Chad Bonaker

Chad Bonaker is a writer and creative generalist who has spent his career doing whatever the project needs — done well. He holds a BA in English from Stanford University with a focus on creative writing, and an MFA in Theatrical Design from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. That combination — equal facility with language and with systems, with storytelling and with execution — defines how he works.

For more than twenty years, Chad worked as a freelance theatrical designer across California, Colorado, and Utah — coordinating across departments, managing crews of up to twenty-five people, juggling multiple productions simultaneously, and delivering finished work under deadline pressure that doesn’t negotiate. That work is project management in its most demanding form: real resources, real deadlines, real consequences when something goes wrong. He learned early how to translate a vision into concrete action, how to hold a complex project together across competing priorities, and how to get things done without drama.

More recently, Chad has channeled his writing and production skills into venture philanthropy — developing scripts, producing pitch videos, and creating giving-focused media content that has driven record-setting donor engagement and generosity. He is fluent in Adobe Creative Cloud (Premiere, After Effects, Audition, Photoshop), experienced in podcast production, and equally at home shaping a fundraising narrative on the page or bringing it to life on screen. Whether the deliverable is a Case for Support, a campaign launch video, or a donor stewardship piece, he builds content that moves people toward a decision.

At Giving Geek, Chad serves as Brian Gawor’s project partner — the operational and creative counterpart to Brian’s CFRE expertise. He drafts proposals, writes Cases for Support, produces donor media, builds meeting agendas, follows up, profiles donors, and manages the details that keep an engagement on track. He’s not the fundraising strategist — Brian is. Chad’s job is to make sure everything Brian needs to do his best work is ready, sharp, and on time.