Top 11 Professional Fundraising Consultants & How to Choose
Even the most established and experienced nonprofit professionals need help every now and again. With modern fundraising constantly changing, whether it’s due to new giving solutions or a wider preference for virtual and hybrid events, getting up to speed on the top strategies and industry best practices is a constant and recurring challenge.
You may naturally experience some fundraising ups and downs as your nonprofit adapts to change and experiments with new tactics, but you don’t have to go it alone. Turning to a professional fundraising consultant can help bolster your efforts, giving you strategies to support your organization in the long run.
To help you figure out which fundraising consulting firm to partner with, we’ve compiled a list of some standout picks with different specialties:
We’ll review each partner’s services and highlight their core specialties to help you evaluate which firms match up with your priorities. Then, we’ll dive into how you might choose the best consultant for your nonprofit’s unique needs. Let’s jump in.
Meyer Partners | A Trusted Professional Fundraising Agency
About This Fundraising Consulting Firm
Meyer Partners is a full-service nonprofit marketing agency dedicated to helping nonprofits accomplish their fundraising goals. Through data analysis, skilled storytelling, and experience-informed strategy, our team at Meyer Partners serves nonprofits to maximize results from every fundraising campaign.
Our Top Fundraising Consulting Services
While we’re technically a marketing agency for nonprofits, Meyer Partners provides more than just effective copy and creative outreach strategies. We’re also known for:
Data analytics
Integrated marketing campaigns (print and digital)
Direct mail appeals
Email marketing campaigns
Landing page optimization
Disaster response fundraising
If you’re looking for a full-service nonprofit communications firm to help you make the most of every campaign, Meyer Partners may be the agency for you.
Other Top Fundraising Consultants for Your Nonprofit
The Moran Company: Executive Search
About This Professional Fundraising Consultant
The Moran Company is a fundraising consulting firm that specializes in executive search for nonprofits. Their team of recruiters is comprised of former nonprofit staff, fundraisers, and even CEOs, so they know exactly how to spot a qualified nonprofit candidate. Their combined sector expertise and extensive network of nonprofit contacts will help you find the perfect fit for your organization’s leadership positions.
Their Top Consulting Services
The Moran Company offers a customized, four-step executive search process:
An in-depth organizational assessment to identify your position’s needs
A six week recruitment period fueled by personal outreach
Multiple rounds of interviews with semi-final and final candidates
Continued consultation and support through the leadership transition
Ter Molen Watkins & Brandt: Organizational and Board Development
About This Fundraising Consulting Firm
Ter Molen Watkins & Brandt, also known as TWB, is a fundraising consultant group specializing in increasing results, capacity, and impact in both small and large nonprofits across the country. TWB customizes their services to suit each individual nonprofit’s goals. They partner with your board to identify your specific needs, assess by-laws, and institute best practices.
Their Top Consulting Services
Specifically, TWB offers special services for organizational and board development, like:
Strategic planning and organizational analysis
Board assessment and training
Interviews with key stakeholders and constituents
Perlman & Perlman: Consulting for Charity Compliance
About This Professional Fundraising Consultant
Perlman & Perlman is a law firm dedicated to serving the charitable sector. They provide legal advice—and litigation services, if necessary—to nonprofits, covering a wide range of interest areas. In particular, they are knowledgeable on charity compliance.
Their Top Consulting Services
Some of their specialties as a fundraising consulting firm include:
Compliance services
Charitable solicitation registration
Technology, digital privacy, & security
Westfall Gold: Major Donor Consulting
About This Professional Fundraising Consultant
Westfall Gold is a major donor fundraising agency dedicated to empowering nonprofits to leverage their most valuable relationships. With their help, you can transform major donors’ relationships with your nonprofit, inspire them to thoroughly invest in your mission, and turn them into lifelong ambassadors for your organization.
Their Top Consulting Services
Westfall Gold offers a Major Donor Experience program, which includes:
A “vision-casting weekend” to inspire and connect with major donors
Strategic program planning and speaker selection for the weekend
Consulting on best practices for all major donor strategies
Gonser Gerber: Comprehensive Advancement Consulting
About This Fundraising Consulting Firm
Gonser Gerber offers specialized advancement consulting services for nonprofits, schools, and religious organizations. Their comprehensive consulting approach helps your organization holistically thrive. After performing an evaluation of your strategic plan, they’ll help you optimize staff efficiency, strengthen core competencies, and implement widespread best practices.
Their Top Consulting Services
Their services as a top professional fundraising consultant include:
Comprehensive advancement program audits
Institutional strategic planning facilitation
Evaluation of all your major fundraising programs
Zacharias Advancement Consulting: Annual Fundraising Consulting
About This Professional Fundraising Consultant
Operating as a “full-service resource” for nonprofits of all sizes, Zacharias Advancement Consulting takes a highly donor-focused approach to annual fundraising. In addition, this consulting firm offers capital campaign support, board development, and enrollment campaigns for schools.
