Successful fundraising is founded upon the ability to build meaningful relationships with donors and make a strong case for your cause.

Recent industry data confirms that when an organization’s communications strategies are clear and focused, its fundraising dollars increase substantially. Bowman Development Solutions strives to help nonprofits who want to grow their fundraising income and enhance their exposure in the community. In addition to advising our clients, we are also able to conduct work on behalf of the organizations we represent. Samples of areas of expertise include:

 

Event Planning

Successful events can not only raise important funding to support an organization’s mission but, if executed well, can also recruit new corporate and individual donors, cultivate current donors, and leverage media coverage to better promote an agency’s brand to the general public. Bowman Development Solutions has spent more than decade planning large-scale, “signature” fundraising events, coordinating every detail from sponsorship recruitment to audio/visual needs; from logistical considerations to marketing and collateral materials. Our goal is to deliver top-shelf events for our clients; functions that will position them as leaders in their field.

Click here for a news clip of an event organized by Megan. Click here to see photos from other events coordinated and managed by Bowman Development Solutions.

Grant Writing

While the majority of nonprofit donations are made from individuals, foundations provide a critical component to a nonprofit’s fundraising portfolio. Grants can support operational and program-specific needs. BDS embraces a relationship-building model to our grant writing process. We focus our energies on the research, writing and execution of the grants themselves, as well as work towards building opportunities to meet with decision makers when possible. BDS will suggest foundations whose initiatives mirror an agency’s mission, and we are able to write grants ourselves if clients are unable to do so. We recognize that many of today’s nonprofits are being asked to do more with less, and we are ready, willing, and able to roll up our sleeves and do the work for you!


Media Relations

“Positive ink” can help an organization disseminate their message quickly and efficiently, as well as recruit new supporters to help promote an agency’s mission. The world of media relations is ever-changing and nonprofits must be prepared to adapt to these changes. Maintaining reliable relationships with members of the media is a critical component of any successful PR outreach effort. In addition to representing agencies with traditional media venues such as TV, radio and print, Bowman Development Solutions can also assist nonprofits as they enter the world of social media marketing, including introducing ways to market themselves through public forums such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to a nonprofit’s information dissemination program.  



Donor Recognition Programs

Properly recognizing the donors who support an agency’s mission is a critical, and sometimes overlooked, priority for any nonprofit’s development department. As such, Bowman Development Solutions has spent more than a decade working with clients to introduce and implement donor recognition programs to help retain donors. These programs are central to gift stewardship and encourage both renewed gifts and new donations. BDS can work with our clients to determine both formal and informal approaches to proper donor recognition. Effective tools range from one-on-one communications to larger, public recognition opportunities such as: personal thank yous; frequent updates on your gifts at work; creative events that center around a specific donor; mission-centeric, donor recognition events; inspiring newsletter articles and annual reports; attractive, unique and mission-driven donor recognition walls. 


Branding/Marketing/Collateral Materials

Bowman Development Solutions works with a variety of talented graphic designers, photographers, and printers around the country to help our nonprofit clients enhance their marketing materials and increase the professionalism of collateral pieces. Whether it’s creating a new, organizational logo, building a clear and effective web presence, designing an annual report, building online communications tools to update constituents, or designing an informational brochure for our clients, BDS is ready, willing and able to oversee the important role of managing an agency’s collateral materials to best represent their mission and best enhance their fundraising goals.


Nonprofit Executive Search

Finding the right employee for a newly-created position, or filling existing vacancies is a time-consuming and often difficult task. Bowman Development Solutions can provide executive search services to help our clients hire the most qualified person for the job. Areas of assistance include: performing a job analysis and preparing a job description for review/approval; helping the organization analyze its salary and benefits package and developing job ads; helping to screen applicant resumes, facilitating the interview process; checking references for finalists and making recommendations concerning a final selection. Our ability to handle the laborious, and sometimes tedious aspects associated with a job search can enable to nonprofit’s board and paid leadership to focus their efforts on the organization’s other needs.


Development Audit

It’s been said that the best defense is a good offense. Before agencies march forward on their path towards raising more money, it’s important to assess current processes to identify what is working and what is not. An audit by BDS can help provide some valuable observations and recommendations about changes that may be necessary to help bring a nonprofit to their next level of fundraising. Areas considered include: donor records, budget, and fund raising plans; staffing resources; current systems and procedures; long and short-range fundraising plans; reviewing the agency’s case for support; analyzing the agency’s marketing/collateral materials and other forms of communication; interviews with volunteer and paid leadership, as well as community members to learn more about how an organization operates and how it is perceived internally and externally. 


Major Gift Programs

The Association of Fundraising Professionals confirms that more than 90% of the dollars raised by nonprofts comes from 10% of the prospects who are approached. Building a steady stream of major gifts for our clients is a key priority for Bowman Development Solutions. Efforts are provided to solicit and generate major gifts, as well as identify ideal prospects to support a major gift campaign. Together, we work with our clients to design cultivation and solicitation strategies to grow the pool of current and prospective donors. 



Planned Giving/Deferred Giving Programs

The largest, and often most important gifts available to nonprofit organizations are planned and deferred gifts. Planned gifts can help ease negative downturns in the economy which can dilute an agency’s fundraising efforts, as well as provide a boost to operating costs. Planned gifts can help provide a firmer, longer-term financial future.

For these, and other, reasons, a portion of a nonprofit’s fundraising efforts should be devoted to planned giving. Bowman Development Solutions can help build an infrastructure within an organization to increase income from planned gifts. We can set up policies, procedures and systems to handle planned gifts. target planned giving prospects, and identify those most likely to give in this capacity; market a nonprofit’s planned giving opportunity and provide suggestions for good stewardship to legacy and endowment donors.