Karen’s Windfall Gift and Unexpected Major Gifts Attraction Review

This work focuses on one of two levels of unexpected gift activities available to nonprofits.* Attraction activities enhance fundraising and management, but their main goal is to convince donors and funders to arrive on your threshold with a gift in hand.

Quick Impressions (QI) pay off when prospective donors or funders actively seek philanthropic activities. It answers the question, what passive activities can we do to help investors to know we’re the ones?

The program springs from my 2014 book, 7 Nonprofit Incomes Steams, after which I began to explore the eighth stream, unexpected revenue. OI is based on my work and research into 1,000+ nonprofits. 

QI works like this:

1. You reach out by email or request a chat. We briefly discuss your nonprofit and explore whether QI is a good fit. If yes,

2. I send a list of materials to gather and an invoice via email. You submit your payment and the materials or links to them.

3. I conduct the QI analysis, including interviewing you and others.

Overall, QI addresses these main elements providing you an objective, impartial expert review of:

• The comparative clarity and soundness of your vision, mission, values, strategy, and finances from an expert’s perspective
• Your reputation including input from selected community members about your strengths and opportunities
• Your collective public impressions measured against windfall and unsolicited major gift recipients from our database
• Newcomer experiences, such as trial donations, or other donor or funder probes
• Investment readiness—a measure of your ability to respond quickly to unexpected and distinct donor and funder opportunities so you create value for them and your nonprofit.

4. As I compile the results, we discuss and decode them. You’ll also receive options—most of them evergreen—to increase your over-the-threshold gifts, from the most critical to the least, and the potential impact of these options.

Most nonprofits experience visible differences in their over-the-threshold support early in the process. Moreover, they’re encouraged by what is going for them and excited to see how much low-hanging fruit exists. The big takeaway is that most over-the-threshold gifts arrive, and you discover more of your unique success formula so you can do more of it.   

Location. Remote, via Zoom, telephone, and email.

Duration. From commencement to completion, approximately three months.

Deliverables. Expertise and advice during the review, including a verbal final report, with the executive director and one other.

Guidance. Up to one month of advice involving emails and one “official” agenda-driven interaction. To maximize this value, you log questions so we address them together. We don’t count the quick phone calls or email exchanges during the 30 days.

Participation Requirements. A principal or someone with access gathers materials and roughly two hours for information collection. Principals and critical leaders participate in the phone calls and homework, as appropriate.

Cost. $3,500

Payment Terms

The fee is payable in full when you begin the process via ACH, check, or credit card (+3 percent.)

Note. With Quick Impressions, you’re entitled to a $2,000 reduction on our advisory program within a year of commencement.