Often one of the first steps in our work is an assessment. We need to understand your organization well, in order to assist you well. Depending on the scope of our consultation, we might conduct a quick diagnostic assessment or an in-depth audit. Most frequently, we work with our clients to develop a thorough assessment of the organization’s current fundraising programs. 

  • We get calls from groups who know they need help…. but they don’t really know for sure what isn’t working!  Our diagnostic studies are short preliminary assessments, including an in-person meeting and brief overview of your fundraising materials, with a goal of finding the troubling spots.  

    This approach is shorter and more informal than an audit or assessment, and will result in a verbal report or a bulleted list of findings rather than a full narrative report.

    The verbal report will suggest the areas needing work, and sometimes can even be thorough enough for you to fix things in-house without additional help. In other cases, we can move to a more detailed assessment, or work with you on specific areas of need, as you choose.  

    This is a very targeted, customized way to clear up misunderstandings, identify areas needing work: thinking out of the box at a reasonable price.

  • This is an opportunity to step back and take a comprehensive view of your fundraising program.  And to do so with a consultant who brings you perspective and powerful knowledge of the field.

    First we ask you to assemble a set of documents and answer a series of questions. We then study your materials and meet with you to better understand the organization and its leadership in development. Our assessments are collaborative: we check with you at various steps along the way, review findings and suggestions in person before providing a written summary. Our suggestions will be realistic for your particular operations and capacities. Depending upon the scope of your existing program, you might expect a fundraising assessment to be 25 to 45 hours of our work, over a 3-6 week period. You may choose to follow up with coaching or not. We believe it’s our job to make you more effective, so we will work with you as you feel best.

  • An audit of your fundraising systems looks at both internal and external effectiveness; systems, techniques, schedules, timelines and materials; involvement of staff and board; your culture of philanthropy; and attitudes of your donors and volunteers. An audit is more involved than an assessment because we seek to understand the organization from multiple perspectives, that of the staff, board, partners, donors, and even the general public. Our audits will culminate in a written report with detailed suggestions, a prioritized list of recommendations, as well as a summary of our broader findings.