Urban Alliance Foundation
Urban Alliance Foundation
CONSULTING AREA: Market study and strategic analysis
“Capacity Partners was invaluable in helping us to assess our strategic position relative to our financial plans — and in setting us on the right path to revise our strategic vision.”
– Mary Menell Zients, Board Chair and Founder, Urban Alliance Foundation
Background
Today, the Urban Alliance Foundation – which helps under-resourced students develop economic self-sufficiency — is a well-known nonprofit organization that has served more than 10,000 youth in the District of Columbia, Baltimore and Chicago. However, when its founder and Board of Directors turned to Capacity Partners for assistance back in 2004, it was still an emerging nonprofit, and they wanted to dramatically expand its reach. They needed an experienced consulting partner to assess and recommend fundraising and growth strategies.
Key Challenges
The organization had a solid base of foundation funders and large individual donors, but had reached a juncture in its evolution where it needed a more focused strategy for steady, sustainable growth.
Services Provided
Capacity Partners recommended an approach to strategic planning built around the concepts of “vision, visibility, and validation” and conducted in-depth research on fundraising options. We gave the Board essential insight into the organization’s fundraising potential and how rapidly it could expand.
Results
Capacity Partners recommended that the Urban Alliance Foundation clarify its vision, heighten its visibility, and validate its program success. Based on our guidance, the Board decided to undertake a yearlong capacity-building process, which provided a foundation for Urban Alliance’s future success.
Friends Community School
Friends Community School
CONSULTING AREA: Strategic planning counsel, Capital campaign counsel, and Software selection
“We felt daunted by the idea of raising 50 times our annual giving fund in our first capital campaign, but Capacity Partners’ expertise and leadership empowered our volunteers to exceed the fundraising goal.”
– Mary Kate O’Neill, Grounding Our Future Campaign Chair, Friends Community School
Background
This small, independent Quaker school purchased a property on which it planned to build a state-of-the-art green building.
Key Challenges
Faced with total construction costs of $6.8 million, the school needed to conduct a multi-million dollar capital campaign, yet its history of annual giving campaigns had never exceeded $35,000.
Services Provided
Capacity Partners performed a feasibility study, developed a comprehensive campaign strategy, wrote the case for support, conducted extensive prospect research, and provided on-going support.
Results
Working with a committed donor, we developed a winning proposal for a 3 to 1 challenge grant that motivated the entire community to raise most of the campaign goal – nearly $3 million – in just six months.
Jane Goodall Institute
Jane Goodall Institute
CONSULTING AREA: Electronic database screening analysis and Major gift prospect identification
“In the infancy of our campaign, Capacity Partners provided analysis and strategic direction. They became part of our team and gave us the confidence to move forward with our ambitious goals.”
– Lindsay Hance Kosnik, Former VP, Jane Goodall Institute
Background
This renowned international nonprofit hired Capacity Partners to evaluate its capacity for launching a legacy campaign to fulfill the vision of its charismatic leader, Jane Goodall.
Key Challenges
Founded in 1977 by primatologist Jane Goodall, the Institute had excellent name recognition and many loyal supporters. However, as the organization prepared to celebrate its 30th anniversary, its development program was overly focused on smaller donations solicited via direct marketing, We needed to find a way to significantly expand the fundraising reach of this major educational/scientific nonprofit so that it could continue to grow and pursue its mission.
Services Provided
Working with two vendors of data-mining services, Capacity Partners designed and implemented an exhaustive assessment of the giving capacity of supporters. The resulting prospect analysis included evaluating 100,000+ potential donors in order to identify major gift opportunities. The process pinpointed the incredible possibilities of many potential high-level donors who already supported Goodall’s work, but who had not been cultivated for larger gifts.
Results
Capacity Partners prepared the Institute for high-end donor cultivation, putting a major gift program at the top of its agenda and creating a framework for an ambitious campaign based on intense cultivation of the 2,000 key donors identified through the prospect analysis as having very high major gifts potential.