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Greg Kapp
Vice President for Development at Purdue for Life Foundation
Professional Background
Greg Kapp is a highly accomplished University Advancement and Development specialist with over 20 years of extensive experience in the realm of higher education. Throughout his impressive career, Greg has not only demonstrated a deep understanding of the dynamics within university systems but has also actively contributed to the growth and advancement of numerous educational institutions. His expertise spans various critical areas including corporate and foundation relations, major gift fundraising, planned giving, and grant-making. A robust professional background in advancement services has enabled him to excel in numerous capacities, ensuring that the organizations he serves benefit from his strategic insights and strong leadership.
Greg has honed his skills in a variety of roles, playing an instrumental part in the development and management of system networks and advancement services organizations. His frontline fundraising experience has uniquely positioned him to understand the complexities of donor relations and how best to engage alumni and philanthropic partners in meaningful ways. Having served effectively as a major gift officer and overseeing functions such as annual giving and gift processing, Greg is equipped with a comprehensive skill set that bridges both operational and strategic needs of advancement offices.
In addition to his work in development, Greg has served as a trusted consultant, conducting advancement services audits and managing analytical functions to refine and improve fundraising strategies. This analytical expertise enhances his responsibilities, allowing him to not only perform but also optimize and innovate the processes that advance philanthropic initiatives.
Greg’s leadership was also evident during his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of a community foundation, where he embraced various roles in fundraising, planned giving, and convening community leaders. His ability to mobilize resources effectively while strengthening community ties underscores his dedication to not only education but to the communities that educational institutions serve.
Education and Achievements
Greg Kapp holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from DePaul University's Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. This advanced education, coupled with his Bachelor’s degree in Management from Purdue University Calumet, has empowered him with the knowledge and skills to navigate the increasingly complex world of university advancement.
The foundation of Greg’s academic pursuits has greatly influenced his professional path, instilling in him the importance of data-driven decision-making and strategic management in education-related fundraising initiatives. His educational background is complemented by rich, hands-on experience that has solidified his reputation as a leading expert in advancement services.
Notable Positions and Contributions
Greg’s career is marked by a series of pivotal roles that demonstrate his leadership and expertise in university advancement. He currently serves as the Vice President for Development at the Purdue for Life Foundation, where he plays a critical role in shaping development strategies and fostering relationships with alumni and donors.
Before his current position, Greg co-founded and served as Managing Director at State Of Wow, where he effectively utilized his extensive experience to guide organizations in their development initiatives. His commitment to operational excellence was further showcased during his tenure as Senior Associate Vice President for Development Operations at the Purdue Research Foundation. Here, he implemented strategic initiatives that significantly bolstered the foundation’s fundraising capabilities.
Greg also held the esteemed position of President and CEO at the Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette. In this role, he was responsible for not only directing the foundation’s operations but also engaging with community leaders and stakeholders to address philanthropic needs effectively. His leadership allowed the foundation to thrive, leveraging resources to create lasting change in the community.
Additionally, Greg's experience as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Grenzebach Glier & Associates demonstrates his versatility and commitment to advancing organizational goals through innovation and strategic planning. His early career at Purdue University included significant roles such as Executive Assistant to the President, Associate Vice President for Advancement, and Director of Corporate and External Support, further establishing his depth of experience and dedication to educational advancement.
Achievements
Greg Kapp’s contributions to the field of higher education advancement have been both impactful and enduring. His proficiency with various advancement systems, including Blackbaud's Raiser's Edge and Fundraiser Performance Management (Reeher Platform), Ellucian Advance, EverTrue, and iModules, equips him with the capabilities to lead teams in leveraging technology for effective fundraising and donor engagement.
In addition to his role in systems management, Greg’s successful fundraising campaigns have resulted in numerous substantial gifts that have propelled the missions of the universities and foundations he has served. His deep-rooted experience in prospect development, gift processing, and annual giving has led to efficient operations that maximize fundraising success.
Moreover, Greg’s role as a consultant performing audits of advancement services allows him to share his valuable insights and best practices with other organizations aiming to improve their fundraising strategies and operational efficiencies. His thought leadership in the field has made him a sought-after expert, further amplifying his impact across the realm of higher education.
In summary, Greg Kapp exemplifies the qualities of an exemplary leader in university advancement and development. With an impressive resume backed by over two decades of experience, advanced education, and a passion for fostering community relationships and educational growth, Greg continues to set a standard in the field of advancement services. His career, marked by significant roles and achievements, reflects a dedication to excellence that serves as an inspiration for both current professionals and aspiring leaders in higher education.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.