Biography
Tyson Pinion joins Gonser Gerber as Senior Consultant, providing advancement consulting services to higher education institutions and independent schools, healthcare systems, cultural, social service, and other non-profit organizations. His areas of focus include advancement; alumni relations; annual, capital, major and planned gift programs; strategic planning and visioning; campaign planning and execution; admissions; and other aspects of institutional advancement.
Tyson Pinion has worked in higher education for 20 years having served in advancement, academic leadership, and enrollment management. He has worked at the University of Findlay for the last eight years, serving as the Director of Corporate Engagement for the first two years and the last six years as the Associate Vice President of Advancement. He is engaged in his community and has served on several nonprofit boards.
Tyson has worked closely with a variety of departments and programs in higher education including extensive experience leading and managing all the direct reporting areas of advancement: annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, alumni relations, database management, and Board of Trustee and volunteer management. He has shaped policy in areas as diverse as admissions, scholarship management, financial aid, stewardship, marketing and branding, board governance, student affairs, and athletics.
Having experience with eight different comprehensive and capital campaigns Tyson has held several leadership positions, including:
- Tiffin University where he started his career as the Director of Annual Giving. At Tiffin University he was part of two comprehensive campaigns expanding the campuses footprint by 50% and building a new indoor athletic facility ($15M);
- Purdue University where he managed the fundraising efforts for the College of Engineering and the $500 M+ growth plan;
- Bowling Green State University where he served as the liaison for the Student Affairs Division and led the initial fundraising plans for the Greek student life housing project;
- University of Findlay, where he was involved with a variety of fundraising projects including closure of the Give Voice to Your Values campaign ($55M), launch and completion of the Center for Student Life College of Business capital project ($10M), expansion of the Mazza Museum ($1.5M) and all stages of the Together We Will comprehensive campaign ($75M).
Tyson holds a Ph.D. in higher education with a concentration in Human Resource management. His dissertation research project looked deeply into the Raisers Edge databases of three small, private universities—Bluffton College, Ohio Wesleyan and Baldwin Wallace—to find correlations between undergraduate engagement/involvement and a student’s willingness to give back later in their alumni years, providing a roadmap for annual giving and major gift work.
Education
- Ph.D., Doctorate of Higher Education Administration,
University of Toledo - MBA, Masters of Business Administration, Tiffin University
- BCJ, Bachelors of Criminal Justice, Tiffin University
Personal
Residence: McComb, OH