Dan Cleveland named associate vice president of advancement

Virginia Tech recently promoted Dan Cleveland to associate vice president of advancement. In this new and expanded role Cleveland, who had served as assistant vice president for colleges and programs, will help direct the university’s overall fundraising strategy while continuing to oversee the advancement offices of multiple colleges and programs.

“I’m excited to help our talented fundraising teams achieve transformational goals,” said Cleveland, who has over 20 years of higher education administration experience, 14 of which were fundraising specific. “We’re working hard to increase the level of support our division can provide toward university priorities, such as Virginia Tech Advantage and Virginia Tech Global Distinction. Reaching our goals requires collaboration between fundraisers, engagement professionals, communicators, and senior leaders across the university. I look forward to those collaborations.”

Virginia Tech Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke has worked closely with Cleveland for several years.

“Dan’s comprehensive view of and approach to philanthropy and his support for our academic and research enterprises continue to help move forward Virginia Tech’s goals and priorities,” Clarke said. “I greatly value his insights and I am pleased to see the Advancement Division recognize his talent and dedication with this expanded role.”

Advancement is responsible for fundraising, alumni engagement, marketing, and communications for the university. During the past fiscal year, the division helped inspire nearly 68,000 individuals, corporations, and other organizations to donate to Virginia Tech, resulting in over $226 million in new gifts and commitments. It was the fourth straight year in which giving topped $200 million, but the division is looking to increase average giving to $300 million a year by fiscal year 2029.

“Virginia Tech has an amazing, worldwide community, and we’ve made great progress in inspiring Hokies to give,” Senior Vice President for Advancement Charlie Phlegar said. “To keep that trend going, we need talented people like Dan. He does a lot of crucial work, such as benchmarking, goal setting, and charting out strategies for the near term, medium term, and long term. He has strong relationships with colleagues within Advancement and across the wider university. Dan consistently helps us bring together teams for projects that have major implications for the future of Virginia Tech.”

Cleveland joined Virginia Tech in 2018 as assistant dean of advancement for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. He helped dramatically increase fundraising, from about $1 million his first year to nearly $7 million, while helping to improve the infrastructure of the college’s advancement team.

In December 2020, Cleveland became assistant vice president for colleges and units. His accomplishments in that role include helping the division adopt yearly milestones and providing leadership and management oversight for 17 of the 21 colleges and units for which Advancement provides fundraising support.

Before joining Virginia Tech, Cleveland served in roles of progressive responsibility within the fundraising operations at Bradley University and Pacific University. Early in his career, he worked in admissions at Pacific University. Cleveland earned bachelor’s degrees in literature and in theatre from Pacific University and an MBA from Bradley University.

Cleveland reports to Senior Associate Vice President for Advancement Monecia Taylor.

“Dan has a great range of experience within higher education fundraising, and a proven record of improving the places he works,” Taylor said. “He understands the nuances of annual giving, gift planning, athletic fundraising, and fundraising for colleges, academic programs, and research. Dan is both donor-centric and data-driven, adept at balancing these priorities to shape strategy and measure results. All of these skills are important in our business, and Dan is an important member of our team. We look forward to working with him in this new role.”