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Larry Feder

New Position: Vice president, Foundation, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa. Previous Position: Associate vice president for development, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington.

By Times Staff Writer
Published September 19, 2005

Larry Feder is used to asking for money. Now that he's in Florida, he can say he has asked for donations from all quadrants of the country.

As vice president of the fundraising arm of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, he will be seeking out the generosity of donors large and small, private and public.

"The end game is raising money for the important work that the institution does," Feder said.

Feder's fundraising efforts involve "anything we can do to raise visibility and raise funds for cancer care and research," he said. There are several components to fundraising, Feder said. There are direct mail programs, telephone campaigns and recognition for people who donate. "There are major donations we seek, $10,000 or more, and impact gifts of six-, seven- and even eight-figure donations," he said.

Feder said he has spent his first month on the job mostly getting to know his staff, the institute and the community. "There's still a lot of orientation" to go, he said."I will come up with a real comprehensive strategic plan within the next six to eight weeks so we can have a real definitive focus and direction."

Born in New Jersey, Feder grew up in upstate New York. "I grew up in a family that was very, very community-oriented," he said, "and very active in the community, so that really, truly rubbed off on me and made me mission-oriented. It segued into my doing a lot of different nonprofit work."

Feder said he has been raising funds "for premier institutes" for more than two decades. "I love the work. I love it because it puts me in touch with very charitable people and (with) people who want to give back," he said.

He admits the work can be uncertain. "It's always fluid," he said. "I never know what's going to happen when I walk in the door, and I just love that."

Feder earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Antioch College in Los Angeles in 1984. He began his nonprofit career with the American Cancer Society in Long Beach, Calif., working as development director. In 1987, he became national director of development for the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated facility in Los Angeles. He had 35 professional fundraisers on his staff, a support staff of 130 people and 14 regional offices across the United States.

He also worked with Pacific Clinics in Los Angeles and another NCI-designated center, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, before moving to Washington in 2004 to become vice president at Georgetown University Medical Center. There, he was involved in fundraising and management for the university hospital, the cancer center, the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing.

Now in Florida, Feder said he is learning to adjust to the humid weather "and looking forward to fall."

Feder and his wife, Helen, have been living thousands of miles apart for more than a year, he said. They have two children, a son in college and a daughter in high school in Seattle. "We've been leading an incredible bicoastal life," he said. They are in their second year of maintaining a home in Seattle until their daughter graduates this year and a home wherever Feder is working. Currently, he lives in Wesley Chapel. "We made a commitment," he said. "We're not pulling her out of school."

Feder, 56, said the family eventually will relocate to the Tampa Bay area. It's understandable, therefore, that Feder says in his spare time, "I like to just chill out and be with my family. I find joy in doing simple things like running errands."

[Last modified September 16, 2005, 19:11:38]