Sarah Durham
Founder, Board Member
she/her/hers
Sarah is an entrepreneur and creative consultant with a passion for helping nonprofits communicate more effectively so they can advance their missions.
She founded Big Duck in 1994 to help nonprofits increase their visibility, raise money, and communicate more effectively, and now serves on its board of directors after selling the business to Big Duck’s employees in 2021. Sarah now provides coaching to entrepreneurs, small business and nonprofit leaders, and women in professional leadership roles through Compton Durham, LLC.
The author of Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2010) and The Nonprofit Communications Engine: A Leader’s Guide to Managing Mission-driven Marketing and Communications (Big Duck Studio, 2020). Sarah’s expertise has been borrowed by NPR, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Guidestar, and many others. She is a sought-after speaker on branding, fundraising, and other nonprofit communications topics. She was named a “top fundraiser under 40” by Fundraising Success magazine in 2006, and one of the most influential women in technology by Fast Company magazine in 2010. As an adjunct professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Sarah taught strategic communications to other aspiring nonprofit communicators for many years.
