After helping to lead Elon’s alumni engagement work for nearly a decade, Feeley will now take the helm of the planned giving program, where he will cultivate and steward donors who make an impact through planned and estate gifts.
As of April 17, Brian Feeley ’03 began service as Elon’s new Assistant Vice President for University Advancement – Planned Giving. In this role, Feeley will build relationships with donors who want to establish a legacy at Elon by making a gift to the university in their estate plans. These deferred gifts build a vital pipeline of support for Elon’s future by providing funding for student scholarships and other university priorities.
“I am energized by the opportunity to assist individuals within the Elon community in making an impact in a different way going forward,” says Feeley. “Planned gifts elevate Elon as part of one’s final legacy, and they often represent a donor’s most significant philanthropic act.”
Feeley’s work will build upon the inspiring Will to LEAD initiative that was part of the Elon LEADS Campaign, during which donors made estate and planned gifts including bequests, annuities, trusts, property transactions, and life insurance policies that contributed $46 million toward the overall campaign goal of $250 million.
“We are delighted to welcome Brian to this new role on our team,” says Jim Piatt, vice president for university advancement. “His track record with alumni engagement and annual giving speaks for itself, and his leadership will be invaluable as we engage donors who help shape the future of our university through their inspired philanthropy.”
Feeley’s early work at Elon included scaling the regional alumni engagement footprint, diversifying affinity efforts, reimagining Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, and engaging young alumni in the life of the university. He has been instrumental in aligning operations across multiple departments to increase annual fundraising and advancing objectives within the Elon Commitment and Boldly Elon strategic plans.
In partnership with alumni leaders and colleagues across campus, Feeley’s work has helped grow the number of individual alumni engagements significantly over the past decade. During his tenure, alumni in service to Elon increased ten-fold and the alumni giving participation rate climbed to #20 among U. S. News & World Report’s Top 100 national universities, tied with Boston College, Cornell, Villanova and Wake Forest.
Feeley has also developed and managed countless individual alumni relationships on behalf of Elon over the years, in addition to serving as the primary staff liaison to the Elon Alumni Board. During this time, the board endowed two scholarships: the Elon Alumni Board Engagement Scholarship in 2018 and the Elon Alumni Board Endowed Internship Fund in 2023. Feeley also played a significant role in the development of a new strategic plan for alumni engagement that will guide the university’s alumni engagement efforts for the next decade.
“As I begin a new chapter of service at Elon, I’ve been thinking a lot about the late Dr. Jo Watts Williams ’55 and Dr. J. Earl Danieley ’46,” says Feeley. “The Planned Giving Program was initiated under her leadership as Vice President for University Advancement, and he served as Director of Planned Giving after his remarkable presidency because he believed so much in the impact of this kind of giving. I’ll strive to make them proud and carry on their great legacy in this work.”
Feeley graduated from Elon in 2003 with a degree in political science. In 2010, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from Johns Hopkins University. After more than a decade at The Washington Center, he joined Elon as a staff member in 2014 as Director of Alumni Engagement. He was named Senior Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving in 2017 and Assistant Vice President in 2021.
Feeley and his wife, Lauren ’04, have two children, Ashlyn and Colin.
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Questions? Please contact Brian Feeley ’03 at bfeeley@elon.edu or (336) 278-7474.