Astrid von Soosten, CFRE, is a partner at a Fundraising Consultancy, in this role she's supported numerous organisations reaching from universities and research institutes to INGOs and cultural initiatives in devising and executing tailored fundraising strategies. Before switching into the consultant role, she has led the Resource Development Department of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), with six locations in five countries, and built up a fundraising department focused on major donor fundraising.

Of the more than 20 years of her career as an active fundraiser, she has spent 10 years as a professional fundraiser in the US. There she held positions in a private school and later at the University of California. During her many years on the other side of the Atlantic she has experienced the US fundraising industry in all its facets. She has been specialising in major donor fundraising for the major part of her career and has been certified as a Fundraising Executive (CFRE) since 2008.