Career Testimonials
Leadership
“Martha’s leadership percolates throughout the entire Lake Placid community. Working alongside Martha on the Board of Education and the Rotary Club I have witnessed her desire to master important issues and her willingness to taking a stand for what is right. She has a special commitment to addressing the needs of children and the underserved. I would want Martha included on any important initiative and as a member of any leadership team. She knows how to make a difference.”
Dr. Roger Catania
Board president Lake Placid Educational Opportunity Fund, Retired superintendent Lake Placid School District, Lake Placid Rotarian
“Martha is a good leader! She knows how to make people reach for the highest mountains!”
Dmitry Feld
Board President, Shipman Youth Center
“Martha’s knowledge and experience with strategic planning was inspiring and challenged our group to actively work together…and truly think about what we wanted our vision and direction to be for the Arts Center.”
Joanna Pine
Board chair, Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts
“We’d be sunk without Martha.”
Julia Goren
Former Board President, Northern Lights School
“There would be no school without Martha.”
Scott McKim
Board Treasurer, Northern Lights School
“Martha was professional and easy to work with from start to finish. She worked expediently to point out some pressure points in our organization and made helpful suggestions to remedy them. She is clearly invested in making our local communities a better place to live, I recommend her services.”
Renee Darrah
Director, Fuller Center of the Adirondacks
”Martha guided UJAC through its transition from a private project to a full-fledged 501(c)(3) organization celebrating ten years this year. She was a strong board chair and set us on a path of sustainable growth.”
Scott Renderer
Founder and former Artistic Director of Upper Jay Art Center / Recovery Lounge
Capital Campaigns
“Martha moved the Annual Fund in growth from $300,000 to $600,000 annually in six years. In eight months, the [Centennial] campaign raised $3.5 million toward the goal of $8 million, and the goal moved to $10 million… Martha is an incredibly organized person… She is a leader who can quickly gain the loyalty of those working with her.”
Diana Coulton Beebe
Head of School (retired), The Holton-Arms School
“Martha assessed the Private Resources staff and program, and built efficient, effective fund-raising systems that played to our strengths while building us up in areas where we needed to grow. She has a can-do spirit.”
Danielle Fitzgerald
Senior Development Officer, EngenderHealth (formerly AVSC International)
“Martha has a gift for leadership and initiative… [She] is intuitive and empathic and working with her to raise funds for NCS/CTT was a pleasure.”
J. Matthew Davidson
Former board chair, North Country School & Camp Treetops, current director, J.M. Kaplan Fund
“We are a not for profit in the midst of a major campaign and needed someone to review our fundraising activities with a critical eye. Martha performed a thorough review of our efforts, including interviewing those leading the fundraising activities. Martha subsequently provided essential insights at a group retreat, during which she also had us role play as fund raisers, a very valuable experience. I can recommend Martha highly for those who need guidance in their fundraising.”
Claude Roland
President of the Board, Lake Placid Sinfonietta
“Martha helped us find and secure competitive grants that led us toward achieving our 25th anniversary capital campaign goals. She even took it another step by volunteering as a house party host!”
Brad Lander
Current New York City Councilmember and former Executive Director, Fifth Avenue Committee, Brooklyn, NY
“…you went above and beyond our expectations in managing and presenting the feasibility study. It’s perfect….your presentation was top notch.”
A.Russell
Former Board Member, Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts
Fundraising & Fund Development
“Martha Pritchard Spear is a seasoned nonprofit professional who has had a successful career in fundraising… Martha has a passionate commitment to leaving the world better than she found it. I highly recommend her.”
Cali Brooks
President & CEO, Adirondack Foundation
“During [Martha’s] tenure, PPNCNY raised more money than I can recall in my last ten years with the organization… I would highly recommend her.”
Susan Delehanty
Former board chair and fund development committee co-chair, Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York (PPNCNY)
“Martha’s thoughtful planning and hard work kick-started our nonprofit’s individual giving program so that within three months we had over 125 new paid members, 100% of our board had become major donors (up from zero participation,) and perhaps most significantly, three-quarters of my staff had joined PACC as members.”
Steve Aronson
Former Executive Director, Pratt Area Community Council (IMPACCT Brooklyn)
“Martha… was quick, insightful, supportive and effective. Her work positioned us to move forward with effective fund-raising.”
Nicky Grist
Current Principal at Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, formerly executive director of Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
Grantwriting & Contracts
“I have enjoyed working with Martha Spear on several grant proposals! She can quickly and effectively rewrite my sentences to make sense and sound much more sophisticated. Her comments on the grant content are insightful, and she cares very deeply about small business success in the North Country!”
Ashlee Kleimhammer
Owner, North Country Creamery
“Martha went above what was expected of her to help us submit a federal bid on a tight deadline. She was up past midnight on the phone with me to cross every “t” and dot every “i.” Martha is truly a wonderful person and a skilled professional. Her writing is precise and illustrative and she is a delight to work with.”
Brittany Christenson
Former Executive Director, AdkAction.
