CAUSE EFFECTIVE INC

Cause Effective's vision is to transform the New York City nonprofit sector's resource development practices so the sector has the resources it needs to expand its impact. In particular, in Fiscal Year 2015 we will:

• Provide high-quality governance and resource development assistance to a wide range of New York’s nonprofit organizations serving the City’s many diverse communities;
• assist organizations that could not otherwise afford our capacity-building services on a pro bono or sliding scale basis;
• increase our distribution of governance and resource development training materials via the web and print in order to reach nonprofits which might not be able to access our assistance in person; and
• collaborate with a wide range of partner organizations to provide richer and more comprehensive aid to New York City’s community-based nonprofits.

As a result, these nonprofits will improve their governance and raise funds in a more predictable way, providing a more stable base from which to address the critical challenges they face.

STRATEGY 1: To build the resource development sustainability of vital NYC nonprofits across diverse missions and sizes
Consulting/Training for large and small nonprofits:
* Increase delivery of resource development and governance services to larger nonprofits to 20% of direct pay clients
* Marketing plan developed/operational for larger self-pays
* Continue emphasis on resource development and governance strategies for smaller nonprofits

Range and Depth of Service Offerings
* Expand range of in-house resource development and governance expertise
* Create innovative program packages to effectively scale service delivery by delivering 4 portfolio programs (1 new)

Partnerships
* Enlarge footprint through partnerships with colleagues, individual consultants and institutions with complementary missions - 1 new partnership & 1 new initiative
STRATEGY 2: To increase Cause Effective's internal capacity to produce excellent and innovative program results in a staff- and cost-effective manner

Outcomes Collection
* Improve Cause Effective’s collection of programmatic data and ability to drive practice towards achievement, including systematic measurement of designated outcomes

Staff Knowledge and Learnings
* Establish protocols to enable Cause Effective to systematically capture learnings that deepen training and consulting effectiveness
* Build staff ability to deliver, replicate and advance Cause Effective’s methodology and expertise

Tools for Service Delivery
* Create documents library to streamline and boost core consulting and training practices

STRATEGY 3: To stabilize Cause Effective's financial model to allow adequate program support and eventual growth
Financial Health
* Diversify Cause Effective’s income base through a business model that is repeatable, expandable, and through which Cause Effective’s resources match the costs of delivering on mission by increasing direct pay earned income base

Financial Reserves
* Add $10,000 to Cause Effective’s financial reserves to enhance Cause Effective’s operational flexibility and resilience

Diverse and Growing Contributed Income Base
* Strengthen Cause Effective’s relationship with institutional funders for both portfolio and project support
* Expand the base of Cause Effective fans (individual donors and institutional funders) who are committed to investing directly in Cause Effective

Increased Board Capacity Board Capacity
* Increase Cause Effective’s board’s capacity to assure the institution’s sustainability by adding 2-3 new members

For over thirty years, Cause Effective has worked successfully with more than 5,000 of New York City’s community-based nonprofits to strategically build their board and staff’s capacity to plan and implement effective institutional advancement and resource development strategies. Our efforts have consistently focused on strategies to build the sustainability of the “middle ground” of the nonprofit sector – nonprofits with dynamic programming but limited governance and fundraising competence.

Cause Effective offers customized consulting that aims to transform organizational culture around fundraising and governance. Our solutions are not “off the shelf”; we create a unique workplan for each client that uses our expertise, resources and tools to springboard change and achieve greatest return.

Guided by the needs of individual clients, we:
* Uncover hidden fundraising and friendraising assets
* Gather together current and potential supporters to create a team of thinkers and doers who can be counted on
* Act in a culturally sensitive manner, working within the values and context of each organization
* Coach board members and work closely with staff, bringing a variety of tools to the table
* Help prioritize activities so that time spent on resource development is invested in the areas with the greatest payback
* Focus on setting each organization up so that it will be able to fundraise and “friendraise” successfully in the future on their own

Our areas of practice include:

Fundraising
Our resource development consultations vary from one-time brainstorming sessions focused on particular fundraising challenges, to in-depth residencies that aim at total transformation of how your organization raises funds. We work jointly with staff and board members to create a trained and engaged group of advocates who can identify and cultivate new potential donors, and successfully solicit gifts of all sizes.

Board Development
Cause Effective consults on a range of board needs: boards that simply need a brush-up on their fundraising skills; those that lack clarity on a range of governance responsibilities; and those with precipitously low participation levels. We work on board member replacement and recruitment, and revitalizing current board member involvement. Our governance/board development consultations don’t simply help board members understand what their responsibilities are, but also help the entire board to fulfill its role as part of a dynamic partnership with nonprofit staff leadership.

Special Events/Anniversaries
Special events require a critical outlay of nonprofit time and resources. The potential return is great – and so are the consequences if the event fails to deliver. Cause Effective has unique expertise in helping nonprofits rethink their event strategy and ensure that the work invested delivers a meaningful return.

Cause Effective’s knowledge of how community-based nonprofits grow has been gleaned from a wide variety of activities conducted over many years with thousands of nonprofit organizations. We deliver our expertise tailored to a nonprofit’s current realities and varying needs taking into account capacity measures including their time and resources. Cause Effective meets groups where they are in their organizational life cycle, not where we think they should be.

We are confident that our careful assessment process leads to developing a customized workscope for each client that enables our clients to set and reach resource development and governance goals that were previously unimaginable. These groups are often unable to access traditional governance or fundraising consultants or even, in the case of groups at the lower end of this scale, any professionalized executive or managerial staff. To attract the resources they need to carry out their work, they must create imaginative and effective governance strategies and fully engage their boards as advocates and fundraisers.

We believe that as a result of Cause Effective's work, New York’s many vibrant nonprofits are improving their governance and raising funds in a more predictable way, providing a more stable base from which to address the critical challenges they face.