About White Whale partners

A diverse group of professionals sharing ideas in a lively office meeting.

Our Belief, Practiced

White Whale exists to strengthen the leadership, organizational strategy, and sustainable fundraising capacity of mission-driven organizations.

That belief did not come from theory. It came from decades of working alongside founders, boards, executive teams, and philanthropic leaders navigating growth in real time — including directing and producing high-stakes signature fundraising efforts where leadership clarity made the difference between pressure and performance.

We saw capable organizations doing extraordinary work — yet stuck in cycles of reinvention. Fundraising succeeded, but often because a few individuals carried everything. When leadership changed, momentum reset.

We learned that fundraising problems are rarely about effort.
They are about structure.

The firm was built to change that — not by taking control, but by helping organizations build clarity, continuity, and sustainable growth from within.

How We Show Up

Working with us should feel steady, thoughtful, and aligned.

We strengthen governance, leadership accountability, and fundraising strategy before designing signature fundraising experiences.

We take real complexity off your team’s plate by guiding decision-making, structuring growth, anticipating risk, and leading execution while ensuring leadership remains informed and confident throughout the process.

We do not remove organizations from the work.
We help them lead it well.

That is how fundraising becomes strategic rather than reactive — and how signature moments become catalysts rather than annual stress points.

Strategy & Signature

Our work sits at the intersection of strategic growth and signature fundraising.

Through White Whale Advisory, we guide governance alignment, leadership development, and sustainable fundraising strategy.

Through White Whale Signature, we design and lead high-impact fundraising experiences — directing program strategy, production leadership, and on-site execution so that the event reflects institutional strength rather than compensates for its absence.

Strategy comes first.
Signature follows by design.

The Tribal Workbook™

Staff and boards change. Institutional knowledge should not disappear with them.

Every engagement includes the development of a Tribal Workbook™, a living, evolving playbook designed to preserve strategy, decisions, and institutional context over time.

It captures:

• Fundraising strategy and long-term growth direction
• Governance and leadership roles
• Decision-making rationale
• Vendor and partner relationships
• Donor and partner engagement insights
• Lessons learned across cycles

When leadership shifts — as it inevitably does — signature fundraising does not reset.

It evolves.

MARCO FIELDS

Founder & CEO

White Whale Partners was founded by Marco Fields, whose work spans more than three decades at the intersection of philanthropy, stewardship, leadership, and organizational growth.

Her experience working alongside founders, boards, executive teams, philanthropic families, and community leaders shaped a simple belief that continues to guide White Whale today: lasting impact depends not only on strategy, but on how well we steward the people, relationships, resources, and missions entrusted to us.

Marco Fields

White Whale Partners