Don’t wait until the new year to start a fundraising assessment
If you’re ready to figure out how to uplevel your organization's fundraising efforts, here's a pro tip: don't wait until January to get started! Here are three reasons why:
1. An effective fundraising assessment takes time. Before we generate our detailed findings and recommendations report, we're gathering information, analyzing fundraising data, reviewing donor-facing materials, and interviewing staff, board members, donors, and other key stakeholders. These efforts typically take a couple of months.
Much of our assessment process happens while your Development team is busy doing what Development teams do in November and December: sending year-end appeals, having meaningful donor meetings, and in some cases, wrapping up your goals for the fiscal year. In other words, we don't interrupt their flow; we complement it.
Speaking of complementing the fundraising work...
2. ...We meet with you regularly during the assessment. So, when questions come up about a year-end appeal, an important donor conversation, an event, or a fundraising decision, we can coach you in real time and with an increasingly deeper understanding of your donors and culture.
3. Consultants like us who specialize in this service will be booked up by January. The best time to select a consultant and get ready for the new year is now through early November.
With a fall 2026 start to the process, your biggest benefit will arrive in January.
Instead of starting the new year saying, “Okay, now let's figure out our strategy moving forward,” you're starting with the analysis already done.
You already know what's working, what's getting in the way, and what the opportunities are for increased results.
Just as the year-end rush subsides, we'll sit down together and help you turn those findings and recommendations into a practical, achievable Development plan for the year ahead.
We currently have space for two fundraising assessments! If you’re ready to get more intentional about philanthropy for your nonprofit organization, please connect with us.