“Martha has fulfilled several grant-writing contracts for me in my role as V.P. for College Advancement at Paul Smith’s College. She is a self starter, a consummate professional, exceptionally well spoken, an excellent writer, and a wonderful colleague. She is energetic in social service region-wide where, as a fellow Rotarian, I watched her expertly take the helm as president of the Lake Placid, NY Rotary. She is also a highly social and well respected member of the community, active in politics but never partisan, always giving of her time and talent. I highly recommend Martha.”
F. Raymond Agnew, CFRE
Vice President, Hospital and Community Engagement at Glens Falls Hospital
formerly, Vice President, College Advancement, Paul Smiths College
formerly, Vice President, College Advancement, Paul Smiths College
Case For Support
“It was wonderful to work with Martha – she is so organized, efficient, and a pleasure to talk with. Her excellent work on our Case for Support and fundraising plan gave us solid footing for meeting our ambitious goal for fundraising growth in the coming year.”
Dr. Nina Schoch
Executive Director, Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation
“In 2015, Literacy Volunteers of Essex and Franklin Counties engaged Martha Spear to create a Case for Support and a detailed Fundraising Plan. As I review this work [in 2019], I am very impressed… The fundraising plan has a robust month to month schedule of activities and events (both fundraising and engagement) that I am currently implementing. As I stepped into my role as director of Literacy Volunteers of Essex and Franklin Counties, I found it very helpful to have these documents already in place.”
Linda Carela
Former Executive Director, Literacy Volunteers of Clinton, Essex & Franklin Counties
Administration
“Martha’s tenure brought a tremendous wave of professionalism to our development office. She put important systems in place for the institution (i.e. Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge) and continually pushed us to adopt “best practices” and industry standards in all areas of our advancement work. Martha had excellent attention to detail, she was a self-starter and she was able to meet our increasingly ambitious fundraising targets each year she was here.”
David “Hock” Hochschartner
Retired Executive Director, North Country School & Camp Treetops
“We commend [Martha’s] work ensuring the clarity of the grants process materials, the efficiency by which the applications were processed, financial matters handled, promotional information images and documentation of the supported events made public, and required final reports solicited and recorded.”
Charles Russell
Organizer, Essex County Arts & Crafts Festival, regarding Essex County Arts Council
“I have had the pleasure of working with Martha for the past several years as part of the Lake Placid Central School District (LPCSD) Board of Education. During this time, Martha has been recognized for her commitment to the underserved communities and her work ethic. Martha is a member of the district’s policy committee and chaired the committee that drafted LPCSD’s new policy on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and she worked the document from committee, through a variety of stakeholders and on to approval by the board. I recommend her highly as a committee member and colleague.”
Dr. Richard Preston
Former President, Lake Placid Central School District Board of Education
“…[Martha’s] workshop was really well organized from the moment we sat down, and run in such a way that everyone attending felt at ease and free to receive the information, brainstorm and ultimately discuss the topics at hand. Martha is well organized, informative and her delivery is clear and concise. Each participant walks away with more knowledge than before and written material. I subsequently started working one-on-one with Martha… We are tackling issues that a discerning outside consultant can see much more clearly than those of us involved in the day to day operation of our organization. I would recommend working with Martha–it’s a really worthwhile investment!”
Alice Schonbek
Artistic Director, North Country Ballet Ensemble
Commitment To Community
“Martha is an energetic community volunteer. Her help with my campaign was so appreciated. She brings a quiet confidence that makes everyone around her want to help. She will undoubtably strengthen any group she gives time to…and I call her a community treasure!”
Derek Doty, Supervisor
“Martha is community-minded, organized, caring and has an excellent rapport with people of all ages, which enhances her leadership skills.”
Randy Douglas
Former Supervisor, Town of Jay NY, and Chair, Essex County Board of Supervisors
“As a performing arts organization, Big Apple Performing Arta (BAPA) and New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC) benefited from Martha’s strategic management skills and fund development expertise. As a social change organization, BAPA/NYCGMC benefited from her deep commitment to social justice. Over my career I’ve worked and collaborated with a wide variety of talented people, yet rarely have I encountered anyone who has managed to bring such a well-balanced measure of head, heart and spirit to their work as Martha.”
Mx. Dani Doucette
Teamwork and Leadership Coach, former CFO/COO of several major nonprofits
“Martha Spear is an outstanding fundraising professional. In the early days of GLSEN Martha trained our chapter leaders in how to raise money and her leadership was superb: she was funny and disarming and helped make a subject that provokes anxiety in many feel accessible and achievable. I would trust her professionalism and skills completely.”
Kevin Jennings
Founder and former CEO of GLSEN and executive director of the Arcus Foundation, CEO of Lambda Legal
Personal Qualities
“Martha’s professional skills along with her humor, passion and empathy make her a standout among the many development staff I have worked with.”
The late Richard Rockefeller, M.D.
Philanthropist
“Martha’s passion helped get me interested in raising money to support and grow my programs. She is a true miracle maker.”
Gabriel Thompson
Author & Journalist
“We will happily reach out again for your expertise and wise counsel.”
Christe Lampman
Founder and Executive Director, The Brigid Project