From small development offices to larger operations, our metrics and support lay the groundwork for revolutionary giving.
Fundraising
If you want to see people squirm, bring up fundraising in a board meeting, admin meeting, or just casual conversation. For many people involved in leadership in independent schools, raising money–serious money–is one of the most difficult and intimidating tasks on the list.
BetterSchools approaches fundraising from a simple premise: People who do not see themselves as “fundraisers” will not be able to raise funds. Sound too simple? It is simple, yet many people whose job it is to raise money for their schools, whether as professionals or volunteers, just can’t do it.
Oh, they can organize the events, or collect the boxtops, or line up speakers. But comfortably sitting down with someone who has the ability to make transformative gifts to the school is not in the wheelhouse of too many development professionals.
BetterSchools fundraising services target two main objectives:
- We help you to identify people within the “universe” of your school who have the interest in potentially becoming transformative, sustained givers. Not just for this or that campaign, but for a generation.
- We help you to identify people who will embrace the identity of “fundraiser,” increasing their capacity to continuously produce returns on your development dollars.
Campaign Management and Training
Schools with major capital needs often require the help of skilled professionals to design, manage, and even to execute a large campaign. BetterSchools engages with schools across the full spectrum of campaign needs, from determining readiness to actively soliciting lead gifts. Simultaneously, we work to increase the capacity of a school’s advancement office and development professionals, while providing guidance and support for volunteer campaign leaders, too.
Chief Development Officer Search and Support
BetterSchools utilizes a broad network of fundraising professionals in independent schools, higher ed, and other non-profit entities to recruit and place highly skilled fundraisers. In addition to actively searching, we train newly placed CDOs and their heads in the effective use of the Dashboard to ensure a rapid rate of return on the staffing investment.
METRICS AND SUPPORT: THE DASHBOARD
Our trademarked fundraising metrics system, developed by Executive Consultant Jason Lewis, enables boards, heads of school, and chief development officers to systematically organize and manage high level fundraising activity on a variety of levels. The Dashboard eliminates the uncertainty of constantly wondering and waiting for substantial gifts to materialize by turning the focus on the process by which those gifts are being pursued.
Used by nearly a dozen independent schools, assisted by BetterSchools consulting and training, the Dashboard is transforming the way schools raise money in the New Economy.
