Find Out Who The Good Guys Are [philanthropic advising, giving strategies, donor cultivation, analysis]
Research the latest issues on nonprofits to give to, or donors to cultivate, public policy, management, new service approaches, relevant socioeconomic trends, etc.
Stay on Mission [strategic planning, board development, senior team development]
Make sure you and your key partners agree that your mission is still relevant, on what it means, and that you're working together to achieve it.
Tell Your Story - and Back It Up [marketing, public relations, storytelling, data systems design]
Make sure no one ever forgets your great work. Create a database that makes it easy to pull out the stories that reflect the heart of your mission - and that reports rigorous statistical results that prove you're really making a difference.
Survive and Thrive [strategic planning, crisis management, program assessment]
Prepare for today's and tomorrow's opportunities and challenges - short & long term, internal & external, local & global.
Build Your Team's Cohesion [team building, board and staff coaching, family philanthropy]
Learn about and work out the kinks so that everyone - family or friends or staff or board - respect each other professionally and are committed to the cause. Address those pesky pain points between different departments and people.
Use New Money Wisely [financial assessment (person or organization), business plan]
Figure out its best use: put it in an endowment, use it to raise more money, repair facilities, pay off a loan, bolster operations, and so on.
Give Your Money Wisely [philanthropic advising, financial assessment, business plan]
Assess what will best achieve your intent. Create a new foundation, or a fund at a community foundation or a brokerage's donor advised fund. Start a new nonprofit. Secure an existing nonprofit's future. Design a new grantmaking strategy. Improve an existing one.
Use the Right Gift Method [planned giving, philanthropic advising, financial assessment]
Learn which giving method - cash, equities, real estate, bequest, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, etc. - is best for your financial situation and for your intent.
Start It Up [strategic planning, business plan, market/donor research, systems]
Prepare a start-up business plan, vision and mission statements. Recruit board members, individual financial backers, and institutional funders. File state and IRS paperwork. Set up policies, staffing, systems, etc.
Turn It Around [financial analysis/projections, coaching/mediation, business turnaround plan, systems, public relations, funder & donor cultivation]
If your nonprofit is in serious trouble, get a firm handle on the finances, fix your board governance and staff management issues, troubleshoot your program services, restore accurate reporting and proper procedures, prepare the recovery business plan, and mend fences with funders and constituents.
Grow It [funder and donor market analysis, donor cultivation systems]
Identify the opportunities that will attract donor and institutional funder interest, strengthen key programmatic and administrative systems, adopt best practices, compile the right data, and promote the right stories.
Merge or Partner [financial analysis/projections, negotiations, systems analysis]
Conduct a rigorous assessment of your financial position, governance, management, development, and program service quality and capacity. Compare strengths, weaknesses, tangible and intangible assets with other agencies. Determine who best accomplishes the mission, or how leveraging respective strengths delivers exponential benefits.
Buy It and/or Build It for Yourself [capital campaign assessment, financial analysis, proformas]
Assess your physical plant needs. Review your financial and donor/funder capacity. Look at sample properties. Compare cost scenarios (proformas) between building new, retrofitting, location, etc. Plan for building operating costs. Prepare grant and loan applications. Hire architects and contractors....
Buy It and Build It for Others [market feasibility, funding assessment, partner review]
Whether housing or commercial space... Assess market feasibility and the location's suitability for the proposed use. Clarify site control issues and timetable. Run proformas under various loan and grant scenarios, including late grant payments or delayed approvals....
