Kimberly Motes
Kimberly Motes, vice president of institutional advancement at the College of Saint Benedict, will become senior vice president for institutional advancement at the University of St. Thomas on July 21.
Motes will oversee the Development, University Relations, and Alumni and Constituent Relations departments, President Julie Sullivan said.
“I am delighted that Kim will be joining our leadership team,” Sullivan said. “She has demonstrated throughout her 25-year career that she is a compelling leader and an excellent fundraising and communications professional. She has superb interpersonal skills and has established many strong relationships throughout her native state of Minnesota and especially in the Twin Cities community. She will be a great fit at St. Thomas.”
“Kim will bring many strengths and valuable perspectives from her work with other nonprofit organizations,” said John Morrison, chair of the Board of Trustees. “She has an incredible commitment to Catholic higher education, and I love her energy and her enthusiasm.”
Motes said she was honored to accept her new position and looks forward to working closely with Sullivan, the Board of Trustees, Institutional Advancement staff members and the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“I have long admired the passion, generosity and dedication of this community,” she said. “St. Thomas’ future is especially bright because of the foundation that has been laid. The campus is beautiful, academic quality continues to grow stronger and the transformational nature of the student experience paves the way for optimism. It will be a privilege to help write the next chapter in St. Thomas’ history.”
Motes is a 1989 College of Saint Benedict alumna with a bachelor of arts degree in music and a minor in business management.
Saint Benedict named Motes a member of its Board of Trustees in 2009 and she became the college’s vice president of institutional advancement in January 2011. She oversees all aspects of fundraising, as well as alumnae relations, fine arts programming and the literary arts institute. She is a member of the President’s Cabinet, the Coordinate Cabinet (with Saint John’s University) and the Strategic Directions Council, manages two trustee committees and oversees a division of 43 employees.
During her three and a half years in the position, annual giving has grown by 28 percent and overall fundraising has grown 180 percent to more than $10 million a year. She co-chaired the college’s year-long Centennial Celebration, leading an all-school reunion attended by 1,450 alumnae from seven countries and 38 states and producing a centennial gala in Minneapolis for more than 500 people. She has led the planning efforts and early gifts phase for the largest capital campaign in the college’s history and has expanded and strengthened the college’s marketing, branding and communications leading into the campaign.
Prior to Saint Benedict, Motes had an extensive career in the performing arts.
From 2008-2011, she was managing director of Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis, where she increased revenues by 48 percent and donations by 82 percent over two years. She was the key leader of a three-year strategic plan, developed a two-year strategic marketing plan and built systems and infrastructure for greater operational efficiency.
From 2002-2008, she served as executive director of the Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center, now known as the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts, in Minneapolis. She raised $34 million, including $12 million in state funding, built a steering committee, led a marketing/branding effort, developed an operational plan for the center, and initiated and directed an Internet-based arts education program that reached 50 Minnesota schools.
Motes spent the first 13 years of her career in Washington, D.C., where she held positions in various arts organizations. She was assistant to the general director of the Washington Ballet (1989-1992), program administrator and manager at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1992-1997), and development director at Arena Stage (1997-2002), where annual donations increased from $2.9 million to $4.3 million during her tenure.
Motes is a native of Cottage Grove and a graduate of Park High School. She, her husband David and their three children – Calvin, Jonathan, and Sophia – live in Plymouth.
