Raves for Pam
Named one of the 50 Most Influential Fundraisers of the Year, 2010. Civil Society’s Fundraising Magazine.
Named One of America’s Top 25 Fundraising Experts
Named One of America’s Top 150 Fundraising Blogs
“I just purchased your year-end fundraising course and it’s incredible! And this is coming from a person who took SEIU’s PAC from 9.2 million to 21.5 million in 24 months. You are just incredible!”
Hayden L. Mora
“I am so thrilled to say we are having an INCREDIBLE year. Typically, the first 6 months of our fiscal year are…tight (to say the least). However, we’re already about 60% of the way toward our total income goal for the fiscal year.
Thank you for all that you do. As I have navigated the vastly complex world of fundraising, you have been a steady, strong, and thoughtful guiding force. You’re my go-to guru!”
Samantha Poremba
Development Coordinator
Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative (BVMI)
“We hit our Year-End fundraising goal and still have 2 weeks left! We implemented everything we learned in the webinars. Feeling so proud – best $250 ever spent!”
Lyndsey Butcher
SHORE Centre from Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region
“I went through your Simple Development System a few years ago (2011 version) and LOVED, LOVED it! It was SOLID information in a great, easy to understand format and I owe you a great deal – I really mean that.
I’ve been blessed to be able to raise over $6 million in capital campaigns in my years as a Fund Development Director in addition to starting a Monthly Sustainers club (much thanks to you in that) and a solid annual giving program.
I appreciate what you do for so many of us, especially one-man shops like me!”
Ruth Jones, Director of Fund Development
Presbyterian Manor
“I wanted to thank you for this course. I wanted to share that for the first time in our five years, we raised over 100K in program revenue and I think it was in large part due to this course and what I implemented. I need to look further, but program revenue for Q42015 was 28.7k. For Q42016 program revenue was 42k! Amazing!
I will be back for more learning from you…thank you for serving those of us who feel called to bring hope to the world!”
Brooke F. Sulahian, President & Co-Founder
Hope for Our Sisters, Inc.
“If you are struggling with creative ways to connect with your donors, then Pamela Grow’s newsletter course is just what you need. I took this course last year and was able to immediately put some of the ideas and suggestions I learned from her class to work. Donor-focused newsletters can bring in a lot of funds for your nonprofit if done right. Take this course and start off on the right foot. Otherwise you’re leaving money on the table.”
Michelle Sanders Brinson
Nashville Rescue Mission
“Based on the excellent advice presented in your Monthly Giving class, we’ve increased our monthly donors by 242% in just 7 months! We’re excited to keep building on this success in the coming school year.”
Rachel N. Rodriguez, MPA, MSW
Development Director
“I’ve been working with FSFP to improve our donor communications to help our supporters better understand how vital they are to our mission, and YOU have been such a great help in this endeavor! Not only did you give us fantastic language for our automated thank you, but, over the years, you have provided such great resources and insight, all of which has helped me to do my job better and guide the organizations I’m working for to be more donor-centered.”
Brenna Kupfernen, Development Director
Free Speech for People
“After we implemented the simple Reply sheet recommended in one of your webinars after just three months we’ve already added 40 new monthly donors! Thanks so much Pam!”
Karen Shannon
Development Coordinator
“I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you again for
providing me with so much needed information. I have learned so much
from you, and am so glad I got to meet you at the MNA conference.”Ginny Dieruf
The Cody Dieruf Benefit Foundation
“Thank you so much for coming to Montana. I learned so much from you and know I have the power to take this organization in a new direction and your workshop gave me inspiration to really follow through with fundraising efforts. ”
Sarah TV Russell
Executive Director
Carbon County Historical Society & Museum
“You are a delightful speaker. …you were a wealth of information! Thank you for being so generous with your resources. I will be using them for the YWCA Great Falls – and am leaving this workshop inspired!”
Sandi Filipowicz, Executive Director
YWCA Great Falls
“You really cut to the “meat” of what it means to be small shop and you “get it” in a way that so many fundraising gurus don’t.”
Elizabeth Ettenger
Program Coordinator
Ravalli County Museum
“Simple Development Systems is absolutely easy to use, easy to understand and covers all of the topics I’ve had to self-teach myself in an organization with no dedicated development staff. Your idea around creating a culture of philanthropy really resonated with me because I absolutely agree that everyone plays a role in fundraising – it’s about connecting the dots. I also listened to the teleseminar on monthly giving, and you’re right, it’s a no-brainer. I’m going to get this started!
