#PeopleOfWilmDE: Mark Duncan

Wilmington Connection

How long have you lived/worked in Wilmington?

I started working in Wilmington in 2017 for the Community Education Building, commuting daily from Lancaster, PA, but moved here 18 months later.

Tell us about your background and how you ended up in Wilmington?

I grew up in Middletown, NJ and graduated from Middletown North High School in 1984. I went to college at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, studying music, with plans of becoming a Music Teacher, but graduated with a degree in Speech Communication.

While in college, I worked for The Bancroft School, a nonprofit for intellectually disabled adults and children. That was my first experience with nonprofits. After graduating, I did voiceover work and an internship at WHYY. At 23, I developed a conscience early and decided against commercial work, instead becoming one of the voices of WHYY public television from 1990-1992.

Life took a turn when I reconnected with a camp I attended as a kid. While serving on the board and living with my mom after my father passed, I worked there for the summer. This became 6 years as the first full-time Program Director at Camp Johnsonburg. During a $1.2 million Capitol Campaign there, where the Executive Director needed to go out and talk to people and ask them for money, I was shocked, but that was the moment for me. I discovered my passion for fundraising.

Around that time, my dad’s former boss, Bill Foster, took me under his wing when I expressed interest in fundraising. We created a plan to have me positioned in a job where I could be doing fundraising by age 35. I was 30 at the time.

My next role was Executive Director of a camp in Northern Maryland, where I increased annual fundraising from $2,000 to $190,000 in three years by building relationships with donors. A one-week course in ‘Principals and Techniques of Fundraising’ became the foundation for my career.

Wanting to focus on fundraising full-time, I reached out to my network. I networked through my pastor’s wife in Lancaster. This led to meeting Jerry Eckert, VP of Advancement at Millersville University, who created a position for me. I eventually became Director of Campaign Giving, helping raise $44 million of a $60 million campaign (they ended up raising $88 million) before I was recruited into my next role.

I then served as Senior VP and Chief Development Officer at a public radio/television station (a full-circle moment back to radio), then as Chief Development Officer for a growing healthcare system. In 2016, I developed my business idea while joining CDC in Wilmington. 

In 2022, I launched my business, The Fund Coach. I realized that smaller organizations did not have the skills to focus on major fundraising. I empower nonprofit leaders with the skills and confidence to secure large gifts from wealthy donors even if they have no fundraising experience.

Wilmington was always on my radar during my daily commute from Lancaster. Though a long drive, I loved working here and knew we’d eventually move. After about a year and a half, we did. I credit the Community Education Building with bringing me to Wilmington, 100%. 

I also want to say that an important part of my story is my family. My family is very important to me. My kids, James (and his wife Madison) and Sam,  are my pride and joy. And my wife, Gabrielle Hafen, is my lifeline. 

How has being in Wilmington helped you be where you are today professionally and personally?

There is an innate entrepreneurial spirit in Wilmington like I have never seen before. Working here, I noticed it right away. When I started meeting people, I noticed people had a side hustle or were full entrepreneurs. You can’t help but succeed. It was inspiring to me. I was constantly hanging out with a group of people who either had their own business or were starting their own business. It was what I needed to bring my dream into reality.