Meet Our Award Winners: David Ludwigson

Why you choose fundraising as a career: After 13 years in marketing at Ford Motor Co., I was ready for a change. I had been a volunteer for about eight years at God's Love We Deliver, and was completely taken with their mission and how the organization embraced its work. The staff seemed truly energized in all of my encounters with them, and I said to myself, "I want to feel like that." When the position I now have became open, I started talking to a couple of board members about joining the team. At first it seemed like a stretch. But when we really got into the discussion, we realized that many of the skills I had developed in the private sector were a great fit for what was needed here at God's Love. I give our president and CEO a lot of credit for taking a shot on me. There was certainly some risk involved, as I didn't have any professional fundraising experience. But I think she would say (and certainly I would) that it has worked out just fine!