Part 1 of 3: Describing Your Institution

The following will help us ground ourselves:

• Your Mission Statement (a brief description of an organization’s purpose and how it serves audiences through the types of products or services it provides them with). Use this frame as a start: “Our mission is to ____(what)_____ for ___(who)______ by ___(how)______.” Mission Statement Samples: https://www.giveforms.com/blog/10-killer-mission-statement-examples-for-nonprofits

• Your Vision Statement (the future you intend to create; how you’re going to change the world; the destination); Vision Statement Samples: https://topnonprofits.com/vision-statements/

• Your Core Values Statement (the guiding principles for which you stand; the ideals you refuse to compromise as you conduct your mission in pursuit of your vision); Values Statement Examples: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/seven-nonprofit-core-values-examples-alyssa-conrardy/

• The "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" is the thing that is going to get donors really excited related to your Mission, Vision, and Values; Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal Examples: https://www.rhythmsystems.com/bhag-big-hairy-audacious-goal

• What are your nonprofit’s current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (a "SWOT" analysis) as you see them, including perceived competitors?; SWOT analysis guidance can be found here: https://donorbox.org/nonprofit-blog/nonprofit-swot-analysis

Part 2 of 3: Your Financials

These are not mandatory—but can be helpful in future discussions:

• What’s Your Size?
  Micro: annual gross receipts less than $500,000
  Small: annual gross receipts greater than $500,000 but less than $10 million per year
  Medium: annual gross receipts greater than $10 million but less than $50 million per year
  Large: annual gross receipts greater than $50 million but less than $100 million per year
  Mega: annual gross receipts greater than $100 million per year

• Key Financials (e.g. pain points…for example, what is driving you to want to fundraise? Aspirations, or funding gaps, or both?)

• And, out-of-the-starting-gate needs as you all see them right now (e.g. scholarship, current and future programming, building space, larger capital reserves, etc.)

• Your Budget for the work ahead (See examples of the work below)

Part 3 of 3: Getting Down to Tactics!

• Board Development/Composition Design (developing a rubric; learn how to find and recruit board members, etc.)

• Capital Campaign Design (Feasibility Study, Gift Pyramid, Strategy Work, Goal-setting, pre- and post-Campaign work) …with five excellent examples of a campaign case statement here in this link: How to Write a Nonprofit Case for Support (Including Examples) (silentpartnersoftware.com)

• Communications/Marketing to your constituency (short sales pieces, website design, e-mail marketing, small salon events, regular postings to social media, guesting on podcasts, etc.)

• Database Management (defining the right database...and starting/migrating to that database)

• Defining the following: Principal Gifts/Major Gifts/Planned Gifts/Use of Endowments/Current-use/Engagement and Alignment with Donors

• Engaging Events (designing, creating, and de-briefing on the "right" event to promote your cause)

• Family Philanthropy/Grantmaking/Legacy Building with individuals and families (designing a protocol/curriculum and engaging top families in the conversation)

• Gift Acceptance Policy, including (non-cash) assets to donate, and how to donate them (creating and editing something that feels right for the institution, identifying "helpers" as well)

• Moves Management (defining what cultivating or stewardship phases donors and prospective donors are in---and engaging them accordingly)

• Professional Advisor Cultivation and Stewardship (what are you doing to engage trusts & estates attorneys, CPAs, family offices, and wealth advisors---and meeting them where they are?)

• Volunteer Management ("best practices" regarding charitable giving helpers, and it does not always revolve around direct solicitation...how can they help implement what has been set in motion, like the above?)