Communio

Case Study

Securing six-figure gifts through targeted
research and customized proposals

Through careful data analytics, Communio helps churches launch full-circle relationship ministries that assist people during every stage of a relationship: dating, engaged, married (strengthening) and married (in-crisis). After the project’s incubation period resulted in a 28 percent drop in the divorce rate in Duval County, Florida, Communio launched as a stand-alone organization.

As a startup organization, the Communio team needed to focus on building up their program offerings and cultivating major gifts, so they brought American Philanthropic on board to build and maintain a foundation solicitation program and assist with donor research. In just the first six months, American Philanthropic helped Communio submit more than $2,000,000 in catered grant requests—which resulted in more than $500,000 in giving in the same time period.  American Philanthropic was able to provide customized guidance and help Communio execute, not just strategize, a foundations program by providing regular follow-up, writing tailored requests for each prospective funder, and keeping everyone on track to meet important deadlines.

In addition to the foundations work, American Philanthropic also provided carefully vetted profiles of prospective individual donors. While making plans to host a small event in one of their launch cities, Communio reached out to all the donor prospects we provided. One of them—who had not had any previous interaction with the organization—not only attended the event, but also pledged to support the project with a six-figure gift onsite.

Through targeted outreach, catered grant requests, and customized guidance, American Philanthropic was able to take over vital, long-term fundraising projects that enabled Communio’s leadership to focus on building the major donor and foundation relationships that result in strongest giving and the healthiest development programs.

 

American Philanthropic is registered as fundraising counsel or as a fundraising consultancy in all states that require such registration. This means that we are not “fundraisers”: we do not ask people for money on our clients’ behalf, make personal introductions, make phone calls, or otherwise have direct personal contact with your donors or donor prospects. We tee you up to do those things, and to do them more effectively, by advising you, coaching you, and providing the services outlined in this proposal. Our goal is to help you build your development program so that it becomes stronger and more sustainable, and to put you in position to build your own strong, personal relationships with funders.