Archive for January, 2025

Meet Craig Freeman, Alliance’s New Director of Development

Posted on: January 14th, 2025

Hello Alliance supporters and donors! I am Alliance’s new (and first!) Director of Development, Craig Freeman, and want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and what I do at Alliance.

I come to Alliance with years of experience fundraising for housing organizations. Most recently I spent 6+ years on the advancement team at Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, helping raise money to develop and maintain deeply affordable, supportive housing very similar to that developed at Alliance. Prior to Beacon I spent two years fundraising for Avenues for Youth, an organization that provides transitional housing and shelter to youth aged 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness. This history put me on firm footing to hit the ground running at Alliance because I already understand the Twin Cities housing community and the societal pressures currently putting strain on it.

Additionally, before becoming a fundraiser I had a 12-year career as a litigation attorney in the Twin Cities. I left that profession, however, because I couldn’t shake the feeling that even when rulings rightly went in favor of my clients, I was making the world a little worse. I needed a career where even when things go poorly, I know they do so while I’m trying to make the world just a little better. I found that in fundraising. Best of all, I am still able to communicate persuasively. Now, though, my clients are Minnesotans experiencing homelessness and the jury is you!

Outside of work, I’m a Twin Cities native who left the state to attend the University of Iowa for both my BA and JD. This means I’m a proud Hawkeye and very ready to give as well as get when they play the Gophers. I now live in Roseville with my wife and teenage son (we’re currently in the process of registering for his freshman year in high school, please send help), and practice self-care through attending live music, running, and watching sports. As I’m an especially big soccer fan, we have season tickets to Minnesota United. I’m also likely to start leading tours of Civil Rights Movement sites in Alabama and Mississippi in October.

As for my work at Alliance, our Fiscal Year 2025 budget calls for raising a total of $390,000 from individual and institutional donors, but we know those societal pressures I mentioned above are going to drive that number up over the next few years. In order to remain a healthy organization and continue providing foundations for our residents to succeed, we anticipate needing to double that fundraising total by 2028. This is eminently doable but requires growing our donor base to bring in more donations. That is where my work comes in.

I am already out giving presentations sharing the work we do with civic organizations and congregations and am in the early stages of planning tours of some of our properties. What I need from you is introductions. Do you belong to a civic organization that brings in speakers? Does your congregation host people for adult forums/temple talks/etc.? Would your friends and neighbors enjoy being invited to your home for drinks and some education about an organization you believe in? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, I’d love to chat about opportunities!

Even if you answered ‘no’ to each question, though, please feel free to reach out with any questions, to learn more, or just to chat. The best way for me to learn how to bring more supporters and donors into this work is to get to know those who are already here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you over the coming months and years.