Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the cornerstone of successful marketing and fundraising campaigns. My strategic planning process helps teams identify the project objectives, align the objectives with the organization’s mission, develop strategies and tactics for reaching stated objectives, and evaluate completed projects to understand outcomes and plan for the future.
Annual Plan for
College Annual Giving Office
Client | Westminster College
Strategic plan that aligned department objectives with the team’s resources to increase donor engagement and produce measurable results.
Project Highlights
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I employ data-informed decision-making and my knowledge of project management to identify attainable objectives and develop actionable strategies and tactics to accomplish the objectives with the available resources.
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I have overseen the launch an annual management of a donor recognition society for a small liberal arts college. The program included data management, mail solicitations, emails, in-person and virtual events, donor stewardship activities, and program evaluations.
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I have created print and digital fundraising campaigns including drafting and designing the appeals, collaborating with colleagues, managing data, coordinating with vendors, and managing the project budget.
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I have worked as a project manager with diverse teams and projects using the traditional project management approach and several different digital project management software tools. I excel at motivating team members to reach their full potential and collaborate effectively.
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I am experienced in managing annual department budgets, ensuring that individual projects come in under budget, and demonstrating the return on investment for how budgeted funds are spent.
Excerpt from the Annual Giving Office Strategic Plan
Project Details
As the Director of Fundraising Marketing and Communication at Westminster College, I created and implemented a strategic plan to reach the fundraising and engagement goals of the Annual Giving team. I allocated budget and time efficiently to achieve objectives aligned with the Office of Institutional Advancement's priorities.
Throughout the strategic planning process, I identified our team’s key objectives and created strategies and tactics to reach them. Our strategies included collaborating across teams in the department to achieve shared goals, implementing new programs to address key performance indicators, strategically growing existing programs, and discontinuing programs that were not aligned with the objectives.
Activities included in the project
Identified objectives aligned with department priorities.
Conducted data benchmarking for key performance indicators.
Developed implementation plans for new programs.
Allocated annual budget and human resources to projects.
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Outcomes
Successfully implemented three new crowdfunding campaigns, increased participation in existing programs, increased response rates on direct mail appeals, and implemented a new donor stewardship software.
Giving Society Implementation Plan
Client | Westminster College
Implementation plan for the donor recognition society included a review of previous society communications, re-branding, and development of solicitation and stewardship activities.
Project Highlights
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I have worked with a variety of small businesses and non-profit organizations to create a consistent brand identity that supports and enhances their work.
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I employ data-informed decision-making and my knowledge of project management to identify attainable objectives and develop actionable strategies and tactics to accomplish the objectives with the available resources.
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I am experienced at data management and segmenting audiences to receive targeted and personalized communications.
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As part of the initial project scoping, I identify data points that can be consistently reported and yield actionable insights for the organization or project team. At the conclusion of each project, I conduct an evaluation using those data points and collect additional notes and impressions from the project team to inform future work.
Excerpt from the strategic plan for the Giving Society Implementation Project
Project Details
In the fall of 2021, the Office of Institutional Advancement at Westminster College identified the need to re-launch their giving recognition society to steward annual donors through the donor pipeline to major gifts.
I led the project team through a re-branding process, integrated marketing plan, and implementation process for the re-launched giving society – engaging relevant internal stakeholders throughout the process. The launch year programming included multiple direct mail pieces and four stewardship events. Within the first six months, the society grew by 37% and included 42 new donor households.
Activities included in the project
Reviewed previous society communications.
Identified prospective donors.
Developed stewardship and solicitation communications.
Planned a series of stewardship events.
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Outcomes
In the first six months of the society programming, there was a 37% increase in membership, 42 new donor households in 6 months, and the average email open rate was over 90%.
Strategic Growth for Day of Giving
Client | Westminster College
Identification and implementation of strategic program growth for annual Day of Giving.
Project Highlights
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I employ data-informed decision-making and my knowledge of project management to identify attainable objectives and develop actionable strategies and tactics to accomplish the objectives with the available resources.
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I have worked as a project manager with diverse teams and projects using the traditional project management approach and several different digital project management software tools. I excel at motivating team members to reach their full potential and collaborate effectively.
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I have created print and digital fundraising campaigns including drafting and designing the appeals, collaborating with colleagues, managing data, coordinating with vendors, and managing the project budget.
Project Details
In 2021, I coordinated a record-breaking Day of Giving with the Westminster College Office of Institutional Advancement. Following that success, I led our team through the planning process for the 2022 Day of Giving to capitalize on the strengths from the prior year and achieve measured growth commensurate with the capacity of our donor base and the project team’s resources.
Our team identified growth opportunities within the existing program including increasing the number of campus projects, new engagement programming for ambassadors, an on-campus event, and a student-centered activity. The Annual Giving team collaborated across the campus and successfully implemented the identified programs to increase the number of donations once again.
Activities included in the project
Project planning and implementation for strategic and measured growth.
Conducted surveys of internal and external stakeholder groups to inform
project growth.Analyzed donation and engagement data from the previous year and
adjusted programming.Collaborated with a current faculty and staff member to develop fundraising campaigns for their priorities.
Leveraged a limited increase in budget resources to grow the program.
Reported on the project’s KPIs.
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Outcomes
Worked with 18 different campus partners to set a record number of donations to the day of giving campaign.
The full program is still being evaluated; please contact me for more information.
Looking for more?
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See samples of my work in non-profit fundraising communications.
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My diverse communication experience used to develop comprehensive plans.
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I design intentionally by combining aesthetics and functionality.
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See my work with internal stakeholders who are critical to organizational success.
