Fundraising Consulting Services
Reach for your 7 and 8-figure annual fundraising goals through a customized engagement. You’ll get concrete recommendations and a detailed plan that pave the way for higher results in major gifts, annual fund, grants, and corporate sponsorships.
Many clients begin with a comprehensive fundraising assessment to fully understand their current Development landscape. We examine the donor pool and historic donor data, review staff capabilities, interview internal and external key stakeholders, understand the tech stack, and explore highlights and gaps in current fundraising tactics.
1. Fundraising Assessment
2. Findings and Recommendations
Next, we create a detailed findings and recommendations report explaining the fundraising assessment discoveries and detailing the operational and strategic changes most likely to elevate the organization’s fundraising results.
3. Annual Development Plan
Using the assessment and the report as a foundation, we craft annual Development plans with concrete fundraising goals, strategies, tactics, staff responsibilities, and infrastructural changes to implement.
4. Coaching
With this thorough process completed, most clients continue to partner with us through a monthly coaching retainer so that we can assist with implementing the recommendations.
Fundraising Consulting FAQs
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A fundraising assessment is a comprehensive evaluation of your nonprofit’s fundraising program: what’s working, what’s getting in the way, and where the greatest opportunities for growth exist. At Sarah J Consulting, we look beyond dollar results to understand the people, systems, strategies, donor relationships, and organizational capacity behind them. The result is a clear set of recommendations that can directly inform your fundraising plan and future investment.
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A fundraising assessment can be especially valuable when you know you need expand Development, but aren’t sure what steps to take. You may be experiencing a fundraising plateau, preparing for significant growth, navigating a leadership or staffing transition, or struggling to build a major gifts program. Or maybe you wonder whether your current fundraising structure can support your goals. An objective assessment can help distinguish the symptoms from the underlying issues, and identify the opportunities most likely to move fundraising forward.
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A nonprofit fundraising consultant brings the expertise, experience, and valuable perspectives to help strengthen an organization’s fundraising strategy, systems, and results. Depending on the organization’s needs, that may include a fundraising assessment, developing a fundraising plan, coaching staff and leadership on major gift growth and building a culture of philanthropy, engaging the board, or preparing for a campaign. A good consultant doesn’t simply tell you to raise more money; they help determine what needs to change to make greater fundraising success possible and sustainable. They then work alongside you for implementation and ongoing coaching.
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A strong nonprofit fundraising plan translates revenue goals into a practical roadmap for achieving them. It should identify fundraising priorities, revenue strategies, donor audiences, specific activities, timelines, responsibilities, and measures of success. It should also account for the staff, systems, board involvement, donor pipeline, and other capacity needed to execute the plan. The best fundraising plans are not generic calendars of appeals and events; rather, they reflect an organization’s particular opportunities, challenges, resources, and goals.
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Sarah J Consulting primarily works with established nonprofits that are ready to strengthen or significantly grow their fundraising. Our clients typically raise at least $1 million annually and are looking to build the strategy, systems, major donor relationships, and organizational capacity needed to reach their next level. We are especially well suited to organizations facing an important inflection point—whether that means ambitious fundraising growth, a changing Development program, transitioning leadership, or preparing for a major future initiative.