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# Altruist Partners | Your partner for impact: Expert Nonprofit Consulting & Fundraising Strategies

## Sitemaps
[XML Sitemap](https://www.altruistpartners.com/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [The Two Commandments for Nonprofit Boards](https://www.altruistpartners.com/the-two-commandments-for-nonprofit-boards/): Strong board governance is one of, if not the most, critical success factors for nonprofit organizations. Running an organization is hard, complex work, and the collective guidance and oversight provided by a brain trust of diverse, experienced leaders is essential if the organization is going to make significant mission progress.
- [Identifying and Managing Disruptive People](https://www.altruistpartners.com/identifying-and-managing-disruptive-people/): Like any organization attempting to work toward a difficult goal in a complex environment, nonprofits face the fundamental challenges of creating alignment and teamwork among their board. While getting any group of people to work together as a team is hard, the level of difficulty increases dramatically in a nonprofit, where these individuals are volunteers, the work sparks passion and emotion, and there is often little investment in team building and alignment. This landscape is highly vulnerable to disruptive people, who, consciously or not, spark conflict, conflict, distract from key issues, and disrupt team building and trust.
- [Navigating the Complex Nonprofit Revenue Landscape](https://www.altruistpartners.com/navigating-the-complex-nonprofit-revenue-landscape/): Finding money for your nonprofit is complicated. Whereas for-profit businesses have fairly clear models on how to raise capital and earn money (there are entire degree programs dedicated to the undertaking), a nonprofit has multiple capital sources and six different revenue domains, each requiring discrete, sophisticated strategy, and the most effective strategies are largely unknown (and not taught in universities).
- [11 Steps to Producing a World-Class, Investment-Grade Business Plan for Your Nonprofit](https://www.altruistpartners.com/11-steps-to-producing-a-world-class-investment-grade-business-plan-for-your-nonprofit/): Unfortunately, many (most?) of the 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. live a hard life and struggle just to keep their doors open. Staff suffer from low pay, high stress, and burnout; technology is underutilized; board members and other volunteers are disengaged and misaligned. Even for larger organizations, programs are often under-resourced, pay isn’t competitive, and fundraising is onerous, expensive, and unpredictable.
- [The 3 Gotta-Haves for Nonprofit Boards Seeking Impact and Scale](https://www.altruistpartners.com/threemusthaves/): Many of the entrepreneurial and organizational practices and frameworks found most frequently in the business world are finding increased adoption in the social sector...
- [The For-Profit and Non-Profit Sectors are Converging](https://www.altruistpartners.com/the-for-profit-and-non-profit-sectors-are-converging/): Writing in 1924, the brilliant British author Virginia Woolf made her now famous observation about rapid changes in human society during the early 20th century:
- [What it Takes to Achieve Broad Impact](https://www.altruistpartners.com/takes-achieve-broad-impact/): The highest-performing impact organizations—those with products or services that make a profound difference in the world, be it in health, human services, arts, the education, or the environment—possess two discrete characteristics:
- [The Power of Managing your Cost-Per-Dollar](https://www.altruistpartners.com/power-managing-cost-per-dollar/): Most small to mid-sized non-profits have important, high-potential programs and skilled, dedicated staff, but the vast majority are in moderate to severe financial distress. Survey any group of nonprofit executive directors and board members about their top concerns for their organization, and it’s likely that fundraising is at or near number one.
- [Required Reading for Nonprofit Leaders](https://www.altruistpartners.com/work-with-nonprofits-read-these-books/): These are six books are essential "must reads" for anyone leading nonprofits:
- [Donor Analytics Done Right](https://www.altruistpartners.com/donor-analytics-done-right/): Time to tell the hard truth: fewer than 1% of nonprofit development offices measure the right things. And their orgs are suffering serious opportunity costs as a result.
- [Is Your Nonprofit World Class?](https://www.altruistpartners.com/is-your-nonprofit-world-class/): Does your nonprofit have what it takes to change the world for the better? Find out with this short, 15-question survey.
- [Business Plan Breakthrough](https://www.altruistpartners.com/business-plan-breakthrough/): A board member for one of our clients told us a great story......about engaging the owner of her company in a fundraising conversation. She wanted to get him interested in the work, and for 9 years she persistently mentioned it at every opportunity. Without fail, he would always brush her off and suggest she talk to marketing about available budget to support her cause. Without the owner’s support, that led nowhere.
