WG Announces New Offerings to Serve Nonprofits During COVID-19

To our nonprofit friends: we hear you.  We share in your anxiety and your fear of the uncertain.  But we also hear you say, “the need is still there.”  Your commitment to serving your constituency is inspiring and we are grateful for the work you are still doing–even now. 

Being a collaborative partner and being solutions-driven are two of the Winkler Group’s core values.  These principles have never been more relevant than today.  That’s why we’re proud to offer four new short-term services that will help you weather the storm.  

We know the organizations that laid low and stayed silent during the 2008 recession were the last to rebound.  These new services are proactive and will drive immediate revenue so you can continue to advance your mission.  All services are designed to be conducted remotely.


1) FUNDRAISING RECOVERY PLAN

The Winkler Group’s Fundraising Recovery Plan will help you raise money immediately by crafting strategies and messaging that is meaningful to donors and positions you for impact once normalcy returns.  Deliverables include:

  • Grow overall giving focusing on major gifts, annual fund, and donor retention.
  • Create individualized, customized approach for your top 25-50 donors.
  • Determine mission-directed micro-giving opportunities—specific projects and immediate needs your donors can fund right now.
  • Develop social media content and strategies highlighting ROI for gifts made to support your critical core mission and impact.
  • Design annual fund plan focused on retention, including LYBUNTS and SYBUNTS, as well as fiscal year-end giving.
  • Analyze database to identify opportunities, create strategies, and implement plan for new or renewed donors.
  • Create targeted messaging to reach donor at all levels. Create tracking process to measure results, track progress, and monitor effectiveness along with ROI.

2) REMOTE INTERIM DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

The Winkler Group’s experienced fundraisers will serve as a remote interim development director who will keep the fundraising process moving forward

The interim development director will provide the strategic oversight and planning that will sustain the organization until a permanent development director is in place.  The organization will have a Winkler Group consultant as their lead; supporting the lead will be a team of experts in all areas of development including major gifts, annual fund, planned giving, and donor moves management. Services include:

  • Create and provide overall strategic direction, plan, management, and strategic development activities over the next 30-90 days.
  • Manage the entire process.
  • Focus on increasing all revenue streams including annual fund, major gifts, and micro-giving appeals.
  • Develop and implement work plans for the entire development team, identifying key areas to focus on that produce the highest ROI.
  • Lead, manage, and conduct moves management meetings.
  • Retain major donors with a cultivation plan that includes the executive director and board member.
  • Revamp your annual fund plan with drafts of segmented appeals that reach all donor levels.
  • Coordinate postponement or cancellation of fundraising events and develop strategy to retain sponsorship revenue.
  • Develop social media content to stay top of mind with donors.
  • Conduct a complete database analysis to identify untapped revenue sources.
  • Maintain the organization’s grants pipeline.
  • Craft and implement immediate and personalized donor communications plan.
  • Draft messaging to reach each donor levels.
  • Mange and direct day-to-day operations of staff and resources to maximize ROI.

3) RECOVER CANCELLED EVENT REVENUE 

Many organizations rely on spring events for critical revenue.  Others start planning and securing sponsorships for fall events over the coming months. With a minimal investment, the Winkler Group will help transform your cancelled event into revenue or develop a plan for your coming event through the following deliverables. 

  • Develop the overall strategic approach: cancel, postpone, or other formats.
  • Implement a sponsorship strategy that retains sponsorship investments.
  • Convert your live auction to an online platform.
  • Retain auction donations for other purposes or a future event.
  • Convert ticket sales into donations.
  • Develop a plan to repurpose your event committee and keep them engaged.
  • Turn a fundraising event into an online appeal.
  • Implement a virtual 5K run-walk or golf tournament.
  • Lead and manage the entire process.

4) DEVELOPING A CHURCH GIVING RECOVERY PLAN 

As in-person worship and offerings are temporarily halted, online church giving is even more critical.   The Winkler Group recognizes that most churches don’t have a staff person dedicated to or exclusively focused on growing your giving.  We can be that staff member over the coming weeks, until normalcy returns. 

Our experienced team will walk alongside you and put into practice the strategies we know work for churches, including:

Personalized approach to top 50 givers:

  • Identify the most generous church donors.
  • Develop a personalized approach for each family.
  • Consider encouraging donors to give their usual December gift today—as the needs become most critical.

Comprehensive plan to grow online giving:

  • Show your congregation what can be accomplished through generosity.
  • Immediately implement online giving options that could include regular bank transfer (ACH), text-to-give, in-person giving portals for credit or debit cards.
  • Develop ways to integrate giving into livestream worship services.
  • Train church staff to implement and troubleshoot online giving options.

Communications plan that engages congregation and spurs giving:

  • The importance of spiritual health in the midst of a pandemic.
  • The mission of the church and its impact on the community, particularly how the church is responding to the crisis.
  • The message that the church cares and is ready to help and guide parishioners.
  • The need for members to continue giving faithfully, even if they are not worshiping in person.
  • Encourage small groups and Sunday School classes to meet via Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Facetime, or other video meeting options.

To discuss these offerings, or customize a plan for your organization, please contact Sarah Evans Sprinkle at ssprinkle@winklergroup.com. We’re here to help you–and help you drive revenue immediately.

Latest Resources & Events

Three Steps to New Major Donors for Your Independent School

September 13, 2023

Discover the secret to finding and cultivating new major donors for your independent school with these three essential steps. Learn how to track annual fund gifts, leverage the power of gratitude, and build meaningful relationships with potential donors.

Header image featuring an elementary school-aged girl throwing clay in a classroom. Header for blog on independent schools and effective annual appeals.

Crafting the Perfect Annual Appeal for Your School

September 01, 2023

Delve into the world of annual school appeals through practical tips and real-life examples. See how message delivery influences results and gain insights to craft winning appeals. We wish you a fruitful annual fund season!

Ready to launch a capital campaign?

What can we help you find?