We partner with nonprofits to deliver customized consulting services tailored to your unique needs and goals.

Every nonprofit organization can benefit from a fundraising assessment. Understanding what is working and identifying areas for improvement provides a clear opportunity to make informed changes that will positively impact your organization. This assessment allows you to re-imagine your fundraising strategies and enhance your storytelling to gain support for your mission and programs. 

Nonprofits have unique aspirations, limitations, and cultures that shape how they serve their communities. A comprehensive fundraising strategy assessment can help uncover blind spots and identify opportunities for improvement, regardless of how well your organization is currently performing. It’s always worthwhile to step back and see if there’s anything your nonprofit could be doing better. 

A fundraising assessment evaluates your current fundraising strategies and methods, identifies strengths and opportunities for improvement, and provides actionable feedback. It looks at various aspects including:   

• Donor acquisition during fundraising drives
• Donor retention from one fundraiser to the next
• Methods for reaching prospective donors
• Costs of fundraisers, including marketing, supplies, venue hosting
• Current goals, including revenue and donor targets
• Budget, projected expenses, and projected revenue
• Fundraising channels (direct mail, phone banks, events, social media) and opportunities for improvement
• Fundraising sources (individuals, large donors, foundations, and grants) and potential opportunities
• Resources to support your fundraising and fund accounting

  We offer two levels of review:

1. Grant Development Coaching: Includes our evaluation checklist, two 30-minute phone consultations, and one round of individualized feedback on your proposal.
2. Grant Proposal Review: Includes our evaluation checklist and one round of individualized feedback on your proposal.

Our Grant Development Coaching pairs your team with experienced grant writers who consult with you before the grant writing begins to develop a work plan and explain the nuances of each evaluation criterion. We review your proposal section-by-section as it is drafted to ensure each criterion is fully addressed, offering immediate suggestions for improvement.

Our Grant Proposal Review Service offers individualized feedback on your grant proposal before submission. We guide you through funding announcements and provide detailed evaluations of your draft proposals, suggesting improvements while ensuring you maintain authorship.   

Public funding announcements (federal, state, local government) differ in complexity from those written for foundations and corporations, so service costs vary accordingly.

Fundraising and grant writing are distinct yet complementary activities. Fundraising encompasses all efforts to raise money for your organization, while grant writing involves submitting proposals for financial support to foundations, corporations, and government entities.

Successful fundraising involves:

• Telling your nonprofit story
• Inviting people to events and encouraging involvement
• Expressing gratitude to donors

Everyone in your organization – from staff to board to volunteers – plays a role in fundraising success. Using data from the fundraising assessment, we help develop a tailored fundraising plan, including setting clear goals, building your donor base, crafting compelling appeals, and enhancing your fundraising infrastructure.

Community engagement is crucial for connecting with customers, donors, and other stakeholders. gallon-monroe helps develop a strategic approach to identify stakeholders, build relationships, craft communications, and manage interactions to achieve impactful organizational and community outcomes.

Collaboration helps nonprofits stretch resources, access new technologies, increase efficiency, and drive broader social and systems change. gallon-monroe helps identify potential partners, define relationships and roles, integrate cultures, assess costs/benefits and risks, communicate effectively, define and measure success, and integrate programs and services. 

Effective communication strategies are essential for promoting services and building your nonprofit brand. gallon-monroe works with nonprofits to develop creative strategies that inspire action and cultivate sustainable relationships with target audiences, including donors and myriad stakeholders.

We provide training and in-person workshops on a variety of topics to equip nonprofit organizations with essential skills and knowledge in grant writing, fundraising, communication, and more. Safe learning environments help organizations master critical skills and drive their missions forward.

In addition to our consulting services, there are many practical ways we can support your organization:

Grant Writing

• Train your team in grant writing and donor engagement.
• Provide individualized coaching and best practices for responses to evaluation criteria during proposal development. 

Proposal Review

• Offer guidance on the current year’s funding announcements as you begin drafting your proposal.
• Provide personalized feedback on your grant proposal before submission.
• Help you design impactful programs that address community needs and align with your objectives.

Fundraising

• Craft compelling fundraising strategies to diversify revenue streams.
• Create a well-rounded fundraising plan.

Communication Strategies and Skill-Building

• Provide tailored coaching to master effective communication.
• Build face-to-face and online communication skills.
• Develop active listening skills.

Community Engagement

• Develop a community engagement strategy.
• Build an understanding of the diverse intersections and lived experiences of your community.
• Strengthen community engagement efforts and the power of collaboration. 

Training

• Provide leadership coaching and development to strengthen your executive team.
• Build organizational capacity through training, workshops, and mentorship.
• Offer a wide range of training opportunities to promote professional development, encourage innovation, and contribute to overall organizational success. 

Program Evaluation

• Building an understanding of the importance of evaluations.
• Determining the type of evaluation to use for the project/program.
• Provide information on how to design an Evaluation Plan that aligns with the project/program’s goals and objectives.
• Explore how evaluation findings contribute to sustainability.