Sophie Rudder

Associate Director of Development

Sophie Rudder is currently the Associate Director of Development for the Keyway Center for Diversion and Reentry, where she passionately works to create opportunities for donors to invest in the St. Louis community, with a particular focus on empowering women to rebuild their lives. With a proven track record in fundraising and donor relations, Sophie has significantly impacted organizations by building robust fundraising infrastructures and enhancing donor engagement. At the Immigrant Home English Learning Program, she notably increased donor retention from 38% to 54% in just two years by developing and implementing a comprehensive suite of development tools, including major gifts, monthly giving, and annual appeal programs.

Sophie excels at cultivating meaningful donor relationships through personalized interactions and expertly organized events, ranging from large banquets to intimate fundraising gatherings. Her expertise extends to data management, where she has successfully consolidated donor data into new CRM systems, leveraging in-depth analysis to enable effective segmentation and targeted outreach. 

Beyond her fundraising acumen, Sophie possesses a strong background in program evaluation and empirical research. She designed and conducted a comprehensive program evaluation in Cambodia for Journeys Within Our Community, identifying key areas for improvement in scholarship programs. Additionally, she contributed to program planning and design with Catholic Charities International in Italy, assisting organizations in balancing service provision for both local and refugee populations. As an Empirical Researcher for Best Friends Animal Society, she applied qualitative and quantitative methods to inform strategies for improving shelter outcomes.

Sophie holds a Master of Public Service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service and a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Louis University in Sociology, International Studies, and Italian, with a Minor in Urban Poverty Studies. She is proficient in Donor Perfect and Neon CRM Databases, Qualtrics, Canva, Microsoft Office Suite, and is an Association of Fundraising Professionals Fellow for 2023-2025. In her spare time, she enjoys travel, Disney, watercolor painting, scuba diving, mermaiding, and spending time with her husband and two sons.

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