Executive Director of Development, UC Irvine
Duane Rohrbacher
I help fundraising shops run on discipline instead of heroics. My work is AI for fundraising management, not autonomous fundraising. I created the CRAFT framework (Capture, Refine, Analyze, Formulate, Track) to turn AI from individual experimentation into institutional workflow: donor briefings that build themselves, contact reports filed the day of the visit, stewardship that compounds trust instead of depending on memory.
The Approach
From Heroics to Discipline
Most fundraising shops run on heroics: individual talent, memory, and effort. That doesn't scale, and it walks out the door when your best people leave. The shops that win build discipline into the operating system: every interaction captured, every follow-up systematized, every decision informed. That's the transformation I lead.
Install the Discipline
CRAFT (Capture, Refine, Analyze, Formulate, Track) turns AI from a collection of individual hacks into a repeatable operating system for the whole shop. Contact reports filed the day of the visit. Donor briefings that build themselves. Stewardship that compounds instead of depending on memory.
Systematize the Operation
Moves management, stewardship cadence, prospect strategy, and pipeline discipline, installed as infrastructure, not carried in anyone's head. The shop keeps working when the hero takes a vacation.
Lead the Transformation
Align deans, faculty, and senior leaders around the change itself: campaign readiness, KPI frameworks, forecasting, and executive dashboards. The leadership work that makes the system stick.
Selected Work
The Lab: Where CRAFT Was Built and Proven
How the CRAFT system was built, tested, and proven, and the results it produced.
The UC Irvine Lab
At UC Irvine I lead advancement strategy across a multi-unit education portfolio. That's where CRAFT was built and proven: portfolio strategy, KPI frameworks, forecasting tools, and executive dashboards, behind 11+ commitments of $1M+.
Read the Chronicle →Lead Gift | Special Education Initiative
Led strategy for a $1M commitment launching a school‑wide initiative to expand the special education educator pipeline. Built the case, aligned leadership, and translated an urgent workforce challenge into a fundable philanthropic opportunity.
Initiative details →Foundation Gift | Healthspan Sciences
Cultivated and secured a $1.3M foundation investment to accelerate research in healthspan science, structuring the opportunity around measurable impact, institutional priorities, and long‑term donor alignment.
Learn more →From Prediction to Discipline
The CRAFT framework paper: a practical framework for AI-assisted advancement workflows. Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing (forthcoming).
Media
Talks & Media
Selected talks, interviews, and writing on AI-assisted fundraising workflows, advancement systems, and building operations that don't depend on individual memory.
The CRAFT Chronicle
What happened in philanthropy this week, and why it matters to working fundraisers: every story mapped onto the CRAFT framework.
Read →Fundraising Fundamentals
The specialized studies certificate I teach through UC Irvine's Division of Continuing Education: the CRAFT system, taught the way I actually run it.
Enroll →From First Gift to Forever
Donor lifecycle management: identifying high-potential new donors and systematizing cultivation so pipeline health doesn't depend on individual memory.
Watch →Mastering Fundraising
A conversation on building durable fundraising operations: what scales, what breaks, and how to lead the work.
Watch →Systemizing Your Fundraising
Cadence, stewardship, segmentation, and building repeatable throughput, especially in small or lean shops.
Listen →Recognition
Selected Recognition
Third-party validation, kept brief.
Beyond Work
Discipline, Systems and Craft
The same habits that shape my professional work show up outside it: preparation, sequencing, patience, and execution under pressure.
Mountains
Kilimanjaro and Mount Whitney reinforced the value of pacing, decision‑making, preparation, and sustained effort over intensity.
19,341 ft / 14,505 ftTennis
Competitive match play rewards composure, pattern recognition, and disciplined execution. The mental game is the operating system.
Woodworking
Woodworking teaches the cost of poor preparation. Layout, sequence, and restraint determine the quality of the final result.
Connect
Let's Connect
For professional inquiries, email is best.
Or follow the work weekly in The CRAFT Chronicle.