- [Holiday Gift Appeals Done Right](https://www.altruistpartners.com/dont-beg-for-money-during-the-holidays/): Are you a nonprofit gearing up for your holiday gift appeal? Before you hit the send button on your e-appeal, read this first.You and every other non-profit—if you live in a city, there are thousands within a few miles of you—are all churning out the same emotional letters and uplifting emails.  We suggest that these appeals are not effective and may even be counterproductive.
- [Context Matters](https://www.altruistpartners.com/why-context-matters-sometimes-a-seemingly-simple-question-can-create-an-ah-ha-moment/): Don't think “what can we do with what we have.” That is letting your limited budget drive your planning process. Instead, flip it around. 
- [Affording the Cost of Free](https://www.altruistpartners.com/affording-the-cost-of-free/): At first glance, Hip-Hop and saving historic buildings might not sound like a natural match. Yet, in Seattle, two organizations were able to think outside the box to create a winning situation for both.
- [Our Secrets for Growing Nonprofits 25% a Year](https://www.altruistpartners.com/our-secrets-for-growing-nonprofits-25-a-year/): We are delighted to share the process that we've developed over a decade or practice with hundreds of nonprofits around the worldone that resolves chronic management, performance and financial barriers and pivots the organization into a phase of sustained growth averaging 25% annually, regardless of organizational type, field, size and location.
- [Your Nonprofit’s Culture: Friend or Foe?](https://www.altruistpartners.com/non-profit-culture-friend-or-foe/): "Good grief," she sighed. "We spent an hour at the board meeting arguing over the decorations at the upcoming gala. Our strategic plan hasn't been updated in two years. We have zero in the way of metrics and quality improvement. It's one big conversation club-- it takes months to make a decision. My old company was ruthless, but at least we got stuff done. I'm beginning to miss it."
- [Let’s Combine What’s Great About For Profits and Nonprofits.](https://www.altruistpartners.com/lets-combine-whats-great-about-for-profits-and-non-profits/): Too often, the business and non-profit communities point out each other’s flaws. What they should be doing is learning from each other.  Business people complain that nonprofits are ineffective and need to run more like, well, businesses. Nonprofits respond by saying that the complexities of nonprofits are unique and hard to appreciate. They are also quick to retort that it is big business that devours the ecosystem and keeps employees in poverty.
- [10 Ways to Spot the Best Nonprofits](https://www.altruistpartners.com/10-ways-to-spot-the-best-non-profits/): There's lots of talk out there about how to tell a non-profit performer from a pretender. And for good reason. The lack of transparency and accountability in this $1.5 trillion dollar sector-- 10% of our economy-- has reached crisis proportions. Witness the piece in the Tampa Bay Times, America's Worst Charities, that shows how orgs with trust-inspiring names like "The Cancer Fund of America" are really scams that bilk people out of millions. And now, Pro Publica has exposed the exaggerations and even outright lies of the Red Cross.  When even venerable charities like the Red Cross aren't truthful, whom can you trust?
- [The New Thinking in Nonprofit Revenue](https://www.altruistpartners.com/the-new-thinking-in-non-profit-revenue/): Having trouble with fundraising? Is your organization stuck, revenue-wise? If you look to ideas like development, strategic planning, capital campaigns, auctions, appeal letters and the like, your odds of getting off your bread-and-water diet are very low. These tools are old.
- [Strategic Plans Done Right](https://www.altruistpartners.com/strategic-plans-cripple-non-profits-heres-the-cure/): Do you have a "strategic plan?" If you aren't very careful, this document could be an illusion. It talks about what you do, but will it guide your choices and the behavior of your team? 
- [Do Auctions and Galas Hurt or Help?](https://www.altruistpartners.com/hurt-or-help/): Auctions. Galas. Raffles. Car washes. Bake sales. Walk-a-thons.  If you do them to raise money, you are, as the saying goes, "stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime." Here's why: first, events are time and cost-intensive. They deliver poor return-on-investment, otherwise expressed as "cost per dollar" (see this post for more detail on this essential organizational performance indicator), typically demanding an expenditure of $0.40 and $0.70 for every dollar raised. In other words, a huge share of the proceeds go to the cost of the event - the profit margin may be good compared to a restaurant, but it's terrible compared to other fundraising strategies, ones that are not only more efficient, but offer the potential for much, much larger gifts, all at a cost-per-dollar at $0.15 or less, and all done in a way that is far more compatible with your mission and values.
