Biography
Andrea Pactor, MA, is currently a project manager at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy on the research team. She has served in this part-time role since her retirement in 2020 as the interim director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute [WPI] as the school. Before that, she served for 15 years as WPI’s Associate Director. In these roles, she has contributed extensively to research on women's philanthropic motivations, giving circles, and has organized numerous national symposia on the topic.
Her primary research interests include gender and philanthropy, motivations for giving, effective ways to increase giving, and tools to strengthen nonprofits to weather crises. In addition to her academic and research background, Andrea also has many years of direct experience with nonprofit fundraising and developing effective nonprofit infrastructures, with the result that she is deeply focused on translating research into practice. She has worked with arts, education, and faith-based organizations.
Most recently, she guided the project on Measuring the Financial Health of Mid-sized Nonprofits and developed a series of fact sheets to deepen professional advisors’ knowledge about engaging families in philanthropy, climate change and philanthropy, and next generation philanthropy. Other significant published research reports have included Crowdfunding in the Digital Age and What Americans Think About Philanthropy and Nonprofits.
A native of Cincinnati, OH, Andrea has a BA from American University, a master’s in museum studies from the University of Michigan, and a second master’s degree in Philanthropic Studies from the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She lives in the Indianapolis area with her family.