October 2023

Hello Cathy,

It has been clear to me for years that many of my clients needed more support for their fundraising than I have been able to give. Not being a fundraising expert, I've not been able to offer much except some training on the board's role in fundraising or a referral to a fundraising specialist.

But now I have teamed up with two excellent fundraising consultants to create a new program that combines governance training with real guidance for preparing and executing a fundraising program.

Designed specifically for organizations with less than $250,000 in annual donations, the Level Up Nonprofit Accelerator (LUNA) is a six month program that takes participants from soup to nuts from the basics of board governance to the best methods of modern fundraising practices - all completely free to the organizations.

That's right. The whole program has been underwritten by a generous donor.

You can learn much more about the curriculum, my partners, scholarship criteria, and requirements at our website www.lunaexperience.org. If you are interested, please complete the short application on the apply tab and we will be in touch!

As always, you can reach out to me directly if you have any questions. I'd love to help you Level Up!

Cathy

P.S. We have converted The Board Doctor's Community into a support platform for the Level-Up Nonprofit Accelerator, called The LUNA Experience. With discussion platforms, a resource library, and direct messaging, participants have a great deal of live support in addition to the course material. You can check out the public spaces in our community here.

Many thanks to LUNA partner Glenn Kaufhold for introducing me to this great online resource!

Featured Resource:

StrongNonprofits Toolkit

We can all agree that healthy organizations require solid financial management practices, but if a board member or new staff person has never had any real financial training, then how are they to build or run the systems? Well, the Wallace Foundation - together with BDO's Nonprofit and Grantmaker Advisor Practice - worked together to build an online resource library with training videos, downloadable templates, and self-assessments covering budgeting, cash flow, operations, data and analysis, audit readiness, and governance/ strategy. All free. Click through to check it out!

In one seven-hour retreat, the board members and staff of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust decided to change their name, committed to a new direction that involved more public education and outreach, and began crafting a new approach to funding. Phew! Going forward, the Guadalupe River Conservancy will be less dependent on government grants by developing a fundraising program to raise unrestricted operational dollars and will launch a capital campaign for a new nature center. There is no better feeling than helping a wonderful organization like this develop their shared vision and reach for the stars!