CASE STUDY
Building Focus and Skills for Fundraising Success
How Hemophilia Ontario Developed a Fundraising Plan and Empowered Staff through Growth & Co.’s Fundraising Training Program
Byron James, Executive Director
Sarah Levy, Manager of Member Support and Services
Inconsistent donor management and no formal fundraising plan
Hemophilia Ontario, a chapter of the national Canadian Hemophilia Society, operates independently within a federated model. Each chapter is responsible for its own funding and the Ontario chapter lacked a consistent approach to donor management and a fundraising plan.
To address these gaps, the organization promoted Sarah, the membership services staff member, to take on fundraising responsibilities. While Sara had basic fundraising knowledge, she needed advanced training and clear direction to excel in her new role.
Her goals included:
•Conducting a donor audit to better understand the donor community
•Developing a strategic fundraising plan based on insights from the audit
•Creating a compelling Case for Support to enhance donor communications
The challenge was equipping Sarah with the skills and strategies needed to align fundraising efforts with the organization’s goals while utilizing her existing knowledge and connections within the organization and its members.
Fundraising training and coaching with Growth & Co.
To help Sarah succeed in her new role, Hemophilia Ontario enrolled her in Growth & Co.’s Fundraising Intelligence training and coaching program. The program provided Sarah with:
•Guidance on conducting a thorough donor audit to gather actionable insights.
•Step-by-step training to create a tailored fundraising plan.
•Tools and coaching to develop a Case for Support that resonated with their donor community.
The group coaching sessions with other nonprofits from across the country offered a collaborative learning environment where Sarah could gain insights from other fundraisers and receive direct, actionable feedback to start making changes to their fundraising practices.
Sarah reflected on her experience:
"I have appreciated and enjoyed learning from Larissa and the group [of other fundraisers]. The feedback was exactly what I needed to hit my mindset and develop in this new role!"
A clear path forward for fundraising and donor engagement
With the skills gained through the program, Sarah successfully conducted a comprehensive donor audit, developed a strategic fundraising plan, and created a compelling Case for Support. These efforts resulted in:
•A focused and actionable fundraising strategy for Hemophilia Ontario.
•Positive feedback from the fundraising committee on the new Case for Support, which is now being used as a template for future cases.
•Increased confidence and skill in donor communications, enabling Sarah to make changes to fundraising efforts effectively.
Byron, the CEO, shared his thoughts on the program’s impact:
"I feel good about the new Case for Support. We had great feedback from our fundraising committee and can use it as a template for the future. The team feels more focused in their donor communications now. With the Case in hand, we've started booking meetings with doctors [and other aligned supporters] to present our case."
He also noted,
"The audit was very thorough, and it's great to see how the training has empowered Sarah. Being able to promote from within and provide training to a current team member was exactly what I wanted. Now, Sarah has new skills that are obvious in how she talks about our financial need. The training process was exactly what I hoped for."