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Senior advisory and fractional executive leadership for national nonprofits at critical moments: leadership transitions, major campaigns, vacant senior communications and development roles, and organizational change that requires someone who has been there before.
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Jerry Michaud
CFRE, PMP ● Senior Advisor ● Fairfax, Virginia Communications and Brand Organizational narrative, brand positioning, stakeholder messaging, and national campaign development for mission-driven organizations. Fundraising and Development Strategy Capital campaigns, major gifts, corporate partnerships, annual fund, and development infrastructure . Fractional and Interim Executive Available to step in as fractional Chief Communications Officer, Chief Development Officer, or senior advisor during searches, transitions, and critical program phases. Organizational Strategy Strategic planning, coalition building, board development, and capacity building for organizations navigating change and growth. |
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CCO or CDO Vacancy A senior development or communications leader has departed and the search is underway. Donor relationships need tending, campaigns can't pause, and the team needs steadiness. I step in quickly (typically within days) as a fractional executive while permanent leadership is recruited. |
Major Campaign You're preparing for or launching a significant campaign and need senior fundraising and communications leadership to design the strategy, engage the board, activate major donors, and keep all the pieces moving. I bring CFRE-grounded campaign expertise and a track record of results. |
Leadership Transition A new CEO is coming in, an executive search is underway, or the organization is navigating a repositioning. I provide steady senior counsel to the board and leadership team, helping maintain momentum, manage stakeholders, and protect organizational credibility during an exposed period. |
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Brand or Narrative Reset The organization has grown or evolved but the story donors and partners hear hasn't kept up. I help reframe the narrative, rebuild the messaging architecture, and align communications with where the organization actually is and where it's going. |
Development Infrastructure Gap The development team is working hard but not from a coherent strategy. Major gift, corporate, foundation, and annual fund efforts are disconnected from each other and from the communications program. I provide the senior strategy layer that ties it together. |
Corporate Partner Activation The organization has untapped corporate partnership potential (cause marketing, sponsorship, employee engagement ) but lacks the senior capacity to design and close those relationships. I have built multi-million-dollar corporate national programs. |
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I left the Veterans Health Administration on my own terms, after five years of work I'm proud of. I didn't leave to find another full-time role. I left because the most interesting and useful work I can do right now is this: doing what I'm best at, alongside organizations whose missions I believe in.
Here's something most CEOs discover too late in a search: the people with the deepest experience and the strongest track records usually aren't in the applicant pool. AI recruiting tools flag them as overqualified. The posted salary range doesn't reach them. They're not on the job boards because they stopped needing to be years ago. People with that kind of experience don't apply for jobs. They take calls. One of those people is available to you right now: someone who brings more relevant experience to your situation than most permanent searches would produce, and who can be genuinely useful from the first week. This isn't a volume business, and I'm selective about the engagements I take. When I'm in, I'm genuinely present, not managing you from a distance while juggling a dozen other clients. You get my full attention and my best judgment, not a junior associate doing the actual work. The work goes best when there's a genuine fit: the right mission, the right moment, the right level of trust between us. A short conversation is usually enough to know whether this makes sense. If it does, we can move quickly. |
Is your organization carrying a leadership vacancy right now? An open senior development or communications seat creates real exposure for donor relationships, for campaign momentum, for team morale, and for the board's confidence in organizational stability. Searches typically take six to nine months, and the person stepping into that role, whether hired externally or promoted from within, will likely need a senior partner to help them find their footing. Here's what I bring during that period:
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Fractional CCO Interim communications senior leader directing brand, messaging, agency management, media relations, and stakeholder communications during leadership transition or organizational change. |
Fractional CDO Interim development senior leader overseeing fundraising strategy, team leadership, major donor engagement, database development, and campaign progress while the search is underway. |
Senior Advisor Ongoing advisory counsel to the CEO and board, available as a senior thinking partner for strategy, communications, fundraising, and organizational questions as they arise. |
Special Initiative Lead When a project is too much for an already-stretched team, I can step in as senior strategist and executor, from initial planning through implementation and results. |
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