Sheila O’Neal has over twenty years of progressively responsible positions in Development and Alumni Relations and currently leads Aston’s DARO team. Since joining Aston in 2007, Sheila has overseen a remarkable 1544% increase in philanthropic income to the University from the 06/07 fiscal year to the last fiscal year. Balancing Annual Fund revenue, major gift work, and a fledgling Legacy Society, this year the DARO team met the government’s three year Matched Funding Programme targets, and collected the maximum funds available.
Recent successes include the conclusion of a drive to raise funds for the extension of the University’s Woodcock Sports Centre, which included a prestigious grant £200,000 grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Sheila has also overseen an historic rise in alumni participation rates for the University, which now counts almost 5% of our alumni as donors, against a national average for universities of 1.7%. DARO was recently awarded a £60,000 grant from the Joint Information Systems Committee in recognition of this record and to further support the University’s alumni outreach through the introduction of new technologies.
Sheila staffs the University’s active Development Board, expertly chaired by Chancellor Emeritus Sir Adrian Cadbury.
s.oneal@aston.ac.uk
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