- [The Seven Types of Nonprofits](https://www.altruistpartners.com/the-seven-types-of-nonprofits/): We partner with nonprofits to help them grow, and as we've realized, catalyzing and then sustaining significant growth in organizational performance and impact is hard work. After working with hundreds of nonprofits over a couple of decades, we've recognized patterns in how organizations respond differently to the change process.
- [An Alternative to the Risky Development Hire](https://www.altruistpartners.com/a-solution-to-a-huge-problem/): First, too many organizations more forward with this hire without performing a rigorous, honest self- assessment. Robust governance, clear goals, disciplined strategy and consistent, data-driven execution are all prerequisites for raising significant sums of money. So your organization must first sort out its own development and organizational challenges and have a clear, accountable, urgent plan for action. Or these same challenges will very likely confound even your most energetic attempts to raise money.

## Pages
- [Protected: My account](https://www.altruistpartners.com/my-account/): Dashboard Orders Downloads Addresses Payment methods Account Details Logout Hello Donald (not Donald? Log out) From your account dashboard you can view your recent orders, manage your shipping and billing addresses, and edit your password and account details.
- [Protected: Checkout](https://www.altruistpartners.com/checkout/): First Name *
- [Protected: Cart](https://www.altruistpartners.com/cart/): Update
- [Protected: Shop](https://www.altruistpartners.com/shop/)
- [Grow Further](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/gf/): Challenge:
- [My Green Lab](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/mgl/): Challenge:
- [Global Coffee Platform](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/globalcp/): Challenge: Founded in 2016, GCP, a multi-stakeholder coffee industry membership association headquartered in Bonn, had successfully developed tools for providing a common understanding of coffee sustainability and increasing transparency on sustainability purchasing. It had also launched a number of successful sustainability initiatives via affiliates in Uganda, Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and Honduras. But its membership of over 100 organizations was not aligned about organizational direction. Membership and grant income were inadequate to support the development and deployment of industry-critical solutions related to climate change, coffee farmer prosperity, agro-inputs like pesticides, and other threats to the supply chain for this >$400b industry.  GCP also needed to simultaneously focus its relationship with its affiliates, sharpen its value proposition in a complex partnership ecosystem, and accelerate overall revenue and impact. They hired Altruist to help them tackle this difficult and complex set of challenges.  
- [Protected: Client Portal – Sequoia Riverlands Trust](https://www.altruistpartners.com/srt-2/): Following are deliverables and supporting information around your Altruist engagement.    
- [VITAL talk](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/vital-talk/): Challenge: Over 60,000 doctors and clinicians across the United States care for terminally ill patients every year. But a lack of training around having tough conversations with family and loved ones was creating tremendous friction and leading to suboptimal care, professional burnout and heartache. Three of the nation’s leading palliative care physicians had developed a training program funded by the National Institutes of Health, and they needed guidance to launch their social enterprise.
- [Wonderland Child and Family Services](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/wcfs/): Challenge
- [Eden Reforestation Projects](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/eden-reforestation-projects/): Challenge:
- [Protected: Client Introduction for Sequoia Riverlands Trust](https://www.altruistpartners.com/srt/): Thank you again for exploring a partnership with Altruist.  
- [Protected: Client Introduction for Mitchelville Freedom Park](https://www.altruistpartners.com/mfp/): Thank you again for exploring a partnership with Altruist.  
- [ADA Accessibility](https://www.altruistpartners.com/ada-accessibility/): Accessibility Statement for Altruist Partners
- [Terms of Use](https://www.altruistpartners.com/terms-of-use/): Your Use of This Website is governed by These Terms and Conditions
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.altruistpartners.com/privacy-policy/): Altruist Partners respects the privacy of visitors to its website, and we recognize your need for appropriate protection and management of personally identifiable information you share with us (any information by which you can be identified, including your first and last name, and email address, phone number or other contact information). This policy describes how we collect and use information about visitors to this website. By visiting the Altruist Partners website or otherwise submitting your personal information to us, you acknowledge and consent to our practices described below.
- [Columbia Bank Workshop](https://www.altruistpartners.com/columbia-bank-workshop/): 1:00 to 2:30 PST Wednesday July 22
- [Grant Writing](https://www.altruistpartners.com/grant-writing/): Nonprofit executives and fundraising teams are often consumed with grant research and writing, functions outside experts can perform with greater effectiveness and at lower cost. For years we advised clients to outsource to the pros, and now we’ve finally built a team that includes some of the best grant experts in the country, who are now serving multiple clients in education, health care, and human services. The work is on track to bolster our firm’s core value proposition: every $1 invested in Altruist’s services generates $25 in new and sustainable revenue.
