Chad Barger [BAR-jur] is a sought-after nonprofit fundraising speaker, master trainer and coach. Chad owns the firm Productive Fundraising which specializes in teaching the latest research-based fundraising tactics and making them approachable for small, community-based nonprofit organizations.
To many fundraisers he is better known as @fundraiserchad, the host of a popular free monthly webinar series. On his website, productivefundraising.com, Chad curates top notch fundraising toolkits designed to fast track implementation of fundraising best practices. He’s also a bit of a personal productivity nerd and loves to share tips to help busy professionals work more efficiently and effectively.
Chad has spent his entire career as a fundraiser. He has worked in large shops and small in a variety of sectors (higher education, social services and the arts). The campaigns that he has worked on have raised in excess of $68 million dollars for the charities that he’s had the honor of serving.
Chad serves as an Adjunct Instructor at both Temple University and Messiah University, teaching their fundraising courses. As a Master Trainer for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, he is a frequent keynote and workshop presenter at nonprofit conferences across the United States and Canada. Chad is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), currently serving as chair of its Editorial Advisory Committee at the international level, and he is a past president of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter.
A regular columnist for Advancing Philanthropy, Chad has also been interviewed for articles in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In addition to his contributions to these two leading publications in the field, he was the 2018 recipient of the Nonprofit Leadership Excellence Award granted by Central Penn Business Journal. Chad earned his Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, the first globally recognized credential for fundraising professionals, in 2007, and he is also a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP).
Chad is a graduate of Slippery Rock University (SRU) where he got his fundraising start as a student phone-a-thon caller. At SRU, Chad served as an AmeriCorps member leading fellow students on community service trips across the country, which shifted his career focus to the nonprofit sector. He currently serves on SRU’s Philanthropy and Nonprofit Program Advisory Council.
When he’s not on the road, Chad keeps all of these balls in the air from his home just outside of Hershey, Pennsylvania … where they make your chocolate bars. He and the lovely Mrs. Barger are busy raising two tween boys. Chad is a practicing office nomad known to work from the forest, local parks, libraries and coffee shops just as much as his home office. He’s an adventurous eater, avid hiker, trail maintainer, world traveler and arts lover. He’s also a bit of an outdoor gear addict currently owning more sleeping pads, coolers and tents than any one person should.