HOW DO WE RAISE MORE MONEY?

CASE STUDY

Centre for Civil Society

Every nonprofit struggles with the challenge of funding its mission. How do you build revenue streams capable of sustaining your organization? How can direct mail, planned giving, foundation solicitations, donor events, the Web, and social media be used to put your organization on a stronger financial footing?

The key is to build a balanced development program that reflects the philanthropic marketplace. There are no magic bullets. Planning, consistent execution, and experience are the keys to raising more money.

CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY:

The Centre for Civil Society (CCS) is an innovative India-based nonprofit organization that has been recognized by the University of Pennyslvania, Milton Friedman, and others for its efforts to improve education, help entrepreneurs, and bring about more transparent governance in India. But in order to reach all of its goals, CCS needed to strengthen its organizational capacity through the creation of a more robust development program.

American Philanthropic came on board in summer 2010. We worked with CCS's leadership to create a multi-year development plan that evaluated where the organization stood, identified the most likely tactics for increasing donor revenue, and suggested ways to integrate new development work with the organization's programming. American Philanthropic researched and profiled potential American, British, and European funding partners for CCS to approach. And we helped CCS begin to strengthen its brand in the U.S. through a series of events for opinion-shapers, media, and philanthropists.

As a result of the nine-month engagement, CCS's new development director now has a well-thought-out development plan to follow, and CCS has started to raise funds from, and build relationships with, dozens of newly identified donors and donor prospects.

RELATED SERVICES:

• Strategic development planning.
• Development-program audit.
• Philanthropic marketplace analysis.
• Messaging development.
• Grant writing and proposal creation.
• Planned giving strategies.
• Direct mail strategies.
• Customized donor prospect research.
• Event advising and planning.