Thanks Pam – this is a great reference guide with practical tips that I can put to use right away.”
Caroline Tillier
Program Advocate
Seattle, WA
“Pam,
I just want to say THANK you! I have learned a wealth of information from you. I have enjoyed Simple Development Systems and highly recommend it. I like that you are not offering “quick fixes,” but instead real methods for improving on so many levels! Being new to fundraising and the nonprofit world in general I find myself visiting your blog regularly for ideas and advice. I know you have plenty of clients but please know I will always be more than happy to recommend you and your work. I look forward to continuing to learn from you.”
Tyler Wilson
Power of P.L.A.Y. Foundation
Member of Simple Development Systems pilot coaching program
“Oh my gosh Pamela, whenever I read something of yours I get all fired up and want to do it all TODAY! Anyway, I am a one person development department and am slowly trying to implement a new database, new stewardship program etc into existence. When I came to this job all we had were excel sheets and everything else was in our Founders headJ
Your writing on stewardship was just affirmation for me that I am headed in the right direction – however it does seem as if you are going to have wonderful ideas on the different touches you can make to your donors.
I LOVED the calendar! I do have one but yours had extra ideas for me.
I will be implementing a “Monthly Giving Ask” – I would like to come up with a nice name for our Monthly Givers though.
Thank you very much for being such a wonderful resource for me!”
Jacqueline Normand
Ministry Development Director
www.christianhelp.org
“I want to make sure and tell you how much I look forward to getting the Grow Report each week. Since subscribing to the Grow Report, I’ve taken advantage of reading and subscribing to most of the blogs that you’ve suggested-not forgetting how helpful your blog and suggestions have been too! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forwarded your e-mail to my colleagues here at Earlham and what positive feedback I get from them from passing on such great info and advice. I’m sure you get this all the time, but I wanted to add my two-cents and say thanks.”
Alison Warren ’06
Assistant Director of Annual Giving
Office of Institutional Advancement
” I am a huge fan. I recently left my dream job as Director of Development to try to find more work-life balance. (I am also the mother of three teenagers.). So, I am just starting a consulting practice in order to share some of the wisdom I learned with other similar sized non-profits. As you know, everyone wants to hire a Director of Development, but many small (under $1M) organizations just aren’t in a place to make that hire. I have been using many of your tools with my clients and helping them to see how establishing some relatively simple habits can really make a big difference. THANK YOU!!!”
Alyson
“Pam’s rewrite of our recent annual appeal resulted in a 36% increase in gifts over last year’s. She also worked with us on our follow-up letters and those have already brought in 17 new donors! This is the first time that we’ve used an outside writer and we’ll definitely be using Pam again.”
Lisa Hambrick
Executive Director
“I am such a neophyte that I am sure I failed to comprehend all the information you discussed in the webinar, HOWEVER you explained the steps in such an organized manner that it doesn’t seem like it will be that difficult.
Thank you for your clear instruction and useful insight on writing grants. The webinar was very helpful and the materials you included with the course were excellent!”
Katie Winniford
Dallas, TX
“Pamela is not only a true pleasure to work with, she also thinks “outside the box” and gets us thinking outside the box as well. Thanks to her suggestions we doubled our revenue in 2010. I highly recommend Pamela, and plan to bring her onboard again when we launch our monthly giving campaign.”
Susan Harrison, Executive Director
Hartford, CT
I know the business of nonprofits pretty well, then I get “The Grow Report” in my email & I start all over again. Awesome stuff
Ian Adair, Founder & CEO
RE-Fundraising.com
Pam,
I use all sorts of helpful sites, but yours is the very Best!
Thanks,
Ron Hera
Pamela,
I am such a fan of what you are doing and your deep knowledge of fundraising. There are thousands of details to getting this work right and you seem to know almost all of them!
Vicki Clarke, Director of Philanthropy – Central Region
Heifer International
Ms. Grow,
I REALLY appreciate your emails, which help me considerably with donor communications and other things as part of my “Development” role.
Thank you for your time and efforts in putting together The Grow Report.
Thanks and God bless,
Lon
Lon Ricker
Director of Development
SoupMobile, Inc.
