Portrait of James Vermillion

James Vermillion

Director of Donor Strategy, UC San Diego

James is a member of the University Development (UD) leadership team at UC San Diego. In his role, he helps ensure significant levels of philanthropic support for the eight academic divisions that comprise general campus by managing and driving UD’s $1M+ gift pipeline and helping inform strategic direction in partnership with key Advancement partners. He is accountable for utilizing statistical analysis tools to analyze growth trends and forecast program future direction. In addition, a portion of his time is dedicated to front line fundraising. James is a creative, analytical and strategic thinker with the ability to mobilize information, build relationships as well as advise and execute program growth, assessment and refinement.

James currently serves as the Southern California Regional Chair on the California Advancement Researchers Association (CARA) board of directors; previously serving as president, president-elect, and treasurer. He has also shared is expertise in prospect development as a speaker for CARA, the Association of Professional Researcher, the Association of Fundraising Professional San Diego Chapter, and the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.