Funding consultant Richard Collins helped groups build their dreams

Richard Collins' name might not be on the facades of any of the Northwest institutions he championed. But associates say he had a major hand in their development.

His specialty was capital-campaign fundraising for nonprofit organizations, and development of institutions named for major donors he had a role in courting.

"Fundraising consultants tend to work in the background," said his son Michael Collins, of Seattle. "He was responsible for helping to raise the funds to build buildings."

Mr. Collins, who founded the Seattle-based fundraising consulting firm The Collins Group, died May 5 on Whidbey Island, where he lived. The 78-year-old had battled cancer.

"His personal passion was in the performing arts," an interest that dated back to his college years, said his son. "He found that he was particularly good at helping organizations understand their vision and how that vision could be realized in programs and buildings that supported their goals."

Establishing The Collins Group in 1979, Mr. Collins managed the capital campaign that culminated in creation of the Bagley Wright Theatre at Seattle Center, home of the Seattle Repertory Theatre. During his tenure as firm owner, he also had a major role in fundraising for Intiman Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), and the Empty Space Theater, as well as the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland and the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Skagit County.

In 1990, The Collins Group merged with fundraising consultant Stuart Grover and Associates, retaining The Collins Group name. Mr. Collins retired from the firm in 1993. "He had had an active career and was ready to look at doing some other things," said his son.

He consulted independently on projects for arts organizations, then became the founding executive director for the Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE), which plans a 2,000-seat, world-class performing-arts center in downtown Bellevue. He served in that post from 2002 to 2006.

"I am served every day by the work that [Mr. Collins] did," said current PACE executive director and CEO John Haynes. "He did all the institutional preparation, including recruiting the first board and starting the capital campaign."

Mr. Collins was committed, meticulous and very skilled, said Haynes. "He was the organizational mind behind pulling all the pieces together. I can guarantee you his name will be somewhere in that building."

The Bellevue project is expected to be built in two years.

In recent years, Mr. Collins had been a fundraising consultant for Good Cheer, a community food bank on Whidbey Island.

A Midwesterner, he had earned degrees from Northwestern University in Illinois and the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. In the mid-1960s he was the first director for the Maine State Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and in the mid-1970s he became executive director for the Western States Arts Federation in Denver and executive director of the Denver Center for Performing Arts. He moved to Seattle in 1979 to head the Bagley Wright Theatre campaign.

In addition to son Michael, Mr. Collins is survived by his wife of 52 years, Dorchen; another son, Steven, also of Seattle; daughter Carmela Collins, of Lynnwood; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley. Remembrances may be made to Good Cheer, P.O. Box 144, Langley, WA 98260.

Charles E. Brown: 206-464-2206 or cbrown@seattletimes.com