Fundraising & Planning
Next Quarter's Funding Shouldn't Be a Mystery.
Fundraising planning, donor database analysis, case for support development, and program budget development for nonprofits ready to stop reacting and start building.
Most nonprofits are leaving money on the table.
Not because they're doing anything wrong. Because they're doing everything in isolation.
Your grants person is writing proposals.
Your annual fund person is sending appeals.
Your major gifts officer is cultivating donors.
But without a written plan to coordinate it all, you're missing opportunities every single day.
Corporate funders often want to see a volunteer relationship before they give. Major donors sometimes sit on foundation boards. Annual fund donors can be cultivated into major gifts.
It all works together — but only if someone has mapped it out.
Your mission deserves a sustainable foundation.
The result of operating without a plan is a fundraising program that's entirely dependent on a few donors, a few grants, or whoever happens to be in the development seat at the moment.
When anything changes — a funder shifts priorities, a key donor moves, a staff member leaves — the whole thing wobbles.
A coordinated strategy fixes that.
We can help you get there.
The Building Blocks of a Coordinated Funding Strategy
A fundraising plan without data is guesswork. Data without a plan is just numbers. Neither one works without compelling copy that tells your story consistently. And none of it is fundable without program budgets that show what your work actually costs. These services are designed to work together — and often the most valuable thing we do is help you see how they connect. If you're not sure where to start, that's exactly what our first conversation is for.
Fundraising Plan Development
A 12-month roadmap your whole team can execute.
If your organization is considering both a fundraising plan and grant strategy work, the fundraising plan should come first. Your grant strategy will be stronger — and more realistic — when it's built as part of an overall funding picture rather than in isolation.
Learn more about our Grant Strategy & Management services →
WHAT THIS IS
A written, customized 12-month fundraising plan that covers every revenue stream your organization has or should have — grants, annual fund, major gifts, corporate support, special events, and earned revenue where applicable. We don't hand you a generic template. We build a plan around your specific organization, your specific challenges, and what your team can actually implement.
This is especially valuable for new executive directors who haven't fundraised before. With a clear plan, strong project management skills can go a long way even without a deep fundraising background.
We build plans, and we teach you to run them. We don't run campaigns for you — the goal is a plan your organization owns and can update year after year.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-A complete written fundraising plan
-Revenue strategies across all funding streams
-Coordinated calendar of fundraising activities
-Board engagement strategy
-Implementation guidance your team can follow
Engagement length
Approximately 3 months.
Donor Database Analysis & Cleanup
Your data is telling you something. Let's find out what.
WHAT THIS IS
Most organizations enter data into their donor database faithfully — and then never analyze it. But your database is one of the most valuable strategic tools you have, if you know how to read it.
We analyze your donor data to surface the insights that should be driving your fundraising decisions: retention rate, average gift size, major gift thresholds, monthly donor performance, lapsed donor opportunities, and more.
If your data is inconsistent or your database is a mess from years of uneven entry, we can clean it up first — so that when we analyze it, the results are actually useful.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-Donor retention rate analysis
-Average and median gift size
-Major gift threshold identification
-Monthly donor program analysis
-Lapsed donor segmentation
-Recommendations for how to act on what we find
Engagement length
Approximately one month.
Case for Support Development
The one document every funder, donor, and board member should read.
WHAT THIS IS
A Case for Support is the comprehensive source document for everything your organization needs to communicate to funders and donors: your mission, your programs, your outcomes, your community need, your financials, your leadership, and your ask.
Think of it as the kitchen sink document that every other piece of fundraising copy draws from.
When your whole team is pulling from the same source document, your messaging stays consistent across grant proposals, major gift asks, annual fund appeals, and board presentations. It also means when staff turns over, the institutional knowledge doesn't walk out the door with them.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-Complete written Case for Support
-Consistent organizational narrative
-Program descriptions and outcome data
-Community need documentation
-Financial overview and stewardship language
-Reusable copy for grants, appeals, and donor communications
Engagement length
Approximately one month
Program Budget Development
Know exactly what each program costs — and what it's worth to funders.
WHAT THIS IS
Most organizations have a single organizational budget. But funders and major donors want to know what it costs to run a specific program, including costs that are often misclassified as "admin," "operating," or "overhead."
Program budget development takes your overall organizational budget and breaks it down by program, allocating all costs, both direct and indirect, in a way that's both accurate and compelling to funders.
This work strengthens your grant proposals, makes your case for restricted major gifts, and gives your development team a tool they can use across every funding conversation. A good program budget also helps your organization understand the true cost of its work and price it accordingly.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
-Program-by-program budget breakdown
-Allocation methodology documentation
-Funder-ready budget narratives
-Full cost analysis per program
Engagement length
Approximately one month
In their own words
What a few of our clients have to say.
"Candid and comprehensive guidance..."
Emily Ironside
Head of Philanthropic Strategy
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
"You will be so glad you chose to count on Melanie and her team."
Léo Tucker
Director
Arkansas Immigrant Defense
"Truly world class, extremely high quality."
Brett Amerine
Managing Director
Startup Junkie Consulting, LLC
FAQs
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Most grant writers write. We strategize, research, build relationships, manage deadlines, develop budgets, train your team, and write — and we do all of it with credentials most grant writers don't have. Our team includes Grant Professional Certified (GPC) and CFRE-certified professionals bound to a code of ethics.
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No — and anyone who tells you they can isn't being straight with you. What we can promise is that we'll tell you honestly when an opportunity is a good fit and when it isn't, that we'll put our best work into every proposal we write, and that our track record speaks for itself.
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All sizes. One of the things that sets us apart is that we specifically understand how small and mid-sized nonprofits can get the best ROI with limited resources.
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It depends on where you're starting. If you don't yet have relationships with funders, you're building from scratch, and funders typically want to see an organization before they fund it. A realistic timeline for a new grants program is 12-18 months before you start seeing consistent results.
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We work alongside in-house staff all the time. Some organizations bring us in to handle overflow when deadlines pile up. Others have a development director who's strong in major gifts or annual giving but less experienced in grants — we complement what they already do well. And some organizations use us specifically for federal grants, which require a different expertise than foundation grants. We're not here to replace your team. We're here to fill the gaps.
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This is actually one of our favorite questions — and one most grants firms can't answer because they only do grants. Grants should be one piece of a diversified funding strategy, not the whole picture. Part of what we do is help you figure out what parts of your budget are most "grant fundable" and what should be funded through other means. Over-dependence on grants is a real vulnerability, and we'll tell you when we see it.
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Yes — and federal grants are a specialty worth calling out specifically, because they are genuinely different from foundation grants. The application process, compliance requirements, reporting structure, and review criteria are all distinct. A staff member who is experienced and successful with foundation grants may have very little federal experience, and that gap can be costly. If you have a federal opportunity on your radar, that's a conversation worth having sooner rather than later.
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Never. Contingency-based fees — where a consultant's pay depends on whether a grant is funded — are considered unethical by the Grant Professionals Association and illegal in federal grants. We work on a flat fee basis, always. Our compensation is never included in a proposed grant budget.
Ready to take grants off your plate?
Let's start with a conversation about where your grants program is right now and what it could look like. No pressure, no jargon — just an honest look at what would actually help.