Is Your Fundraising Strategy Still Working?

Even the most well-designed fundraising strategy can lose its effectiveness over time as fundraising conditions change, donor behaviour evolves, and institutional priorities shift. What worked a few years ago may no longer match your goals or your community’s expectations.

The question is: Why is your fundraising strategy no longer delivering the results it used to?

At Alma Partners, we help schools and non-profits identify that gap and realign their strategy, messaging, and day-to-day practices to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s goals.

Through our development audit process, we take a comprehensive look at your fundraising program. We analyze giving trends, review donor communications, and assess how your strategy is implemented on a day-to-day basis. We examine team structure, roles, and internal coordination. We listen, through staff interviews and community surveys, to identify misalignments and opportunities: areas where your strategy may be falling short and places where stronger messaging, clearer roles, or untapped donor energy could accelerate results.

Recently, we partnered with a school ready to recalibrate. Over several weeks, we reviewed giving data, surveyed the broader community to understand donor trust and motivation, and held internal listening sessions to uncover team dynamics and operational gaps.

The audit revealed where strategy had drifted and where misalignments between fundraising communications and donor experience were holding the program back. We delivered a clear, phased plan to realign priorities, clarify roles, and support the next campaign cycle with greater focus and confidence.

“The audit provided us with a clear snapshot of what has happened with our annual giving numbers in recent years and where we need to go in the future, along with tangible items we can follow through on.”

— Cindi Bradshaw, HR Project Manager, Sacramento Waldorf School

“Alex not only provided a tremendous service to the Development Department and our school as a whole, but also supported my professional development by challenging me with different ways of thinking about fundraising and non-profit work.”

— Amy McCuaig, Development Coordinator, Sacramento Waldorf School

If your fundraising strategy isn’t delivering like it used to, we can help you figure out why and what to do next. Give us a call, we’d love to help!