Habitat for Humanity gets lemons, makes lemonade

It was a good news/bad news scenario when Habitat for Humanity received the good news they would receive a grant to pay for a new Development Director. The bad news was that the chapter had to wait one year before the grant could be paid. In order to make the most of their one year holding pattern, Habitat hired McDonald Schaefer to provide interim services to enable them to get a head start. During this one-year engagement, McDonald Schaefer improved Habitat’s capacity by focusing on their development infrastructure. Priorities included:

  • Developing a process for identifying, researching and tracking donor prospects that aided relationship building
  • Mobilizing fundraising volunteers and equipping them for the strategies and rewards of peer-to-peer major gift fundraising, including a board orientation and several one-on-one coaching visits to continue to improve their comfort level and effectiveness in major gift fundraising
  • A concentrated analysis of annual appeal methods and implementation of significant strategies for improving annual fund performance

By the end of this one-year engagement, Habitat for Humanity was well-positioned for continued development growth when the new Development Director arrived.