Pamela,
I recently did a new membership drive and followed your advice – I made the letter all about my prospective members and how our museum is for them. We had a great response!Thanks for all your great advice,
Cindy Gregg, Executive Director
Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village
Pam;
Thank you again for The Grow Report. It is one of the many nonprofit marketing and fundraising newsletters I receive. However, it is one that I can consistently count on for ah-ha moments.
Thank you!
Rozz Beckman
Development Director
WasteCap Nebraska
Pamela,
I am a newly subscribed member of your newsletter, and continue to be pleasantly surprised with the amount of information included in each that I can immediately use and benefit from.
Kyra
Kyra Thomas| Director of Development| Pro-Vision Inc.
Thanks for the work you do with the Grow Report; this “one-person shop” always finds something useful and interesting in them.
Regards,
Brian Keenan
Non-Federal Program Support Manager
Lewis-Clark Early Childhood Program
Hi Pamela,
I really enjoy your weekly Grow Report as it has some great helpful tips and news items regarding fundraising.
Sui-Ling Leung
Director of Development and Volunteer Services
Christmas Exchange
Pamela I really enjoy your weekly updates and blog. With a small budget and a smaller development budget you have truly made a difference in the nonprofit arena as we share your tidbits and highlights with our members. Thank you.
Kim Lynch
Nonprofit Resource Center
Pamela’s book focuses on donor-centric fundraising. She covers what to do in your first 100 days as a development director, donor profiles, newsletters, direct mail, how to thank donors, monthly giving programs, grant seeking, building a website, choosing a donor database, and social media.
The result is a road map to success that can take the scary out and bring in a sense of comfort, self-confidence, and focus about what can and should be done.
Joanne Fritz
About.com Nonprofit
“I just received my copy of Simple Development Systems: Successful fundraising for the One Person Shop. I felt like it was written just for me! What a gift! As I begin my new position as Director of Development at Saint Rose of Lima School, Simple Development Systems will be my Bible! The book is invaluable to me, with tools and resources I would never have access to without Pam! Thank you.”
Jane Mensack, Development Director, St. Rose of Lima School
“Pamela,
Your simple course has been incredible! It has made more sense in five days than many of the $1000 courses. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this and truly help those of us who are struggling to bring in the revenue.”
Judy Barclay, The Full Life Ahead Foundation
“Pam is one of my “go to” people for fundraising knowledge and insight. She is a true leader in our sector, with her weekly not for profit twitter conversations and newsletters, to her specific insights and support for small shops across the country, to her tight network of the top fundraising minds around the world, she sets the bar very high for other professionals like me to offer all that she does for her clients! If you work with Pam, consider yourself one of the few and very, very fortunate to have a professional like Pam working along your side.” June 22, 2011
John Lepp, Partner, Agents of Good
“Pamela has been a member of the CharityChannel.com professional community for years. Through her active participation and insightful articles contributed to CharityChannel, she has earned the respect of thousands of her professional colleagues, me included. She enjoys a solid reputation as a development consultant, and is on my short list of recommended consultants.” June 27, 2009
Stephen Nill, Founder and CEO, CharityChannel
“I am just finishing the first year with my organization as the new Executive Director. I had no idea that during the year my role would soon expand to include donor developer, record keeper, fundraiser, webmaster, social media monitor, planned giving coordinator, event planner, etc.. pretty much the description of a one-person shop! I was intrigued with the title of Pam’s new book on Simple Development Systems, Successful Fundraising for the One-Person Shop. I knew she had written it just for me! This book is a simple, easy to read, essential resource that I wish I had on day one of my job. While reading through each chapter, I was able to click on links to great references by experienced authors, many whom I’ve already been introduced to through Pam’s weekly blog.
I know that I will be referring back to this book, printing off pages for my “swipe” file, and using her tips over and over. Every chapter is on a topic that is so relevant to someone like me who finds themselves wearing different hats. I’m looking forward to really using the toolkit she has provided that will help get my plans and goals down on paper in an organized way. Absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is doing it all! I didn’t know there was so much that I didn’t know. Now that I know better what questions to ask, I can finally get a plan in place to work on the answers. Thank you.”
Cheryl Melendez, Executive Director , Gospel Literature International
Readers of The Grow Report Write
“I always refer to “The Grow Report” for expert advice and guidance. There’s a lot of differing opinions out there but Pamela’s is the one I trust most.”
“Your post on storytelling in grants reinforced recent changes in our grant writing. Since then by adding those “stories” throughout the grant, we have experienced our first national foundation success. This same copy was used at the local level and we were one of 18 successful grants from a field of 68 from a foundation which had never funded us previously.”
