Ships seek harbor when they’re in need of security, stability, and respite. In the tumultuous seas of mission-driven work, every organization needs a place to turn for fundraising strategy, support, and an extra pair of hands to share some of the load. At Harbor Consulting Strategies, we work with you to design creative solutions and strategies that will help you not only surpass your goals today but create lasting, purposeful change.

Some of our earliest development experiences were at a Montessori co-op school. It is there that we laid the foundation for our operating model as fundraisers. That school built long-term relationships between teacher and child, teacher and parents, parents and community. The effect was one of true collaboration and community.

At Harbor Consulting Strategies, we work with all sorts of organizations operating in the mission-driven space, but we specialize in partnering with small- to mid-sized nonprofits driving impact in local communities. Industries we’ve worked with include those dedicated to education, women’s rights, cancer research and awareness, communities of disabilities, social justice, bridge building, underserved populations, Spanish-speaking and immigrant communities, and arts organizations.

Prior to 2021, email open rates for the 6,000+ person mailing list at a national women’s organization hovered around the industry standard of 25%.

I proposed and implemented a digital email campaign that scrubbed a years’-old mailing list and standardized the templates and calendar for organizational newsletters and event emails. As a result of this campaign, open rates soared to and have consistently remained above 44%. 

While on staff with an interfaith organization dedicated to bridge building between women, I created multiple types of materials for annual conference marketing and fundraising purposes. These materials included a conference webpage, printed ‘how to donate’ cards, donation remittance forms, marketing emails, and more.

I created a public relations campaign for an equine therapy center that included article writing and placement, awards nominations, media outreach and social media content creation. As a result, one of the center’s remarkable therapy horses was featured in local and national media outlets, recognized at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, inducted into Equus Foundation’s Horse Stars Hall of Fame and celebrated as part of BreyerFest’s Salute to Horse Heroes festival in Kentucky.

A nonprofit dedicated to public Montessori education contracted with me to design special marketing projects, which included displays for a city-wide calendar and social media campaigns for a 24 hour, state-wide fundraiser. 

As the Director of Fundraising for a women’s interfaith nonprofit, I developed a year-end fundraising campaign from start to finish, including concept, impact story interviews, and campaign emails. That year’s campaign resulted in a 14% increase in donations over the prior year’s giving.

I directed content creation and social media management for an equine therapy organization. Content ranged from fundraising appeals to special events promotion, video curation, volunteer training, and more.