Service 02
An honest picture of where you stand - and a clear roadmap to where you want to go.
What It Is
Before you can build a better fundraising program, you need an honest picture of the one you have. The Fundraising Audit is a comprehensive review of your donor base, your communications, your systems, your board engagement, and your untapped potential - followed by a written strategic plan with clear priorities and a roadmap your team can actually follow.
This isn't a report full of generic best practices. It's a frank, specific assessment of your organization - what's working, what isn't, and what to do next. Every recommendation is grounded in your actual situation, your actual donors, and your actual capacity.
What We Review
The audit covers: your donor database (size, health, segmentation, lapse rate), giving history and trends, current communications and their effectiveness, annual fund structure and results, board and volunteer engagement in fundraising, major gift activity and pipeline, campaign history, and your overall case for support.
We also look at what's missing entirely - the elements of a healthy fundraising program that your organization hasn't yet built. Most organizations are surprised by what they find when they look at their program this way.
What You Get
At the end of the engagement, you receive a written strategic development plan covering a twelve-to-twenty-four month horizon. It includes a candid assessment of your current program, specific recommendations organized by priority, a realistic implementation timeline, and revenue projections tied to the recommended changes.
The audit is often the starting point for a longer engagement. But even as a standalone project, it gives your leadership team the clarity and direction to move forward with confidence - whether you work with me or build the program yourselves.
"For a small organization with limited resources, having someone who could think strategically and also execute was invaluable."- Frank Callaghan, Former Board Chair, Wayside Academy
Common Questions
A fundraising audit reviews every dimension of your development program: donor database health and segmentation, giving trends and lapse rates, current communications and their effectiveness, annual fund structure, board and volunteer engagement, major gift activity and pipeline, campaign history, and your overall case for support. The goal is to identify what's working, what isn't, and what's missing entirely.
A typical audit takes four to eight weeks from initial data gathering to delivery of the final strategic plan - depending on the size and complexity of your program and how quickly stakeholders can participate in interviews and review sessions.
The audit is the diagnostic: examining what you have and assessing its health. The strategic plan is the prescription: what to do next, in what order, and why. Together they give you an honest picture of your current program and a realistic roadmap for improving it. You can't build a good strategy without first understanding the foundation you're building on.
The most common triggers are: fundraising revenue that has plateaued or declined, an executive director transition, a board that wants to professionalize the development function, or preparation for a major campaign. It's also valuable when leadership suspects there's untapped potential in the donor base but isn't sure where to find it.
Every engagement begins the same way: with an honest discussion about your organization, your mission, and where you want to go. No pitch. No obligation.
Phone
Location
Kawartha Lakes, Ontario - Serving non-profits across Canada and the United States