Meet Mary‑Ellen
Founder and Principal
I’m Mary-Ellen Lavigne, and I’ve spent about two decades in nonprofit advancement, much of it in independent schools. I know the development chair from the inside: the campaign update due to the board on Thursday, the gift report that doesn’t match finance’s, the trustee who would rather do anything than make a phone call. TRANSCEND Advancement is built for the people in that chair.
I came to fundraising sideways. I studied theater and mathematics at Wesleyan University (yes, both), and it turns out advancement needs exactly that pair. You need the story that makes a donor lean in, and you need the numbers that tell you which donor to call first. I’ve led capital campaigns that finished past their goals and helped client organizations grow annual giving by as much as 40 percent year over year. The totals matter. What makes them last is a board that stops dreading the ask and donors who hear from you between appeals.
I’m a trans woman, and equity in fundraising is personal to me: who gets invited in, who gets counted in the database, and who gets thanked. It sits at the center of this practice, not in a separate workshop at the end. I also chair the board of Greenhouse Artist Collective, a young nonprofit for transgender, queer, and disabled artists. It keeps me honest. Every piece of advice I give a board, I have to take myself.
The rest of my week: I’m a part-time law student, which has made me a sharper reader of bylaws and gift agreements than anyone strictly needs to be, and a mom of three in a big Los Angeles household. I’m also a Star Trek fan. I admire Captain Jellico’s ability to get it done, but I won’t reorganize your whole crew on day one. I listen first.
I work from Los Angeles with organizations across the country. Tell me what you’re working on.
The Values We Work By
Equity and Inclusion
Philanthropy belongs to everyone who gives, at every amount. We build fundraising that counts all of them, and we take apart the habits that quietly leave people out.
Collaboration and Partnership
We don’t arrive with a binder. We start by listening, and we build with your team, around your culture and the capacity you have.
Sustainable Growth
A record year that burns out your staff isn’t a good year. We build systems that still work the year after, and the year after that.
Integrity and Transparency
We tell you what we see, including the parts that are hard to hear, and we hold fundraising to ethical standards your donors could check for themselves.
Data With Heart
Numbers describe people. We use them to make better decisions about relationships, never to replace the relationships.
Innovation and Adaptability
We try new tools and approaches when they help your mission and skip them when they don’t. “We’ve always done it this way” is a reason to look, not a reason to stop.
Every engagement starts with a conversation, and the first one is free.