“Your newsletter usually produces one “aha” per issue it is why i take the time to read it, most others i just scan.”
“Your most recent “seven tips in a recession” was great. Used it in class with my Northeastern U fundraising students. Great discussion!”
“I subscribe to a huge number of email newsletters, but I have to say that yours is one of the best! It’s good, useful stuff. One of my goals as I redefine my business and launch a new website is to put together a good, helpful and targeted blog – and an email newsletter even half as good as yours!”
“As the Individual Giving Coordinator at a small shop, I depend on the Grow Report for the finest stories/tips from the field. Happy 2012!”
“This is the best blog I subscribe to. I look forward to it every Thursday. Some items I have already seen. But seeing them again is a good reminder and validation from you at to their value. Thanks.”
“I love sharing the new ideas with others and “turning them onto” Pam.”
“It is one of my favorite emails!”
“Thank you so much for freely offering so much information about fundraising and marketing tips. This intensive, competitive field can get one off focus so easily but your information helps to stay on course.”
“I love that you really “get it” when it comes to the joys and challenges of working in very small development shops. Thanks for the great work!”
“Thanks for the informative e-news. I find all the content useful as the one-man development team!”
“I really enjoy your emails each week – you’re one that I never skip over! Thanks for providing such great info, all the time!”
“Warm, personal, real…love that you do the legwork to read the blogs and pass along the best. I’m not really in a “small shop” but since I train our 900 campus staff to do fund development the different approaches and ways to communicate the basic stuff in a new way is really helpful.”
“I don’t actually work in a small shop, but I often find that the articles that you link to are enormously helpful, even in my work in major gifts for a university. I also sit on the board of a volunteer-only nonprofit, and I appreciate that there are also resources that are pertinent for my work there. Having worked in small shops in the past, and with the hope of potentially working in another in the future, I feel like the Grow Report helps keep me current on the trends impacting the little community development/social justice organizations that are so close to my heart.”
I particularly like the blogroll as you have taken care of the editing – I can easily click through and read the ones that interest me w/o filling up my inbox by subscribing to all of them.
I always seem to come away with a few pearls to inspire me…and kick me into action. thanks!
I look forward to receiving the Grow Report weekly; I always learn something new.
I am so glad I found you, Pamela. The information you provide has been tremendously useful to us, especially the blog roll, though I also really appreciate your encouraging words for us in the “small shop.”
Free is good. I could not get the information you offer if there were even the most modest of price tags, so thanks for being generous (and savvy in your marketing) to give us what you do for free. Keep giving us updates on your Marine, too!
SMALL SHOP IS A GOOD CATCH PHRASE AS YOU ARE FOCUSING ON THE SMALL NON PROFITS WHO CANNOT AFFORD THE BIG TIME FEES ANS SALARIES. GOOD POINTERS AND ADVICE TO KEEP US GOING WHAT IS OFTEN A STIFF WIND AGAINST US. THANKS.
Tthank you for providing this resource for development employees everywhere =)
In today’s info-availability overload, in which many people are saying the same thing in a slightly different order and way, I appreciate (and do) being able to follow links to read quickly and then move on.
Pamela, I have been a prospect researcher for nearly seven years now and have been trying to understand how fundraising shops work so I can use some tips in our own research shop. Grow Report has been a great help in this regard. Thank you and Happy New Year.
You make it possible for me to get the best of what’s out there in one easy and fun shot every Thursday morning – I just wish I had time to implement everything! Thanks Pam for your weekly words of wisdom.
Thanks for all the tips. I enjoy reading about what others are doing and what works!
I enjoy reading it every Thursday morning. I always find something in the Grow Report useful or thought provoking.
I love how you do the research for us and post the best of the best. This is a tremendous help for those of us who are a one woman shop and don’t have the time. Thanks!
The blog curating you’re doing is GREAT! I learn so much from you every week! I appreciate your candor in discussing your past work experiences and your political beliefs, and I also like your personal stories. I forward your emails to nonprofit newbies and people looking for consultants. You’re doing great work out there!
As a former development director who now serves as volunteer development director for another non-profit (while holding a full time job elsewhere), I always appreciate being in touch with what’s new and current, and tips that I can pass on to the (untrained) staff to the arts org I volunteer with.
I can’t wait to meet with you personally.