Karlene Jennings

Karlene Noel Jennings (MSLIS, PhD, CFRE) has served as Executive Director of Development at UNC, Greensboro University Libraries since July 2016. In this role, Karlene leads advancement efforts for discovery, life-long learning, and engagement through the University Libraries. Karlene believes in the transformative power of stories, in cheering for the improbable, and advocating for the (statistically) incredible. A passionate advocate for the life-changing impact of education and libraries, Karlene finds joy in creating strategic philanthropic partnerships between donors and institutions. 2018 marks Karlene’s 21st year as an academic fundraiser. She has personally closed over $100M in gifts for various campus projects and priorities—most that do not have dedicated constituencies. Karlene has served a number of institutions including UNC, Wilmington, Iowa State, and the College of William & Mary. UNC, Greensboro is her third academic library. Immediately prior, she served as the chief architect for W&M’s scholarship priority of its $1B For the Bold campaign. Karlene holds a PhD from Iowa State University in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and an MS in Library & Information Sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She holds an M.Ed in Higher Education Administration and a M.(Cert.) in Museum Administration from the University of South Carolina and a BA in American History from Washington & Lee University. A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Karlene has previously served as an item writer for the CFRE exam. She is a member of CASE, AFP, and ALA. Karlene has co-authored two books about library advancement, and other writings about library development. She is a frequent presenter and has also taught (and developed) face-to-face and on-line graduate courses for UNC, Greensboro, the University of Tennessee, and the College of William & Mary. This past academic year, Karlene served on the UNC System Advancement Symposium committee and as a judging coordinator for CASE III; Karlene also presented at CASE III and ALADN 2018. She has previously served at the program chair and conference chair for the Academic Library Advancement and Development Network (ALADN), served as a public library trustee, chair of a regional arts commission, and Friends of the Libraries Board Member.

There are 9 included publications by Karlene Jennings :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Development is dysfunctional … 2006 171 Purpose: This paper aims to assist and offer workarounds for dysfunctional situations in library development situations.Design/methodology/approach: Uses practical solutions gained from experience to avoid or deal with dysfunctional situations.Findin...
Libraries as Homeplace [Slides] 2018 330 Slides from a presentation about libraries and their function as a community homeplace given at the Case III District Conference in Atlanta, GA in February 2018.
Library Development 4.6: Geometric Nonlinearity (How stable are your cables?) [Slides] 2018 263 Slides from a presentation on academic advancement and library development given at the ALADN 2018 Pre-conference on May 20, 2018 in Ft. Worth, TX.
Moving the Horse before the Cart: Aligning Fundraising with Academic Library Trends [slides] 2019 285 Slides from a panel presentation given at ALADN: Academic Library Advancement and Development Network 2019 Conference May 20, 2019 in Louisville, KY.

Academic libraries undergo change at an almost constant rate, yet the effect of change can d...
Priorities, Internal Customers, & Marketing [Slides] 2017 282 Slides from a presentation priority setting for academic libraries, marketing, and working alongside academic advancement presented at ALADN 2017 Conference on May 2017 in Cleveland, OH.
SPEC Kit 297: Library Development (December 2006) 2006 872 This SPEC Kit investigates the staffing, reporting relationships, and duties of library development programs in ARL member libraries to provide a baseline for institutions as they work to create, refine, or advocate for library development programs i...
What is the quality in your quantity?: Library development assessment should look beyond mere numbers 2007 157 Purpose: To outline the potential hazards of a purely numerical approach to evaluating development professionals and development programs.Design/methodology/approach: Narrative paper outlining various means used to assess a library development progra...
Which came first, the project or the fundraising? 2004 273 One of the harder endeavors faced in a library is maintaining a balance between necessary projects and providing the funds to finance them. Ideally, discussions of funding and projects should go hand-in-hand, as each discussion is relevant to the oth...
Women and Wealth: How to Connect Them for Your Campus 2004 195 Thanks to greater career opportunities, savvy investments and longer lives, women are sitting on a pile of money that has the potential to change the world.The combined net worth of the 1.6 million female top wealth holders is $2.2 trillion. The aver...