You may have noticed a new name on emails from Voters Not Politicians in the last few months. For those who haven’t met her yet, we’d like to introduce you to the person who’s been strategizing, networking, and building our capacity to fund the grassroots pro-democracy movement that is transforming Michigan politics.
Meet Katie Costello, the Senior Director of Development for the Voters Not Politicians family of organizations!
Originally from and currently residing in Birmingham, MI, Katie earned her undergraduate degree from Grand Valley State University in Psychology and her Masters Degree from Wayne State University in Social Work. She has spent her career in fund development, raising money for nonprofits and political campaigns.
Her first experience with Voters Not Politicians was putting one of the original “Yes on 2” yard signs in her yard in 2018. Once she joined the staff in January 2023, Katie was happy to find an organization whose people-centered mission matched their employee policies.
One of my favorite parts about working for Voters Not Politicians is working for an organization that is mission centered while remaining employee centered. A lot of nonprofits are unable to create the work/life balance VNP is doing.
As the Senior Development Director, Katie’s mission with VNP is to raise enough money for the program team to successfully implement sustainable systems change across our family of organizations. Accomplishing this mission involves one of her other favorite parts of the job: strategy.
Strategy is definitely my favorite individual task in this role. Strategizing around major gifts donations, donor cultivation and retention, and how to engage new audiences is how I best utilize my personal strengths to keep Voters Not Politicians’ work going.
As Voters Not Politicians continues to grow and evolve, our fundraising has to grow and evolve with us, and Katie is proudly leading this change.
I’m looking forward to getting to know the VNP community better as I settle into this role, engaging in conversations and meaningful work with like minded people, building a stronger grassroots community where we transform the archaic form of transactional fundraising, and moving Voters Not Politicians toward relationship building and mission driven fundraising.
