Additional Services

• Case Statement Development and Communications - Formulating and articulating a compelling case can be extremely challenging. Compass Point offers case development and writing services to help you identify core case values and tell your story more effectively. Our constituent-centered perspective and marketing orientation lets us develop a case for you that resonates with your external donor audiences. Communications services also go beyond case statements to the development and production of a variety of collateral materials, from videos to brochures to annual reports and other marketing pieces to craft a compelling case for philanthropy that distinguishes our clients from their competitors.
  
  
• Planning and Feasibility Studies - Planning and feasibility studies are a key part of campaign planning, providing a valuable external perspective to help you better understand the environment in which your organization pursues its mission. Through an evaluative process that may involve personal interviews, telephone interviews and/or focus groups, Compass Point gauges the philanthropic climate for a major fundraising campaign. These market studies offer you a detailed evaluation of your fundraising potential - focusing on the case for support, volunteer leadership, potential for support and internal preparedness - with a series of recommended action steps for more effective fundraising. While we provide honest, forthright observations and findings, Compass Point also serves as our client's advocate in positioning the organization in the best possible light while speaking with study participants.
  
  
• Development Program Audits - Many development programs are reviewing their efficiency in the wake of the ever-increasing competition for today's philanthropic dollar. Compass Point can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your development program, identify areas for growth and provide guidance on program enhancements. We take a broad approach, examining all areas of your existing development program -from staffing structure to solicitation strategies to marketing -- and formulate recommendations for more effective total institutional advancement. Our comprehensive assessment utilizes quantitative and qualitative analysis and provides sound recommendations based on the findings and industry best practices, so you can overcome your operation's weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.
  
  
• Strategic Visioning - Strategy is key to enabling your organization to achieve its mission and vision effectively. Compass Point can help you integrate a model of total institutional advancement into strategic planning efforts, positioning the organization for more effective growth. We work with staff and volunteers to ensure a coordinated, streamlined and organization-wide approach to strategic planning. We use a Hoshin Kanri-based approach (a derivative of Total Quality Management) to maximize your philanthropic opportunities and your likelihood for success by aligning volunteer and staff leaders around a common plan and goal.
  
  
• Staff Development - Whether working one-on-one or in a group setting, Compass Point helps staff to be more effective in their specific roles and contribute to the long-term enhancement of the organization's capabilities. We can train staff in development fundamentals, planned giving, benchmarking, best practices, changing demographics, creative solutions and a variety of other areas.
  
  
• Grant research and writing - A "shotgun approach" to grant writing rarely works in soliciting foundations. Our approach blends the science of targeted research with the special art of grant-writing to help you maximize your potential. Services range from research to writing to application completion to reporting.
  
  
• E-philanthropy Solutions - Technology advances at a dizzying pace, and the Internet has begun to impact the way not-for-profit organizations achieve their missions. Interaction with donors and volunteers and expanding the reach of marketing efforts can benefit from the integration of appropriate technology. Compass Point can work with development and information services staff to analyze needs, evaluate solutions and implement technology within your development program.
  
  
• Organizational Development Counsel - What are the major issues and concerns affecting your organization? What specific problems do you, your board and staff face? Chances are we have seen and solved them before. Now, you can benefit from our experiences-good and bad. General Counsel ranges from answering questions about best practices to providing an objective evaluation to trouble-shooting. General counsel also addresses policy and procedures review, organizational plans and a variety of other topics. We're also ready to go with you on those tough solicitation calls or help create a stewardship plan. Through general counsel, we'll provide you the solutions you need or direct you to someone who can provide the answers you're looking for right now.
  
  
• Executive Search - When you hire a development leader, you can't afford to leave a good hire to chance. While many board leaders have hired countless people in their own companies, hiring a development professional can be a unique search. We'll start at the beginning by reviewing the needs for your nonprofit, assisting with the development of a job description, making recommendations on salary levels and finally launching the search you need to identify the right development professional. When Compass Point does your search, we can measure candidates against a known set of competencies needed to be successful in the fund development sector. We ask the tough questions you might not even know to ask. We also cast our net wide by seeking qualified candidates from around the corner and across the country. We guarantee to bring at least three qualified candidates for your leadership to make the final decision.