Chad Barger [BAR-jur] is a sought-after nonprofit fundraising strategist, master trainer and coach who helps nonprofits overcome the barriers to fundraising success. 

Chad is the chief strategist and owner of the firm Productive Fundraising.  The firm teaches small, but mighty, nonprofits how to put donors first and create simple fundraising systems that deliver sustainable, growing revenue.  Areas of expertise include optimizing fundraising communications, engaging boards in fundraising, unique & profitable fundraising events and creative stewardship programs designed to boost donor retention.

To many fundraisers he is better known as @fundraiserchad, the host of a free monthly webinar series and publisher of a popular weekly email loaded with fundraising tips. His website, productivefundraising.com, hosts one of the most comprehensive free fundraising resource libraries in the sector.

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). He has built fundraising programs from the ground up, rebuilt fundraising programs back to their former glory and taken stagnant organizations to the next level.  The campaigns that he has worked on have raised in excess of $58 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) serving on the Content 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.

Chad calls Central Pennsylvania home where he and the lovely Mrs. Barger are busy raising two tween boys. He is an avid hiker, outdoorsman and scout leader. As a foodie and the family cook, Chad’s on a quest to get the rest of the family to join him in eating “weird things.” So far, no luck.