FAQs

The Heller Fundraising Group is a small, smart, and versatile consulting company that works exclusively with nonprofits to help them break free of organizational challenges, limiting beliefs, and donor fatigue to raise more money than ever before.

The Heller Fundraising Group is located in New York City. We help nonprofit clients throughout the United States, and, in fact, internationally. Our Project leaders will meet with you in-person when needed. Recent clients have been located in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Dakota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Maine, New Hampshire and more. For a full list of clients, please visit our Client Page.

The Heller Fundraising Group provides both strategic guidance and hands-on support for your capital campaign, feasibility study, major gift program, leadership training, and development office assessment. For more detailed information about our services, please visit Capital Campaigns, Feasibility Studies, Major Gift Programs and Fundraising Training. We DO NOT raise the money for you but rather help you do it better yourself.

Just to be clear, neither of these are staff members of your organization. Some nonprofits pay professional fundraisers (who need to be legally bonded) a percentage of the money they raise, but the Association of Fundraising Professionals and other industry leaders say that is a bad practice for several reasons. In addition, according to Candid.org, some grant makers will deny the grant just for this reason.

The consulting services at Heller Fundraising Group are different - we train and guide you and your staff to excel at fundraising so that you can strengthen your nonprofit from the inside.

You’re in the right place. The first step is to talk with us so we can learn about your needs to determine if we can be helpful. Contact us here.

Fundraising consultants will usually charge either a daily rate, monthly retainer, or project based fee depending on the type of project and scope of work. The fundraising consultant's fee structure should be clearly stated in the contract.

Not often. The best consultants know many, many wealthy individuals but just don’t go around introducing them everywhere. Instead, the Heller Fundraising Group will help you build your Natural Networks.

Here are four questions to ask a prospective fundraising consultant:

• Does their team specialize in the fundraising you need, ie. capital campaigns, major gift programs, etc.?

• How will they work with you to reach your goals?

• Will they do the fundraising for you (we hope not, in most cases)?

• Does it matter if they have worked in your community before?

• How are their fees set up?

Fundraising is not easy. There are two key things that we help with as consultants: If your organization is new to fundraising, we will guide you to ramp up a strong program. If you already have a robust program and have growth needs - for instance, a capital campaign - we will provide the strategic extra help and guidance for this additional fundraising.

A fundraising consultant is a solo practitioner. A fundraising consulting firm has access to a selection of consultants who have been added to the team for their specialties such as capital campaign and major gift experience, foundation grant writing, etc. Heller Fundraising Group has expert consultants with decades of experience in specific sectors including social justice, education, arts, environmental, social services and religious organizations. Please visit our team page to learn more about our talented consultants and staff.

Yes, if they can meet the following criteria:

• Identify a key staff member to be our main contact

• Make sure that person has at least 4 hours/week to work on fundraising

• An undeniable need for more money

• A budget to pay us

Geez. It’s really an ongoing process that needs attention every week and every month for most nonprofits to have sustainable donation revenue. That said, if you are going to start up a Major Gift Program (add link), expect 6 months before you can really start to see results. For a Capital Campaign it can take 18-48 months to raise the money you need.

Perhaps! It depends on your level of expertise and whether you want to learn new ways of doing things. Targeted training on specific fundraising challenges can be the best way to help development professionals, executive directors, and board members. The Heller Fundraising Group provides transformational training on Capital Campaigns and Major Gift Fundraising to nonprofit staff members, boards of directors, campaign committees, and groups of nonprofit leaders.

Heller Fundraising Group training sessions are tailored to the needs and skill level of your organization – from introductory to advanced concepts. We train at all levels, but regardless we focus on both big picture concepts and deep details of how to take specific steps with your donors. Executive Directors, Development Directors, Major Gift Officers and Board Members will be given tools to evaluate fundraising and/or capital campaign readiness and will return to the office knowing the next steps to take for success.

A capital campaign is a focused effort to raise money above and beyond regular operating expenses. It usually happens over a period of years and when done effectively can galvanize attention on the future of the community. It can rally staff, board, donors, and community members around the important work you do and your even stronger ability to do this work once you have raised the campaign’s proposed money.

