News

Burgess joins the Institutional of Advancement staff as associate vice president

May 7, 2012

Voorhees College President Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr. announces Marcus H. Burgess has been hired as the associate vice president of institutional advancement. Burgess’ main responsibility will be overseeing the fundraising efforts of Voorhees by directly assisting Sellers and the current Interim Vice President of Institutional Advancement Samuel Blackwell.  

Prior to Voorhees, Burgess was the director of the annual fund/alumni relations at Claflin University. In this role, he managed an annual portfolio for more than 300 prospects for major gift and annual fund solicitation, raised the university’s alumni giving participation rate from 35 percent to 45 percent, the highest at any HBCU, and he sustained alumni giving to more than $600,000 annually.  

Burgess was also greatly involved in Claflin’s capital campaign, where he was as the primary administrator over the alumni and student components. Currently, alumni have raised approximately $7 million and students have raised $100,000 toward the capital campaign.  

He is currently working toward receiving certification in fund raising management (CFRM) from the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University.  

Burgess, a resident of Kingstree, S.C., earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Claflin University and a master’s degree in education administration from The Citadel. He is a member of the Delta Rho Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and chairman of the Kingstree Recreation Department.  

As associate vice president of institutional advancement, Burgess will oversee communications, alumni relations, development, WVCD-790 AM and advancement services.  

Sellers said that Burgess’ experience in fund raising, including his experience with overseeing a capital campaign, will assist the institution with raising additional funds to build new and enhance current facilities, provide more scholarships for students and establish new programs.  

“Mr. Burgess has a wealth of fund raising experience that will assist us in improving our advancement department and increasing our alumni support.”  

Burgess said he looks forward to working with the Voorhees family. “I am excited to join the advancement team at Voorhees with such an energetic and enthusiastic staff. I feel confident that our team will be able to meet and exceed the objectives set before us with improving our fundraising efforts,” he said.