- [Panda Tank](https://www.altruistpartners.com/panda-tank/): It’s the kinder gentler version of “Shark Tank”. You’ll buckle up for a super informational roller coaster ride through a comprehensive strategic and growth framework that’s driving success at organizations around the world. Then, watch five non-profits pitch their organization’s mission, goals, and strategies in front of the Mighty Pandas, some of the top non-profit experts and social leaders.
- [Philanthropy](https://www.altruistpartners.com/philanthropy/): We partnered with the Russell Family Foundation to launch a major environmental initiative and generate new outside investment, resulting in a successful collaboration involving dozens of nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses.
- [Protected: Agent Portal](https://www.altruistpartners.com/agent-portal/): Background Reading 
- [Board Leadership Summit](https://www.altruistpartners.com/workshops/board-leadership-summit/): Learn the most effective, powerful ways to use your resources to create the greatest impact for your organization.
- [Nonprofit Executive Institute](https://www.altruistpartners.com/workshops/nonprofit-executive-institute/): Learn how to apply the very best planning & execution tools, examine case studies, and leave with a complete set of follow up informations and means of support.
- [Fundraising Acceleration](https://www.altruistpartners.com/workshops/fundraising-acceleration/): Learn the most efficient, effective ways to raise money for your nonprofit.
- [Resources](https://www.altruistpartners.com/resources/): Like you, we are Altruists. Nothing is more important than helping your organization amplify its growth and impact. So let's capture all the potential to make the world better—together.  
- [Bellevue Lifespring](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/bellevue-lifespring/): Challenge: For over 100 years, Bellevue LifeSpring has delivered food, clothing, and other financial and material assistance to the city's low-income families and children. In the past decade, the demand for this support has increased dramatically. Like so many other high-tech regions around the country, sustained cost of living increases leave more and more families facing food insecurity, at risk of eviction, and largely unable to provide their children the activity and educational support necessary to foster optimum learning and development. In the city where so many leading corporations call home, where no house in many neighborhoods sells for under a million dollars, over 4,000 children now live below the federal poverty line. 
- [KSPS](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/ksps/): Challenge: Based in Spokane Washington, KSPS is one of the nation’s oldest public television stations, broadcasting great programs since 1967 to an audience of over 2 million people across the Northwest and Canada. Despite its rich legacy, strong management and staff, and stable finances and infrastructure, in recent years, KSPS began to recognize that fundamental shifts in the media landscape presented it to new threats to its long term viability. Like newspapers and other traditional broadcast television providers, KSPS faced stiff new competition from a proliferation of online digital media alternatives. It also had to manage the challenges of maintaining and upgrading expensive legacy broadcast technology, ensuring competitive salaries for staff, and producing new programming, demands made more difficult due to a steady erosion in revenue from its traditional annual membership and fundraising drives.
- [Hilltop Children’s Center](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/hilltop-childrens-center/): Challenge: Hilltop Children's Center boasted one of the nation's most respected early-learning programs, but like many schools, limited resources meant leadership couldn't make desired investments in programs, staff salaries and support. Also, the time intensive nature of the volunteer structure and fundraising process meant other conversations, like launching a national institute, didn't get needed attention.
- [SERI](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/seri/): Challenge: Discarded computers, cell phones and other technology hardware is now the biggest source of solid toxic waste on the planet-- over 50 million metric tons needs recycling every year. Filled with poisons and carcinogens like lead and arsenic, this waste demands expensive, careful handling, yet without industry standards, tons ended up in dumps in developing countries. Sustainable Electronics Recycling Initiative (aka: SERI), a nonprofit chartered to develop robust electronic recycling guidelines, looked to Altruist for help to strengthen its work with certified recyclers, improve its marketing and communication, grow its revenue, and accelerate member recruitment.
- [KUOW](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/kuow/): Altruist is a phenomenal catalyst for growth and impact. Transformational.
- [Invest ED](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/invest-ed/): Challenge: Since 1963, InvestED has provided students need-based funding for shoes, glasses, sports equipement, high school academic and college application fees, and other items that allow youth to engage and succeed in school. While serving almost 25,000 students annually, in 2016 InvestED's leadership hired Altruist to help it reach more of the 500,000 students across Washington state who face profound financial barriers every day that hamper their performance in school and exclude them from extracurricular activities.
