Our clients’ board members and volunteers consistently praise the R & M approach to fundraising. We get your leaders out of the business of "trading dollars" with their peers, which lets them run their organizations while they open doors and offer strategic campaign support. We also provide substantive expertise to your staff, while allowing them to perform the job they were hired to do -- namely, economic development. Yet, at the end of an R & M campaign, our clients' board members and staff consistently tell us we taught them "how to do it right."

Our proven planning and campaign process pays for itself, usually in the first year. It involves:

Leadership assessment. We conduct personal interviews with community leaders to assess organizational credibility, program relevance, financial feasibility and leadership capacity.

Campaign Strategy. Following the assessment, we devise a compelling campaign strategy that is customized for your community’s culture and asset/leadership base. We include multiple scenarios for attaining your goal. And we alone give you the option of a managed do-it-yourself campaign, a professional campaign or a hybrid approach.

Team assignment. We assign an R & M principal as the team leader for the campaign. We work in teams to ensure that more than one of our people is intimately familiar with your unique situation and challenges, and to bring the full complement of the R & M team’s diverse experience and talent to work for you. Our principals are the people on the ground working with you from start to finish – no bait and switch, no cookie-cutter.

Campaign operations. We establish a campaign operations base, usually at the client's office. We use existing staff members or, if necessary and appropriate, hire and train additional staff for the duration of the campaign. It is not unusual for "temporary" campaign staffers to prove so valuable that they are offered a permanent position with the E.D. organization or one of the investors.

Campaign literature. We collaborate with each client to develop customized, compelling collateral material for the campaign. We also counsel the client on database setup and maintenance, and provide correspondence for all campaign activities.

Leadership development. We assist you in identifying and securing the campaign co-chairs and related leadership such as steering committees and/or a campaign cabinet. Then we prepare them thoroughly for the role they will play before, during and after the campaign -- even coaching them individually as needed.

Sales calls. We coordinate and conduct the solicitation sales calls and presentations necessary to achieve the client's goals. We actively engage the involvement of leadership in our follow-up activities. We make the "ask" with professionalism, integrity and courtesy, always reflecting well on our client.

Documentation. We secure signed letters of intent for all commitments. We also provide regular status reports and substantial documentation that remains a part of the permanent files for the program, and a foundation for future campaigns or renewals.

Training. During the course of a campaign, we train leadership and staff as needed in the basics of running a campaign, making a successful "ask," and -- most important -- how to maintain an engaged investor base and reduce attrition after the campaign is over.

Fees. Our work is performed on a fee-for-service basis and we cap expenses, so there are no surprises for our clients. We do not sacrifice the integrity of a campaign by working on commission.