Does your fundraising program need to be better positioned for future success?
Then consider a fundraising assessment by Catalyst Consulting Services to examine your organization’s strengths and opportunities for growth.
What is a development assessment?
An evaluation of an organization’s essential fundraising elements – including organizational structure, personnel, and procedures; revenue streams, fundraising strategies and tactics, and donor relations; board structure and volunteer engagement; case for support and relevant materials; and data management and software.
What are the steps of a development assessment?
A development assessment typically has three steps or phases in which information is gathered to provide the foundation for the creation of a development plan.
- Discovery
When we hold in-depth discussions with the organization’s CEO/Executive Director, the development director, and other development staff. These discussions provide insight into the organization’s fundraising culture, infrastructure, procedures, and plans. During this phase, we also examine data management, interview stakeholders and benchmark with similar organizations to help establish realistic benchmarks for your fundraising program.
- Analysis of Data
Based on the information and insights gathered from the discovery phase, the data is analyzed and a summary of the preliminary findings is provided to the leaders. Our analysis will identify strengths of current fundraising activities and areas for growth. This report will state the strengths and opportunities around mission, organization reputation, fundraising leadership, donor loyalty, resources for fundraising, and giving trends. It will also suggest the effectiveness of various fundraising tactics, processes, and communication vehicles.
- Reporting
Based on feedback from the meeting with leaders, our written report will include an executive summary, method, findings and conclusions, and recommendations. The recommendations become the foundation for a development plan.
Catalyst Consulting Services would be happy to discuss your specific situation and help you determine whether a development assessment is appropriate for your organization. Please call 813-839-2282 or send a message to mturman@catalystcs.org to begin the conversation.