Consulting

Embolden offers consulting services that are very different from what’s available through other vendors.

Overall, we’ve adopted a phased approach to our work by offering tools and services for each of three phases of your community foundation’s execution of a particular program or programs:

Phase I: Establish the baseline

Phase II: Build disciplines for growth

Phase III: Advance and deepen implementation

Consulting Methodologies

Unparalleled experience. Our team has decades of experience working with, in, and for community foundations. We understand best practices for achieving community foundations’ missions, goals, and operating structures; in other words, we understand the “business” of community foundations. At least one “playbook” is a deliverable of every engagement.

Getting things done. Embolden’s dual approach to consulting includes not only traditional planning and analysis, but also moving actual work forward even while we build strategies and plans. This ensures a strong return on investment in the consulting resources; practical, accelerated progress; identification and implementation of workflow efficiencies; and a final plan that is already in motion and will never sit on a shelf. (In other words, we don’t just deliver a blueprint; we deliver a blueprint and a house you can start living in right away.)

Peer learning. Embolden constantly seeks out opportunities within its 200+ community foundation client base to introduce clients to each other for peer learning and connections. Consulting packages include formal and informal peer-learning forums. Similarly, every Embolden engagement includes a strong element of executive coaching and training for specific members of the client’s team.

Stakeholder-focused approach. Many Embolden consulting engagements include not only anonymous stakeholder interviews conducted by a licensed psychologist, but also working sessions to review and strategize about specific stakeholders, avoiding the trap of generalizing about audiences and categories of lists. We will spend quality time discussing specific fund holders and advisors, for example, and determine concrete and actionable next steps to further stewardship efforts.

Consulting Examples

Every Embolden consulting engagement is tailored to the needs of the community foundation client. Here are examples of engagements that we’ll customize just for you: 

  • Campaign consulting. Our campaign consulting includes campaign development, communications strategies, messaging, materials development, and audience activation, especially for campaigns to grow unrestricted assets or grow a donor-advised fund program.

  • “Meaningful Conversations” consulting. Embolden’s “Meaningful Conversations” methodology for audience engagement and tracking is a powerful approach to level up stewardship efforts. This methodology also drives efficiencies with tracking and reporting development activity.

  • Strategic planning consulting. Embolden’s strategic plan development services include stakeholder perspectives and a competitive scan, facilitating board discussions, and getting actual work done to ensure that the plan is actionable and practical.

  • Professional advisor consulting. Embolden offers cohort-based professional advisor “intensive” programs, which heavily incorporate peer learning, specific advisor engagement, and materials development. The goal of the intensive program is to level up and formalize strategies to drive referrals from attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors.

  • Organizational audit. Embolden conducts a comprehensive review of the policies, processes, agreements, practices, and culture of your foundation. This is a customized package that is built to give you a professional and unbiased perspective that focuses on areas of excellence, areas of improvement, and industry best practices.

  • Advanced professional advisor consulting. At Embolden, we collaborate with community foundations to develop and implement effective educational and certification programs that engage professional advisors. We help you leverage opportunities to build strong relationships with attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors, driving valuable referrals. Our programs enhance advisor engagement while streamlining staff workload, ensuring operational efficiency and a significant impact on both your foundation and the community you serve.

  • Legacy gifting and endowment consulting. A legacy gifting and endowment campaign will embolden your nonprofit's donors and supporters to continue giving annually while committing to making an after-lifetime gift to perpetually support your organization. Embolden will help your organization focus on developing a customized blueprint, timeline and implementation strategy to secure legacy gifts and to build endowment funds which will generate a steady, annual stream of income to support your nonprofit's programs, operations, and philanthropic goals.

  • Donor segmentation consulting. Embolden helps create a comprehensive donor segmentation and engagement plan (or review of an existing plan), including the development of segmentation criteria and objectives, to increase donor engagement and satisfaction while optimizing staff capacity and strengths.

  • Corporate giving consulting. Embolden helps a community foundation formalize and grow its corporate giving offerings in three key areas: (a) corporate donor-advised funds; (b) executive donor-advised fund programs; and (c) fee-for-service offerings to help local companies develop and administer giving strategies.