Reduce the overwhelming nature of campaign planning
Get the support of an experienced fundraising leader! My services range from campaign planning to major gift strategy and development audits—customized to the needs of your institution.
~Katie Wojke, Vice President of Advancement, Western Oregon University and Executive Director, Western Oregon University Foundation
“At Saint Martin's University, Katie R. helped us move from a mindset of annual giving and capital projects to a bigger comprehensive picture where we look at our campaign planning holistically. She helped us work on educating donors about multi-year pledges and estate planning in support of the campaign. Then she helped us with communicating that to our internal leadership. She’s brilliant with framing messaging for different audiences—and she’ll help with everything from systems on the back end to softening the tone of an email. When I left Saint Martin’s, we were at $97M raised (toward our $100M campaign goal) almost two years ahead of the deadline.”
You have big plans—and you’re going to need big funding to make them happen.
You believe in the strategic goals of your organization, and you’re committed to making them a reality for your school community.
You’re deeply connected to the students and staff who will benefit from everything fundraising will make possible!
You joke that you’re in charge of “keeping the lights on,” but you lie awake at night thinking about the salaries, scholarships, and life-changing opportunities that depend on getting this right.
It’s easy to sink into inertia as you consider the ripple effects, unintended consequences, and trade-offs of every decision—because you want the best for everyone.
You may be wondering, “Where do we even start?”
And, once you’ve begun, you have many more questions, like:
How do we bring the board along?
How do we engage institutional donors and individuals?
How and when should we announce?
How many organizational resources should we commit?
How do we keep the momentum going?
How do we engage our volunteers?
And, most importantly: what if we put in our maximum effort and fail to hit our target?
What if you could hand all of these questions to someone with a proven record of building and executing successful campaigns for dozens of institutions like yours?
Solution: Hire me.
I’ll translate all your big-hearted dreams into operational tactics that work.
I’ll illuminate the path from point A to point B and support every step to get you there.
I achieve this through:
organizing project management
bringing together key stakeholders
creating an action plan
providing directional guidance
streamlining operations.
~Janelle Blakely, Chief Advancement Officer, Rainier Scholars
“After doing a development audit with us, we hired Katie R. to complete a campaign feasibility study. Katie interviewed key stakeholders about the idea of Rainier Scholars doing a fundraising campaign to support our new strategic plan. She pulled together a phenomenal report and gave a data-centered, polished presentation to the full board—on how much money we could realistically raise to support our bold initiatives. Everyone was really impressed. She’s fearless about talking to top execs while also remembering the name of my dog. Katie represents our organization with heart and authenticity— and I’ll always find ways to continue working with her.”
How to put yourself en route to goal achievement
While my projects are always customized, these are the three service areas where I primarily focus:
Campaign Planning
Are you considering running an advancement campaign?
I can help you determine feasibility; define the purpose, timeline, and goal; and execute.
A typical campaign planning project includes:
a Campaign Planning Study, including structured interviews of your leadership donors, board members, and senior leaders
sophisticated prospect research on your organization’s top donors
exploration of your organization’s strengths, strategic direction, near-term vision, and resources needed to realize that vision
a Campaign Plan, created in collaboration with your leadership, advancement team, and governing board
Campaign Management to ensure execution of the campaign with coaching and support at every step.
Major and Principal Gifts Strategy/Fundraising
Need help with planning a range of donor engagement that results in leadership gifts and joyful, satisfied benefactors?
I partner with advancement leaders and frontline fundraisers to create and implement effective leadership-giving strategies.
A typical major gifts project includes coaching the team on:
working through challenging situations like re-engaging founding donors
creating attractive opportunities for impact and making meaning in the world
providing pathways for leveraging tax-efficient assets and giving vehicles
inspiring individual giving at new heights
introducing gift planning and estate giving
accompanying donors on their personal journey to their highest and best gift of a lifetime.
Development Assessments (Audits)
Need an evaluation of current Advancement Office practices?
I provide recommendations for each area of advancement–annual giving, major and planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, events, donor relations and stewardship, advancement services, and resource allocation.
A typical development assessment includes:
interviewing the internal team on what working, what’s not, and what they wish they could do/have/be
review of data sets related to current and historical giving, donor engagement, and general constituent engagement
comparison to experience from twenty years of in-house Advancement, mostly in higher education, and to best practices gleaned through now nearly four years of consulting.
~Celine Schmidek, Vice President of Advancement, Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School
“Katie’s work product always exceeds expectations in both content and presentation. She takes the time to create really professional templates—and that cuts through the noise in big presentations to donors. We're trying to inspire donors to join us in this journey and give generously to our cause. So it does matter how you present things, and Katie does it crisply and beautifully.”
When your team is overstretched, fundraising is no fun.
Partner with me and get the peace of mind of knowing you’re on your way to exceeding your number and realizing your strategic vision.
Would you like to know more?