Elizabeth Valkanas, CFRE, is the founder and principal consultant of Sophos Consulting, a fundraising strategy practice serving small nonprofits across the Erie, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo corridor. Sophos focuses on organizations under $500,000 in annual budget with working boards and no dedicated development staff, with services spanning fundraising assessments, strategic fundraising planning, capital campaign
feasibility and planning, board development, and stewardship system design.
Elizabeth brings more than thirteen years of nonprofit experience to her practice. She most recently served for five years as Director of
Development at the Erie Philharmonic, where she rebuilt the organization’s Development Plan, doubled corporate sponsorship revenue,
and managed annual fund, planned giving, and grants operations. Earlier roles in development operations at Sarasota Opera and the
Dali Museum gave her grounding in CRM systems, donor segmentation, and the operational underpinnings of effective fundraising.
Elizabeth holds the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential and a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Culture and the Arts from The King’s College in New York. She serves on the boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Northwestern PA chapter and Erie ClaySpace. She is based in Erie, Pennsylvania.