She was nominated by Becky Payne, director of operations and Donna O’Brien, director of development and planned giving.
Portions of Davis’s nomination follow:
“You may not know Ann Davis personally, but it’s likely you have been impacted by her role at the UW Oshkosh Foundation. As a Financial Specialist, she is responsible for the management and deposit of all daily monies (cash, checks, charge card payments, payroll deductions, online donations, stock and gifts-in-kind) to the appropriate Foundation funds (more than 650 funds) and donor records (100,000 constituents). In turn, these funds are disbursed, or invested with earnings disbursed, according to donor designation for scholarships, professorships, construction, programs and special projects which impacts stakeholders throughout the campus community. In addition to donations, she manages promotional revenue, pledge payments, payroll deduction, special event proceeds and discretionary dollars. Ann exercises good judgment, confidentiality and discretion in handling telephone and personal inquiries from donors and prospects. She interfaces on a daily basis with donors and campus departments.
“Ann’s attention to detail is impeccable which is critical to the day-to-day operations of the Foundation. She is responsible for recording gifts and related information into Raiser’s Edge data base which interfaces with the Financial Edge accounting data base system. She exercises judgment in the creation of new funds, general ledger account lines, donor records and data base updates. She excels at interpreting and applying approved accounting procedures as set by the Foundation’s independent, nonprofit auditors. Her performance is vital to the successful external audits the Foundation receives annually.
“To enhance her performance, she has gained a good understanding of not-for-profit guidelines beyond the scope of her role. This knowledge allows her to perform more independently and reduces her reliance on other staff. She has taken it upon herself to increase responsibility for an advanced level of interaction with donors to seek clarification regarding gift designations, pledge intentions and installment dates/amounts, etc. This not only improves accuracy, it builds donor relations and reduces workload demands on other staff members. She has also taken on management of the matching gift program which results in increased funds donated by corporations to the Foundation.
“Ann has a strong work ethic, is a true team player and committed to the successful outcomes of the Foundation. She is the Foundation’s unofficial “go-to” person. She is regularly turned to for assistance with special projects, assignments and event management because there is no doubt that she can be counted on to willingly accept additional assignments, do an outstanding job, and contribute to successful outcomes.
“Beyond the scope of her role, Ann accepted responsibility for management of the Foundation’s Alumni Welcome and Conference Center (AWCC) brick campaign. She interacts with alumni interested in purchasing bricks, fields questions, seeks out answers, deals with customization requests, for example, the incorporation of Greek letters into the bricks, maintains details and accuracy, and facilitates ordering and delivery of the bricks. Installed in the patio of the AWCC, these bricks will symbolize the support of alumni for decades to come.
“Ann is responsible for scholarship administration within the Foundation, maintaining appropriate fund and department information, payment schedules, criteria and award amounts. She provides this information to the Financial Aid and Student Accounts Offices. She utilizes the PeopleSoft system to acquire and verify student ID numbers and other related information. She verifies final scholarship totals for the purpose of billing and disbursement by the Foundation each semester. She serves as back-up for coding disbursements and printing checks. She collects documentation for monthly expenses charged to Foundation Phonathon, Professorship and Capital Campaign state account lines. She also verifies expense detail on the WISDOM system and contacts campus departments to determine appropriate Foundation funds to charge. And, she prepares detailed authorization for payment of charge-back expenses.
“Responsive to changing procedures related to scholarship management in the Financial Aid Office, Ann willingly took on additional responsibility to develop and implement a new system within the Foundation to conform to Financial Aid requirements. This involves independent decision-making regarding codes and fields. These changes improve efficiency between offices through increased use of automation. She changed procedures to conform to PeopleSoft, cross checks for accuracy and uses discretion in decision-making on a daily basis.
“Ann consistently functions outside of the scope of her role by volunteering to assist with Foundations events and projects. For example, every year she contributes to the success of the Community Breakfast by managing reservations, maintaining lists, facilitating seat assignments, transporting items, event set-up and any needs as they arise. Her attention to detail supports the flawless execution of this event which premiers keynote speakers, honors collaborative partners and presents a professional profile to the campus and business communities.
“Ann is a STAR within the Foundation demonstrated by her strong work ethic, team approach, commitment to successful outcomes, and her willingness to initiate projects and take on responsibilities regardless of position description boundaries. It is a privilege to work with her.”