David N. Duncan Bio
Mr. David N. Duncan, president of the American Battlefield Trust, spent more than 20 years as the organization’s primary fundraiser and Chief Development Officer before taking the helm in October 2020 with the retirement of longtime president O. James Lighthizer.
Mr. Duncan, 61, was born in Roanoke, Virginia and grew up in nearby Salem in a home full of history books, precipitating his passion for history. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University, where he majored in communications.
Mr. Duncan started his career as a copywriter for a small direct marketing firm, Response Dynamics of Tyson’s Comer, Virginia. He rose through the ranks to become Creative Director, supervising a team of copywriters who specialized in creating compelling marketing and fundraising messaging for charitable, nonprofit organizations and political campaigns.
In late 1999, when two predecessor battlefield preservation organizations merged into what is today’s American Battlefield Trust, Mr. Duncan saw an opportunity to put his years of fundraising experience to work in the pursuit of his passion for history and for the preservation of American battlefields. After a personal letter to Lighthizer and four interviews with staff and board members, he was hired as Director of Membership in March 2000.
Mr. Duncan’s impact was immediate. His first three fundraising letters in 2000 brought in $485,000, almost three times more than projected, with the response from membership almost twice the national average. Before year’s end his title had been expanded to Director of Membership and Development.
Working with dedicated and generous trustees, individual donors, and foundations, Mr. Duncan has led the way in raising more than $300 million in private donations since joining the nonprofit. These donations have been used to help preserve more than 60,000 acres of battlefield land at more than 160 battlefields of the American Revolution, War of 1812 and Civil War in 25 states, including Gettysburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Princeton and virtually all of the country’s most historic battlegrounds.
Relying on the personal touch as the bedrock of his fundraising strategy, Mr. Duncan has traveled tens of thousands of miles and crisscrossed the country to personally meet Trust supporters and potential donors, sitting down with them face-to-face and talking about the organization’s mission, its goals, its successes, and the threats to battlefield preservation.
When Mr. Duncan became Trust president in 2020, the organization was actively pursuing important battlefield land acquisition opportunities at Antietam (Md.), Stones River (Tenn.), Perryville (Ky.), Brandywine (N.J.) and other pieces of hallowed ground while promoting an ever growing catalog of educational initiatives highlighted by the opening of the Liberty Trail heritage driving route connecting South Carolina’s historic Revolutionary War battlegrounds.
Mr. Duncan is married to Karen King Duncan. They live in Fairfax, Virginia. They have two adult daughters and one granddaughter.
