Why is investing in improved fundraising a good investment for my nonprofit?
Can you work with any type of nonprofit?
Will I have to ask people for money if I work with you?
Can you do the fundraising for me?
Do you help with capital campaigns?
Do you help with planned giving programs or endowment campaigns?
Will you help with online giving and/or social media giving?
Why are you so much less expensive than other nonprofit coaches?
Do you give discounts? Will you donate your services?

Why is investing in improved fundraising a good investment for my nonprofit?

Basically, Dan Pallotta says it all in his great Ted Talk.

The bottom line: “Fundraising is the one thing that has the potential to multiply the amount of money available for the cause we care about so deeply.” – Dan Pallotta

If you have more money, you can do more of what you do. And if you do what you do well, but don’t stretch to help as many people as possible, you are doing the world a disservice. Every nonprofit would like to have more money. Investing in fundraising can get you that.

Can you work with any type of nonprofit?

In some ways, fundraising is fundraising, whether you’re a large institution or all-volunteer organization. But that’s not really the whole story. It really helps if I’m passionate about your cause, so if I’m not, I’ll be honest with you about that. You deserve a coach who is all-in on your mission. Luckily, I am passionate about many, many things: kids, teens, families, people with disabilities, equity, social justice, peace, the environment, addiction recovery, women’s issues, LGBT, poverty, animals, economic development, small business, education, the arts and on and on.

Will I have to ask people for money if I work with you?

My goal is to help you reach the point that you will WANT to ask people for money, and more importantly, to know that your potential supporters WANT you to ask them! Askophobia is a real thing (though not a real word) and completely normal. It is also completely curable.

Can you do the fundraising for me?

No. For one thing, I don’t know your donors, and relationship is the cornerstone of fundraising. More importantly, I want your fundraising results to be sustainable long after you cease paying me, which means the people in your organization have to know how to do it. As a coach, my goal is to teach you how to raise funds effectively and essentially coach myself out of a job! That said, I do offer some proposal writing and direct mail services and would be happy to assist your fundraising efforts in that way in consultation with you. And I offer a substantial discount (25%!) on those services to my coaching clients.

Do you help with capital campaigns?

If you’re looking for a full-service campaign consultant, I honestly don’t think I’m what you need for a capital campaign (though I think campaign consultants can be great!). But, if you can be really motivated to do the work, my general fundraising coaching services could be just the thing to keep you on track and give you an experienced advisor for your effort. I’ve worked on several successful campaigns, so I know my way around a gift range chart! If you’re considering a larger campaign and want more help, I can also give you a referral to some very excellent campaign consultants and if there are other ways I can be helpful in preparing (such as a Development Diagnostic, endowment campaign advice or providing campaign training), I’d be delighted to do so. Contact me for more information.

Do you help with planned giving programs or endowment campaigns?

Yes! I LOVE planned giving and have worked with bequests, annuities, insurance policies, transfer-on-death of specific assets and other creative ways to give. But, if planned giving is your goal, unless you already have a well-established, high-return annual giving program, I can almost guarantee I’m going to encourage you to take those steps first. But let’s talk about it! I’ll give you an honest assessment on institutional readiness to take on planned giving.

Do you help with online giving and/or social media giving?

Yes, if it is a good strategy for your nonprofit. But I’ll ask you a ton of questions to determine if that’s true before we invest much time in this. Yes, online giving is growing year to year. Yes, many donors love it, as we see from the success of campaigns like ComoGives. But it is difficult to truly connect with donors through a screen (possible, but difficult!) and if you focus your efforts on the online world, I truly believe you’re leaving money on the table from people who want to love and support your organization. So even if online is a great strategy for you, I will likely encourage you to supplement it with some other efforts.

Why are you so much less expensive than other nonprofit coaches?

Three reasons:

1. I’m obsessed with nonprofits. I believe the real change agents in our world are not individuals, but people acting collectively. By their very nature (i.e. governed by a board), nonprofits can’t be just one person. Coaching nonprofit leaders is not a job for me – it is a calling. This is my way of giving back to our community and making it a better place. 
2. I don’t need much. I currently live with my husband in some of the least expensive places in the world (feel free to check out my blog about it) and we require very little money to live comfortably. 
3. I want to be accessible to the nonprofits who will reap the greatest benefit. The nonprofits who most need fundraising coaching rarely have thousands of dollars a month available to pay for it, even if they would see a guaranteed return on investment.
   

   (and when you invest in fundraising, you usually do see a return).

Do you give discounts? Will you donate your services?

Short answer – no. Longer answer – I deliberately set my fees as low as I could and still make the very modest living I referenced above. So in some ways, I feel like I’m giving everyone I choose to work with a huge discount! One of my goals is make my coaching sustainable so I can do this rather than something else (i.e. a job) and help as many great nonprofits as possible. So for that reason, I really can’t work for free. That said, I will likely make a donation (or several) to your organization as I get to know your mission. No promises, but I do love giving!