October 17 Rotary Speakers Bill Harvey and Eric Thompson

Eric Thompson joined the Rotary Foundation philanthropy team in September 2018 as the new major gifts officer for Zones 26/27. A native Coloradan and Westerner, he is very happy to be serving Big West Rotarians achieve their philanthropic dreams through The Rotary Foundation. Eric is based at The Rotary Foundation in Evanston, IL, but he travels regularly to districts and clubs in Zones 26/27. For Eric, Rotarians’ leadership in the drive to eradicate polio is one of the most inspiring stories in modern philanthropy, particularly since he had seen first-hand the impact of polio on members of his family.

Eric comes to RI with twenty years of comprehensive fundraising experience, primarily in higher education.  In all his previous roles, he partnered with alumni, volunteers, and senior leadership in developing vibrant relationships with individual philanthropists, corporations, foundations, and other organizational partners in completing multi-million and billion-dollar comprehensive capital campaigns. These campaigns were with Illinois Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Ragdale Foundation, and the University of Colorado Foundation. 

Eric holds degrees from the University of Illinois/Chicago in marketing, entrepreneurship, and human resource management (MBA); The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA); and the University of Colorado/Boulder (BFA). Eric has conceptualized, designed and led many subject matter presentations for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and the Center for Nonprofit Success. He was an executive board member, conference planner and host on behalf of the Engineering Development Forum (2014-2019). He also served as a subject matter expert/question formulator on the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) testing committee, and held the CFRE certification 2006-2013. 

Bill Harvey
Endowment/Major Gift Advisor for Rotary Region 36 (Zones 25B and 29)
The Rotary Foundation

Bill Harvey is the Endowment/Major Gift Advisor for Rotary Region 36 (Zones 25B and 29) which covers 23 Rotary Districts from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Brownsville, Texas. Bill is an attorney and is a Member and General Counsel of EHPV Management Group, a business management company located in Omaha, Nebraska. He is a 27-year member and past president of the Rotary Club of Omaha (Downtown Rotary). He is a past District 5650 Rotary Foundation Committee Chair. When he’s not working, or doing Rotary, Bill dabbles in genealogy and is Past President and current programs chair of the Fellowship of Rotarian Genealogists, an international fellowship of Rotarians with an interest in genealogy and family history.