Their Top Consulting Services
To ensure your annual fund addresses all donors’ needs, Zacharias Advancement Group will help you:
Create distinct plans for donors of all levels
Develop annual fundraising strategies that inspire and engage donors
Improve the ways you track and utilize giving metrics
American City Bureau: Feasibility Studies
About This Fundraising Consulting Firm
American City Bureau (ACB) works with a wide range of nonprofits and community organizations to conduct in-depth feasibility studies for capital campaigns. In addition to advising you on how to improve your campaigns, ACB offers support for general major donor development and strategic planning to provide you with the best philanthropic results.
Their Top Consulting Services
ACB’s feasibility studies are three- to four-month processes that involve:
Identification of possible major gift support
Evaluation of volunteer leadership for the campaign
Long-term strategic plan development
The FOCUS Group: Capital Campaign Consulting
About This Fundraising Consulting Firm
For more help with capital campaign planning and execution, consider partnering with the FOCUS Group. As a professional fundraising consultant specializing in capital campaigns, they offer more than just consulting. The FOCUS Group also developed nonprofit-specific campaign management software to help your organization throughout the process.
Their Top Consulting Services
In combination with their software, the FOCUS Group’s core advising services include:
Development of a personalized capital campaign strategy
Creation of plans for best-case and worst-case scenarios within their software
Cultivation and solicitation of major donor prospects
Aria: Telemarketing Consulting
About This Professional Fundraising Agency
Aria is a fundraising consulting firm that works with a variety of organizations to craft the perfect messaging and improve their donor and customer experience. This agency utilizes personalized telemarketing consultation to complement their fundraising strategy.
Their Top Consulting Services
Specifically, Aria’s services include:
Outbound and inbound telemarketing
Lead generation
Handwritten note cards
Brenda Moore & Associates, LLC: Development Consulting
About This Fundraising Consulting Firm
Brenda Moore & Associates stands out as a professional fundraising consultant that offers development consulting specifically for faith-based organizations. Churches and religious nonprofits can take advantage of Brenda Moore’s expertise in both fundraising and resource development.
Their Top Consulting Services
Brenda Moore can help your church or organization:
Establish a new development program
Grow your competency for acquiring major and planned gifts
Gain confidence as both a spiritual leader and a fundraiser
Choosing the Right Professional Fundraising Consultant for Your Nonprofit
If you’re seeking professional fundraising help, turning to a consultant is your best bet. But, in order to have a truly valuable partnership and improve your fundraising efforts, the consultant services that you use should be specifically qualified to fulfill your exact needs.
What are professional fundraising consultant services?
There are many aspects of running a successful nonprofit, so it can be difficult to have a specialized team for each area. That’s where fundraising consulting firms come in.
Professional fundraising consultants are individuals or consulting teams from outside agencies that assist in improving nonprofit operations like fundraising, strategic planning, and leadership development.
Some of the common areas of specialties include:
Grant acquisitions
Fundraising appeals
Nonprofit accounting
Capital campaigns
Prospect research
Technology and website development
The consultants evaluate your current operations, give advice on their specific specialty and your needs, and leave you with long-term takeaways and guidance to carry forward.
How do I hire a professional fundraising consultant?
Before you start contacting different consultants, we recommend taking a couple of steps first to better understand what kind of help you’re seeking.
Once you’re ready to begin, follow these steps to hire a professional fundraising consultant:
Identify your nonprofit’s needs. Look at your nonprofit’s data and past engagements to determine if there are any major gaps that should be addressed. Meet with your board and development committee to see if they have any ideas, and make sure to gain their approval for hiring a consultant. You want to ensure everyone is on the same page before moving forward. Then, clearly define your needs and the exact areas you're seeking help in.
Research different consultants based on these needs. Now that you have a list of needs and have identified your strategy’s gaps, start researching the appropriate consultants. In addition to researching their specialties, review previous organizations that the consultant has worked with. If you see that they often work with nonprofits with similar missions to yours, there’s a good chance they can provide you with valuable assistance..
Submit Request For Proposals (RFPs) to your top options. RFPs are documents that your nonprofit can create to determine which consultant candidate is best for you. They lay out your nonprofit’s needs, mission, the current context of your organization, and any relevant goals. Candidates will use your RFP to tailor unique proposals about how they’d help your nonprofit address your needs in support of your long-term goals.
Discuss your situation with each consultant. Talk individually with the standout consultants who’ve returned proposals. Ensurethey have a complete understanding of your needs and budget constraints..
Choose one based on those discussions and what they bring to the table. During those discussions, you can start to narrow down your choices. Ask for references to see how the consultant works in action and what other results they’ve helped bring.
Once you’ve chosen your ideal consulting partner, make sure to follow up and start discussing the next steps. Remember, consultants are there to help you, so helping them gain a complete understanding of your nonprofit’s gaps and needs is essential.
Additional Resources:
How else can your nonprofit organization take the steps to improve internal processes and better build relationships with donors? Check out these additional resources:
Meyer Partners: A Full-Service Nonprofit Marketing Agency - Explore how Meyer Partners can help improve your nonprofit’s marketing strategy.
Donor Acquisition: The Complete Guide to Attracting New Donors - Learn the steps you can take along with hiring a consultant to strategically acquire new donors.
6 Nonprofit Storytelling Tips to Make Your Mission Compelling - Interested in securing more funds through marketing? Develop your organization's marketing techniques with effective storytelling.