Since 2005 I have provided independent consulting to small nonprofit organizations on the critical areas of fundraising, communications, and organizational planning. Building off years of laboring as a volunteer, board member, and staffperson in small nonprofits, I developed a working philosophy that helps groups to harness these sometimes-daunting organizational tasks to build the energy and cohesiveness of their working group. I have worked with producers of grassroots media, activist efforts, community organizations, and church-based groups on projects ranging from grantwriting to event planning, guerilla marketing to donor prospecting. Depending on your organization's needs, I can help you at a level of planning, implementation, or a combination of both. I especially love to work on weaving efforts together -- so that you don't just hold a great event, but also think about how it can help you identify and follow up with new allies and supporters.
Scroll down or click on these links for Examples of my Work, My Vision & Philosophy, Testimonies from Clients, My Staff, Board & Volunteer Experinece, and How to Start.
Here are some examples of projects I have taken on:
» Prometheus Radio Project -- donor database upgrade: PRP had a unique database, designed in-house, that allowed them to do excellent tracking of their constituents relationships and interests, but very little professional-level donor tracking. I worked with outreach and development staff to identify needs, and liaised with the contracted programmer to implement the necessary upgrades. We also took the opportunity to coordinate a fast and furious data cleanup effort, to create and communicate protocol to the growing staff on disciplined use of the tool, and to coach the development staff in the relationship logic behind standard donor functionality. Read testimony from Prometheus>>
» River District Community Garden -- transition from staff-driven to volunteer-driven model: This uniquely structured cooperative garden was the brainchild of one visionary woman and had been heavily resourced for several years by a full-time staffperson. The parent organization had made a decision to scale down its programming staff and redirect funds into capacity building and planning. This meant the effort had to "grow its feet" quickly! I worked with veteran volunteers to articulate roles and responsibilities, establish good habits in terms of meetings, decisionmaking, and documentation, and empower older members to take leadership in bringing in new energy and building relationships with the community.
» Philadelphia Public School Notebook -- second annual fundraising gala: after one incredibly successful 10-year anniversary gala, this community-based newspaper wanted to make a tradition of it. I worked with the event planning committee from start to finish to develop a sustainable and replicable workplan, to build a set of spreadsheets to track the different streams of money and people involved in the event, to coach and cheerlead the volunteers in their recruitment of sponsors and major donors, and to develop programming that resonated with their mission and would have the potential to generate excitement for years to come. The event was a success and will continue this year -- click here for details! Read testimony from The Notebook>>
In all of this work I am consistently asking, how can a workplan be developed and implemented in such a way as to aid in the ongoing building of organizational cohesion and clarity?
Often we speak about organizations as if there is a self-evident way they are supposed to work, like a car or some other machine. But there is no such state -- organizations are just efforts of communal passion, made up of the idiosyncratic individuals involved. To build sustainable organizations, then, takes delicate labor and persistent attention to the balance of relationships and the unfolding of mission.
Often groups don't think they have time to focus at this level; it is seen as competing for time with the mundane levels of organizational stewardship. As a result the potential of their vision and members is not fully realized. In my work as staff, volunteer, and board member, I have found that the tangible tasks of fundraising and connecting with the outside world can be mobilized toward this bigger building of harmony in a way that creates energy. My goal as a consultant is to help your group seize this opportunity in any specific task you have before you. The great thing about my approach is that it makes it both more rewarding and more successful -- these tasks can be daunting when they are one of several dozen items on an unwieldy to-do list, but when thought of as the windows and pathways of an evolving collective project, they are set in a new frame, and become a source of energy that reconnects busy volunteers and overworked staff with the reason they initially got involved. Hallelujah!
From Anthony Mazza, Administrative Director of Prometheus Radio Project: Amy is a one of the best listeners I've ever worked with, in any context. Like many grassroots projects, infrastructure and organizational systems at Prometheus developed "organically" over the years, often in response to specific time-sensitive demands rather than a cohesive overarching plan. By asking good questions and listening actively, Amy helped us identify shortcomings in our systems. She then helped us implement sustainable resolutions that built on the the years of activists' input and experience that informed our past work -- in contrast to the tendency to start over from scratch based on cookie-cutter development practices that probably would not have addressed our day-today reality very well... Prometheus is known for a very face-to-face style of organizing, which offers a lot of opportunity for the cultivation of new donors. But in the past, Prometheus was not very good at moving these relationships forward. Because of ineffective internal communication, this myriad of positive experience did not inform our donor development strategy, except in the most informal of ways. The recommendations that Amy made to improve our database enable more of our people -- including staff, interns and volunteers -- to participate in the process of donor development, while giving our new Development Director the information he needs to foster these relationships in a more meaningful way.
From Paul Socolar, Editor & Director of the Philadelphia Public School Notebook: In coordinating our second major fundraising event, Amy brought a sophisticated understanding of the needs of grassroots organizations and focused on the role of our fundraiser not just in terms of money raised but of building the organization's capacity. To do this effectively, she asked lots of smart questions throughout the process to make sure we were staying on target and getting at our key objectives. The project was successful both at bringing in the money we wanted and at building the community around our organization, and Amy left us with an array of systems and strategies that we have continued to use in subsequent years. Besides being a real pleasure to work with, Amy has the rare skill of being able to think long-term and big-picture while staying on top of the details that need to get done.
Staff Roles:
» Development Director, The Other Side Magazine -- December 2001-September 2004. Oversaw the implementation of an extensive fundraising program for this independent, national-circulation publication. Specific duties included management of annual $250,000 departmental budget, collaborative copywriting, data management, donor cultivation, grant seekind and management, and supervision of a full time assistant, a part time webmaster, and a half-dozen interns and volunteers.
» Development Coordinator, Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty -- June 2000-September 2001. Researched and wrote grant applications for grassroots advocacy organization.
Volunteer Roles:
» Board Member, New Society Educational Foundation -- Fall 2001-present. Serveon the working board of this all-volunteer organization, which provides fiscal sponsorship, mentoring and small grants to soical change initiatives.
» Bookkeeper, Independent Media Center of Philadelphia -- March 2001-June2005. Also served as a volunteer grantwriter and continue to advise on both levels.
» Core Collective Member, Lancaster Avenue Autonomous Space -- December 2001-June 2005. Served as a founding member of this all-volunteer community space for media and activism in West Philadelphia.
» Coordinator, Media Building Block of the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia -- Fall 2002-June 2005. Worked to bridge the business and the activist perspective.
» Board Member and Secretary, Calvary United Methodist Church Trustees -- January 2001-January 2005. Served during the initiation and establishment of the Calvary Center for Community and Culture, a sister nonprofit that functioned to formalize and guide the overlap between the church's mission and community-led work.
» Board Member, Calvary Center for Community and Culture -- January 2002-January 2005. See above.
» Board Member and Secretary, Life Center Association Community Land Trust -- Spring 2001-Summer 2003.
What fundraising and communication projects, tasks or challenges are before you? Send as much or as little detail as you have to amy@amylorraine.net (remove spaces). I am happy to spend some time corresponding with you via phone, email and in person meetings to get a sense of whether I would be able to help your group in its work. If it seems like I would, we'd work together to come up with a workplan and contract, including a set of goals that we could revisit together through the course of the project.