The concert kicked off a three-day trip in Detroit. Also on the trip were Associate Vice President Simone Clasen and Alexis Kanda Olmstead, who directs fundraising at Dartmouth College, according to an expense report shared by a former advancement staffer with The State News, though it's unclear if either attended the concert.

Despite their varied jobs, the four had one thing in common: a career closely interwoven with Tobin’s. Each had worked with the vice president at her previous stop at Colorado State University, where she similarly led the institution’s advancement office.

The concert and trip at large typifies the close relationship between department executives and shines a light on the proximity to leadership enjoyed by Helmer — whom staffers consider one of the more enigmatic figures in advancement.

It’s impressive access for Helmer, who isn’t technically an employee of the university, and a symbol of the increasing presence of the firm he belongs to in the advancement office. The university paid the firm, Donor Relations Group, $297,822 in 2025, according to invoices obtained through a public records request. That's a dramatic increase from the $63,667 MSU paid the firm during the firm's first half-year working for the department, starting in May 2022.

While exactly how much of those payments were expensed to Helmer is unclear, since MSU also works with two other Donor Relations Group consultants, the university has said that Helmer is their "primary" consultant.

At MSU, Helmer was first tasked with providing "targeted expertise" in areas undergoing significant transition, including donor relations, data management and campaign preparation, Tobin said in an interview with The State News in November 2025. Over time, she said, his responsibilities shifted to broadly assessing advancement’s relationships with donors. 

His role grew to such significance that Helmer was temporarily listed as an interim vice president within the office in June 2025.

But to some advancement employees, what exactly he does at work remains a mystery. Adding to that mystique is the fact that Helmer doesn’t regularly work in East Lansing, occasionally flying into town from Colorado on the university’s dime, travel records show.

"I don’t know what long-term role he is serving for the department," one current advancement employee told The State News, who insisted on speaking anonymously to protect their employment. Six additional current and former advancement staffers who have worked in the department at the same time as Helmer said they were unfamiliar with his work.

That unfamiliarity comes at a time of strife within University Advancement, which is in the midst of its biggest fundraising test yet. More than a dozen former and current staffers said in December that department leadership, including Helmer, has become siloed-off from the rest of the office under Tobin’s leadership. They’ve also raised concerns about executive salaries quickly outpacing those of rank-and-file employees since Tobin began leading the department.

In a December email exchange with The State News, Helmer confirmed that was on the trip to Detroit, and at "his own expense," attended the Madonna concert. He did not respond to inquiries ahead of publication. Three current advancement employees said Tobin attended the concert, adding she spoke of how impressive the show was at a staff meeting shortly after.

Tobin redirected inquiries from The State News to MSU’s communications office.

Closely intertwined careers

Helmer and Tobin have worked closely for nearly 15 years in the advancement departments at both MSU and Colorado State.

They worked alongside each other at CSU beginning in 2008. In 2017, Helmer began reporting directly to Tobin when she assumed the role of vice president of advancement.

When Tobin left CSU to head MSU’s fundraising office in March 2022, Helmer followed in her footsteps, leaving CSU two months later, according to their LinkedIn pages.

Once at MSU, Tobin used an unusual structure to bring Helmer over; rather than hire him as an employee, she paid him as a consultant. The first invoice from Donor Relations Group to MSU is dated from May 2022.

Tobin contracted Helmer for additional work to fill the gap during the department’s biggest capital campaign to date, "Uncommon Will, Far Better World." His hours later were expanded and pay increased so he could provide "fractional leadership" in the role. Such a practice is standard for universities that have brought on consultants, Tobin said in the November interview.

Helmer’s role grew once more after the assistant vice president for engagement position became vacant in January 2025.

In organizational charts obtained by The State News through a public records request, Helmer appeared as the interim assistant vice president of engagement in June 2025. MSU spokesperson Amber McCann wrote in an email to The State News that Helmer does not use the interim assistant vice president title, however, and that "management of the team resides within the VPUA office."

"This step was taken to provide the team and UA with stability during a period of intense activity leading to the launch and initial public phase of the Uncommon Will, Far Better World campaign," McCann added.

The campaign is advancement’s biggest test yet as it strives to raise a record-setting $4 billion. All the while, many of Tobin’s employees say her leadership style has alienated them.

The interim position Helmer temporarily filled became vacant after Assistant Vice President Alison Gaudreau was fired. Gaudreau alleges she was fired by Tobin in retaliation for reporting sexual harassment and discrimination — reports she says she was required to make as a mandatory reporter. She sued the university and Tobin earlier this month.

The trip to Detroit in 2024 was one of 17 university-expensed trips that included consultants from Donor Relations Group being flown out by MSU. These trips cost anywhere from $1,379 to $8,823, according to university documents. The university regularly expensed flights, meals and transportation during these trips, according to the documents — 13 of which name Helmer as the sole consultant.

The three-day trip to Michigan began with a $155 chauffeur taking Helmer from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to the Madonna concert. The university also covered Ubers and meals during the trip.

MSU was unable to confirm or deny whether the expense report for the Detroit trip — which was shared with The State News by a former advancement employee — originated from the university, and a spokesperson declined to comment on why MSU paid for Helmer’s transportation to the concert.

The documents show that after the trip, Tobin attempted to charge the university for a $945 stay at Detroit’s Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Helmer, too, attempted to expense $755 for his stay at the historic hotel.

In June 2024, six months later, the university asked them to personally expense the charges.