisers at small nonprofits (Thread’s focus community) that they feel strapped for resources and lack the thought partners needed to move their work forward, and that Thread’s support makes an incredible difference in their ability to fundraise more effectively and confidently. Thread’s nonprofit partners are doing important, innovative, impactful work. Seeing them expand their reach and deepen their impact as a result of stronger fundraising is incredibly rewarding. Every time an organization achieves a breakthrough—raising more funds to sustain and grow their mission—I am reminded of the power of Thread’s work. Knowing that our support has played a small role in helping them advance their vision makes me deeply proud and even more hopeful that a better world for all is ahead. 

A trend I am following in social impact

One of the most important innovations shaping the future of the impact sector is AI. Nonprofits often operate with limited resources, and AI can help them work smarter—automating routine tasks, analyzing donor behavior to maximize fundraising for the mission, and improving delivery of programs and impact. However, the social sector can sometimes lag behind the corporate sector in adopting new technology. This is not for a lack of interest, but usually a lack of resources to access new technology and capacity to learn and implement tools. But as AI evolves, it’s imperative that the social impact sector takes a hands-on role in shaping its ethical use and maximizing its potential for impact. While for-profit companies leverage AI to drive revenue, nonprofits must ensure they’re using it just as effectively to advance their missions—whether through optimizing fundraising, improving service delivery, or deepening community engagement. Equally important, nonprofits should lead in building policies and structures that guide the ethical and responsible use of AI, ensuring it serves communities equitably and reinforces, rather than undermines, the pursuit of social good.  

My tips for those pursuing a career in impact

I highly encourage anyone who wants to focus on a career in the social impact sector to consider building their skills in fundraising. Fundraisers are in high demand, low supply, and are critical to advancing any mission. Without funding, great ideas and programs can’t move forward. I often hear that people without fundraising experience think it’s all about asking for money (which sounds terrible). But that’s not the focus of a fundraiser. Fundraising is about connecting with people who share the same passion for an issue area and inviting them to be part of something bigger. Fundraisers build relationships, not just revenue. Beyond securing donations, fundraising is about cultivating genuine connections with donors, understanding their motivations, and aligning their passions with an organization’s mission. Fundraising is an intersection of human psychology and behavior, marketing and storytelling, and project management. It’s a very strategic role and one of the most powerful ways to make a difference in any given issue area.