Melvin B. Shaw offers more than 40 years of experience in fund development and marketing. Formerly the vice president of marketing for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), he created and produced the Lou Rawls Telethon, raising $4 million annually in corporate sponsorships and more than $500 million in gifts to date. Mel also served as the Executive Director of the Texas Association of Developing Colleges, facilitating joint programs and fundraising.
He is nationally recognized for his work in creating and designing programs that combine marketing and fundraising and increase revenue and alumni/volunteer engagement. Mel’s strategies create involvement and opportunities for corporate partnerships. He has developed cause marketing programs for Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, American Airlines, Chrysler Black Dealers Association, McDonald’s, Essence Magazine, Disney World, and 7-Eleven.
Prior to forming Saad&Shaw Comprehensive Fund Development Services he headed his own firm, Shaw & Company, which specialized in capital campaigns, annual giving, development assessments, feasibility studies, board development, campaign designs and planning, and major donors. Mel holds a B.S. from Lane College in Tennessee; a Master’s in Business Education from the University of Memphis; and was a fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Educational Management. In 1991 Mel received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Lane College in recognition of his unique donor engagement and cause marketing programs and their impact on the fields of philanthropy and higher education.