Campaigns can be focused on physical space, programmatic growth, or on endowment. Most commonly they are used for physical renovations or the purchase and construction of new space.All of these can be referred to as “capital campaigns”.

Your success depends on determining whether you are ready for a campaign (see Feasibility Studies), and then calculating the right dollar goal to put in front of the right donors with the right story about your growth.

Our company can help your nonprofit with all of these pieces of the campaign and much more you haven’t begun to think about. We’ve been there and can lead you successfully through the process. Read more about Capital Campaigns here.

Major Gifts are a distinct and important fundraising channel. When major gift programs are done right, fun is had by everyone! Donors become passionate about your organization and provide up to 80-90% of your annual support; Staff become more enthusiastic about their work because these relationships are powerful.

Our Major Gift work includes:

• Building a Major Gifts Tool Kit that organizes your program

• Teaching you the principles of major gift relationship building

• Providing hands-on training for your meetings with potential donors

• Coaching you and your team as you roll out your program

• And, congratulating you as the gifts come in and the relationships grow

Probably! Unless all 6 Elements of a Successful Campaign are in alignment, you need a feasibility study to plan for a successful result. Think of it as getting everything organized and tested for creating the best outcome. In fact, our experience shows it leads to stronger results.

Nonprofit leaders often wonder why a feasibility study is needed. We frequently get asked: “Can’t we just do without it since we’ll save money and time?” And, “Why bother since we’re committed to the new building and need a campaign anyway?” A feasibility study is not a separate activity from a campaign but it’s the vital first step. Our feasibility studies have not only been called exemplary but also provide the necessary sharp focus to get organized for a capital campaign. Our methodology to reach these goals involves meetings, interviews, and strategic actions that are carefully planned and scheduled to fit a tight timeline. Every action we take is geared toward engaging internal and external constituents in order to create shared ownership of your project by your community. This principle guides everything from our first meetings to learn about your leadership, to writing a case statement that includes the perspectives of key players, to how we conduct the interviews with an eye to inspiring prospective donors to get involved. Please visit Feasibility Studies for more information.

The answer is “YES” if the 6 Elements of a Successful Campaign listed below are in alignment. If they are not in alignment, the answer is “NO” and you need a feasibility study. Plain and simple.

• DOLLAR GOAL You have a significant building project, program growth, and/or endowment need and you have a specific budget to meet these needs.

• YOUR CASE You know how to connect these needs to a larger story about an even more powerful future for your community.

• DONORS You have strong relationships with at least 60 donors who could make the largest gifts to your campaign and know how you will reach your goal.

• LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE You have a group of community leaders (even 3-4 for starters) made up of board members and others who believe in this project and will help guide it to success.

• STAFF AND SYSTEMS You know who on your team will be responsible for soliciting gifts, thinking strategically about the campaign, and managing the documents and systems to keep things organized (or you are prepared to bring on additional help).

• TIMING You have figured out when to start your campaign, how long it will take, when you will “go public”..

Heller Fundraising Group is a team of experts who work with nonprofits that have operating budgets. Like many things in life that are worthwhile, money is required for success. If your organization does not have a budget for fundraising, there are online resources and tips available at the touch of a keystroke with Google.

YES. It is always possible. You will raise more money if you work with us and follow our advice. We stand by this statement. The main reasons you are not raising more money right now are:

• ORGANIZATION - Your campaign or major gift program is not yet organized effectively.

• YOUR STORY- There’s an issue in how you are telling your organization’s story to your donors.

• CONNECTIONS - You have not yet identified or connected with the members of your community to make the largest gifts, or you are talking with them but not in an effective way.

• TIME MANAGEMENT - There’s an issue with how your staff is spending their time.

Talk with us. Nonprofits need a clear plan of action to break through limiting beliefs and barriers to raise lots more money. We provide that plan and show you how to become a fundraising champion. Start with a free strategy session and become a fundraising champion.