
Bring Sage Social Impact’s 25 years of nonprofit fund development experience on board. Our managing consultant has been recruited to top agencies in urban and rural markets, enjoyed mentoring by some of the best in the industry, and raised $20 million for her causes. We specialize in bringing high-level development expertise to organizations that, due to size or location, do not typically have access to these resources.
Fund Development Services
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Development Planning
Sage Social Impact creates holistic donor and community engagement plans by uniting development and marketing efforts. Being able to conceptualize and manage the big picture - your supporters’ journey from first hearing about your organization to making their first gift to leaving a legacy - changes everything. Sage can create plans from existing data or perform needs assessment and market analysis. We specialize in cutting through development jargon and unneeded complexity, creating simplified, streamlined, actionable plans that deliver results. See the difference that holistic planning can create.
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Annual Giving
Increase cash flow to empower more good works with an integrated annual giving campaign that fuses print, digital, and in-person appeals. Sage Social Impact can help your organization develop themes, materials, and a plan of work aimed at acquiring new donors, retaining and advancing existing donors, and inspiring major donors to support your work. We help you insure that no opportunity falls through the cracks and that all donors, big and small, feel like part of the family, united by passion for your mission.
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Planned Giving
Sage Social Impact has been creating planned giving programs that convert for over twenty years. We have seen transformational results for organizations of all sizes, from large urban social service centers to rural animal welfare groups. The deep charitable intentions that motivate donors to leave a legacy is something we cherish, and our plans both inspire action and reflect a deep respect for individuals who choose to support their communities in perpetuity. Sage can create planned giving strategies, craft messaging and materials, or analyze existing efforts to help you better steward these special partners.
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Major Gifts
As your development efforts grow, it gets harder to manage individual relationships. Sage Social Impact specializes in donor stewardship and can help your organization implement systems to ensure that major investors remain engaged with your organization. We use our professional intuition combined with donor research to plan individual donor approaches and targeted asks. With decades of experience with a diversity of causes, Sage can provide insight into donors’ motivations and help you connect on a deeper level. We specialize in overcoming the fear of asking and helping your board and staff develop an authentic and relaxed way of being with important funding partners.
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Endowment and Capital Campaigns
Successful campaigns to ensure your work becomes a reliable resource for generations to come is the ultimate act of philanthropy, or love of humanity. But substantial fundraising campaigns are not as simple as impressive brochures and big asks. They take careful preparation and quiet work behind the scenes. Each organization and community is different. We can help you prepare for capital or endowment-building fundraising campaigns with advanced donor stewardship and marketing. Sage can also help you develop a plan of campaign, create motivated committees, and start asking.
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Private and Public Grants
Sage Social Impact specializes in motivational writing and budget presentation, targeting communications to funders’ key areas of concern. With experience working with both foundations and grant seekers, we have unique insight into the grantmaking process. We not only write winning proposals but seek to create ongoing relationships with institutional funders. Sage has an impressive track record with private foundation, corporate, and government grants, including regional public-private collaboratives. We can prepare or review federal proposals. We can also help smaller organizations with grant readiness.
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Acknowledgement and Retention
We feel strongly that all nonprofit organizations should have formal donor acknowledgement and retention plans, whether you are stewarding a handful of small donors or a large portfolio of major investors. Prompt and targeted gift acknowledgement is one of the most powerful tools nonprofit organization’s have to retain supporters. Sage Social Impact can help you create tiered acknowledgement and engagement strategies to nurture the spirit of philanthropy in donors big and small. We can also help you implement systems to ensure that no donor falls through the cracks or feels unappreciated.
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Board Development
We all know that nonprofit boards should play a significant role in fundraising, but we don’t always practice what we preach. Fund development is often left to staff, which contributes to burnout and leadership turnover. Sometimes one or two board members take on the entire group’s fundraising responsibilities, which quickly becomes exhausting. This is usually not due to lack of dedication. Real barriers exist that prevent action. Sage Social Impact can help with board education and creating action plans for full board participation in ensuring organizational financial sustainability.
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Staff Training and Advising
Why is there such a high turnover of development directors in the nonprofit sector? Because the expectations are enormous. Development staff must have expertise in diverse specialties, maintain substantial understanding of organizational finance, marketing, and program operations, and possess a unique mix of social and analytical talents. And if they fail, programs get cut. Sage Social Impact can help you hire and retain quality development staff with vetting, coaching, and direct support in implementing fundraising activities. See why supporting your development department is one of the best capacity-building investments you can make..
“I had to write to let you know that this is the best proposal I have ever reviewed by a mile. I wish everyone could be this clear. It makes our job so much easier.”
— U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
