We meet you right where you are and roll up our sleeves. To serve, strengthen, and sustain.
The ingredients of success must be present in the very beginning of a consulting relationship. Ellen Cokinos commits first to fully understand the current position and unique environment of your organization – to meet you there, roll up her sleeves and go to work for you. You keep doing what you’re doing and we start making things happen – actually having fun doing this together.
We’ll offer you the benefits of our full array of services and everything we’ve learned in more than 30 years of nonprofit experience.
Sometimes this means giving you support while we stay on the periphery of your organizations. Other times, you’ll need us right in the middle of things, providing guidance based on wisdom we’ve gathered while witnessing the birth of nonprofits, protecting groups during their infant years, modeling good behavior and planning for maturity during organizational adolescence, and managing growth and change during the more advanced stages of organizational life.
We offer these services and many others that complement them—
Click any of the following:
Fundraising Counsel
Our philosophy.
Fundraisers manufacture the oxygen that a nonprofit needs. Their success often defines how well, how far and how long an organization can run in its race to realize its vision. Success is determined by informed research and planning, astute implementation, supportive leadership of staff and volunteers, the compelling expression of its cause, and the motivation and gratitude given to funders of all sizes and types. We enjoy nothing more than equipping organizations to win big in the highly competitive arena of advancement.
What we do.
Assist organization in analyzing fund development needs.
Identify facility needs for capital improvements or new facility designs while adhering to realistic timelines, budgets, and goals.
Outline customized fundraising methods targeted for each organization’s mission and donors.
Create a detailed fund development plan based on diversifying the organization’s funding base and best provisions for continuous financial sustainability.
Create a well-developed case for support the captures the passion and needs of the organization. Give guidance on the preparation for campaign proposals to meet foundation guidelines and suggest follow-up strategies for submitted proposals to donors.
Work with program staff to document an evaluation component to measure
organizational effectiveness.Help determine and make recommendations on strong volunteer leadership involvement, including identifying committee and fundraising chairs.
Serve as a consultant to a fundraising campaign and as an active resource to the executive management and volunteer leadership.
Determine fundraising goal; how many gifts are needed at what size and project the number of donor prospects realized to reach the goal. Review current donor files and donation histories to help determine realistic prospect lists of potential donors. Work with the campaign chair and committees to develop and rate foundations, corporations and individual prospects for funding. Develop named giving opportunities that maximize and recognize donors.
Review current internal systems for recording information about each donor and gift prospect and develop a master reporting format to track all prospects.
Assist in the planning of fundraising events that complement the overall fund development strategy.
Our philosophy.
An organization can never be better than its leadership. So the smartest leaders are always learning, expanding their own capacities, refining their skills and strengthening their boards and staff members. Our experience encompasses work with nonprofit boards, executive officers, program directors, development officers and line personnel.
What we do.
Conduct board development/management training to facilitate collaboration between executive leadership and the board.
Clarify board roles, responsibilities, and relationships with staff.
Conduct or facilitate orientation of new board members.
Introduce methods and processes for building a strong board.
Structure the board to capitalize on the talents of each member.
Design a process for recruiting new board members and cultivating leadership within the board, and suggest leaders in the community to fulfill key roles. Assist in approaching candidates when requested.
Evaluate current board strength and culture and suggest enhancements where needed.
Establish board accountability and performance reviews.
Improve structure of committees and overall communication.
Facilitate problem solving, decision-making, and creative activities among board members.
Assist the board of directors with developing and adopting policies and procedures for the implementation of succession plans for key positions.
Provide executive coaching to board and leadership staff upon request.
Our philosophy.
From the earliest days of a nonprofit’s life—even as a vision and mission are being formulated—experienced, objective counsel proves invaluable to organizational leaders. Our experience includes planning and development assignments for nonprofits at all stages of maturity, in many fields of endeavor, and varied parts of the nation. Here’s what we can do:
What we do.
Identify methods for reaffirming the organizational mission, vision and core values.
Create a roadmap for arriving where the organization would like to be in short and long term.
Perform an analysis to determine the organization’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities and recommendations on how to address them.
Develop programmatic strategic goals and measureable objectives.
Collect and examine useful data through a variety of methods and sources and provide counsel on how to translate this into effective fundraising strategy.
Construct annual fundraising plans and assist with implementation.
Review current marketing materials and website to determine the need, scope and cost of materials such as brochures, pledge cards, and visual presentations.
Evaluate the best options for resources through in-kind support, staffing and board relationships and work with the team from conception through completion.
Design and implement structural program improvements that promote long-term growth, financial stability, and program vitality.
Audit operations to gauge departmental vulnerabilities and work with leadership to apply sound organizational-development principles and management practices that expand the organization's capacity to create and realize its vision for the future
Develop a Crisis Communications Plan. Train organization on how to manage relationships with media.
Determine market positioning and identity of organization. Define target markets and methods of access to each market.
Assist in planning for and implementation of useful volunteer programs
Develop strategies for collaborations with for-profit as well as nonprofit enterprises to advance the organizational mission.