- [Treehouse](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/treehouse/): Challenge: For over 25 years, Treehouse had helped foster children with material assistance and educational support, and now the organization set its sight on an ambitious goal: double high school graduation rates for all foster youth in all 125 high schools in King County, Washington. They needed a new plan, millions in new and sustained funding, focused outcomes measurement, and tools for disciplined execution and continuous improvement. Treehouse turned to Altruist for comprehensive solutions for this audacious growth and performance goal.
- [Resources](https://www.altruistpartners.com/resources-2/): From access to a free 1-hour consultation to powerful workshops to provocative white papers, here you’ll find a range of resources that move you forward.
- [Nonprofit Consulting Services](https://www.altruistpartners.com/services/): Nonprofits and mission-driven organizations of all types come to Altruist for proven, practical solutions to their toughest challenges. 
- [Protected: Introduction to The Brave Warrior Project](https://www.altruistpartners.com/tbwp/): We look forward to exploring a partnership with The Brave Warrior Project to help you set and achieve ambitious goals.Contact your Altruist Partners, Tasha Irvine, with any questions.
- [Nonprofit Expertise](https://www.altruistpartners.com/expertise/): Along side our growth and impact methodology, Altruist offers our clients subject matter expertise in the following areas: 
- [Contact](https://www.altruistpartners.com/contact/): Send us a note and let us know how we can help you. We’d love to hear from you.
- [Protected: Client portal – GCP](https://www.altruistpartners.com/gcp/): See below for deliverables and supporting information around your ALTRUIST engagement.Contact your Altruist Partner, Donald Summers, with any questions.
- [Protected: Introduction to Altruist for Education Reform Now – WA](https://www.altruistpartners.com/ern/): We look forward to exploring a partnership with ERN to help you set and achieve ambitious goals.Contact your Altruist Partners, Donald Summers or Kristina Mayer, with any questions.
- [Protected: Client Portal – Alatheia Therapeutic Riding Center](https://www.altruistpartners.com/atrc/): Following are deliverables and supporting information around your Altruist engagement.
- [Protected: Client Portal – Eden  Reforestation Projects](https://www.altruistpartners.com/eden/): Following are deliverables and supporting information around your Altruist engagement.    
- [Protected: Client portal – HCSA](https://www.altruistpartners.com/hcsa/): See below for deliverables and supporting information around your ALTRUIST engagement.Contact your Altruist Partner, Ian Hanna, with any questions.
- [Case Studies](https://www.altruistpartners.com/case-studies/): We help clients achieve dramatic gains in performance, growth and impact, a track record without peer in the social sector. Our work is grounded in our proven entrepreneurial methodology and decades of practice with hundreds of nonprofits and social enterprises around the world, from startups to global organizations.
- [About Altruist Partners](https://www.altruistpartners.com/about/): Like you, we are altruists. Nothing is more important than helping your organization amplify its growth and impact. So let's capture all the potential to make the world better—together.  
- [Home](https://www.altruistpartners.com/): Pushing beyond nonprofits' everyday struggles takes expert help from fellow altruists. We work hand-in-hand with you to plan, finance and execute accelerated growth and impact via powerful revenue engines, a thriving team, and real-world implementation.
- [Protected: Client portal – Assistance League of the Eastside](https://www.altruistpartners.com/ale/): Following are deliverables and supporting information around your Altruist engagement.
- [Protected: Client Portal – Wonderland](https://www.altruistpartners.com/wonderland/): See below for deliverables around your ALTRUIST engagement. Contact your Altruist Partner, Donald Summers, with any questions.
- [Protected: Client Portal – Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials](https://www.altruistpartners.com/rsb/): See below for deliverables relating to your engagement with New Foresight and Altruist. Please contact your lead partners Joost Gorter or Donald Summers with any questions. 
- [Protected: Client portal – Bellevue LifeSpring](https://www.altruistpartners.com/bls/): See below for deliverables and supporting information around your ALTRUIST engagement.Contact your Altruist Partner, Tasha Irvine,  with any questions.

## Products
- [Protected: Scaling Altruism](https://www.altruistpartners.com/product/scaling-altruism/): A hands-on toolkit for ambitious nonprofit leaders seeking to grow their organization's impact. In Scaling Altruism, veteran social impact advisor and entrepreneur Donald Summers delivers a comprehensive, step-by-step blueprint to transforming small or mid-size nonprofit into an impactful and extraordinary agent of change. The book contains templates, tools, exercises, and crystal-clear implementation guides that readers can apply immediately to begin scaling their social impact organization. Offering actionable insights that have enabled many of today's most exciting social change efforts, the author provides practical guidance on how to turn your nonprofit into a social-problem-solving machine.