Building Lasting Fundraising Capacity: A Partnership with the Women's Foundation of the South

Engagement Period: June 2025 – July 2026

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Since June 2025, Love Resource Development Group (LRDG) has partnered with the Women's Foundation of the South (WFS) across four connected engagements, providing strategic fundraising counsel, hands-on major gifts execution, organizational leadership development, and interim development operations support. What began as a single fund development plan has grown into a sustained, multi-year partnership: each phase of work was scoped to hand off cleanly into the next, so that donor relationships, institutional knowledge, and fundraising momentum carried forward rather than resetting. Today, that continuity underpins WFS's push toward its Five-Year Strategic Plan goal of growing annual operating revenue from $3M to $5M.

THE CHALLENGE

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WFS needed more than a single fundraising plan — it needed the infrastructure, leadership systems, and operational continuity to sustain growth over the long term. At the outset, the organization was leaving meaningful money on the table: an estimated $1M in missed funding opportunities with key foundation partners had gone unrealized. Major gifts work lacked a formal system for identifying, cultivating, and stewarding donors, and the Development Department had no unified work plan with clear KPIs or accountability measures. Leadership structure and governance needed clarification as the organization scaled, and WFS faced an ongoing staffing gap in its development operations while working toward hiring a permanent Development Director — a gap that put donor data management, gift acknowledgment, and stewardship continuity at risk.

THE SOLUTIONS

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LRDG addressed these challenges through four connected engagements, each building on the last.

Fund Development Plan & Major Gifts Infrastructure

• A current-year fundraising strategy spanning institutional partnerships, individual giving, and other revenue streams, presented formally to the Advancement Committee and Board.

• An immediate funding recovery plan targeting the ~$1M in missed opportunities, alongside a revised Development Department work plan with clear KPIs and accountability measures.

• A major donor prospect identification system, donor engagement toolkit, ask-amount calculation worksheet, and customizable proposal templates — paired with a weekly accountability structure and ongoing coaching.

Organizational Leadership Development

• A leadership team structure and governance model, including reporting lines and decision-making protocols.

• Direct support connecting WFS's new strategic plan to its fundraising plan, plus exploration of 3–5 year funding commitments from foundations and principal-gift prospects.

• A coaching and performance evaluation framework and an ongoing leadership development strategy.

Continued Advancement Support & Fundraising Strategy

• Bi-weekly coaching and strategy sessions with the CEO, the Board, and Advancement staff to monitor the fundraising plan, review pipeline, and refine ask amounts, scripts, and timing.

• Continued identification and cultivation of high-net-worth prospects and foundation relationships, plus Board engagement support including peer-to-peer outreach guidance and messaging templates.

• Regionalized advancement strategy design and donor data optimization, along with identification of prospective and lapsed donors for re-engagement.

Interim Development Operations Support

• Ongoing Bloomerang database management to keep donor records, contacts, and gift histories accurate.

• A donor acknowledgment system generating tax receipts and thank-you communications for all incoming gifts, plus a stewardship-trigger system flagging when personal or executive outreach is needed.

• Board reporting support and transition documentation to ensure a smooth hand-off once a permanent Development Director is hired.

  
  

THE IMPACT

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The results of this partnership show up both in what WFS has built and in how consistently that work has been sustained. Since June 2025, LRDG has maintained a standing cadence with the organization — coaching sessions with the CEO and Advancement staff one to two times monthly, Advancement Team meetings twice monthly, quarterly Board Advancement Committee meetings, and regular appearances before the full Board — reinforced by in-person work including a donor cultivation event in Atlanta and a strategy weekend with the CEO and Marketing Lead in Martha's Vineyard.

• A complete major gifts infrastructure now in place, from prospect identification through stewardship — where none existed before.

• An immediate recovery plan targeting close to $1M in previously missed foundation funding.

• A clarified leadership governance model supporting WFS as it scales toward its $5M revenue goal.

• Continuous, uninterrupted donor data and gift acknowledgment operations throughout a Development Director staffing gap.

• A fundraising program built for continuity — each engagement handed off cleanly into the next, preserving donor relationships and institutional knowledge.

LOOKING FORWARD

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The WFS partnership reflects the model LRDG brings to every client relationship: strategic counsel paired with hands-on execution, scoped so that each phase of work builds on the last. As WFS continues toward its goal of growing annual operating revenue from $3M to $5M, LRDG remains engaged as a strategic partner through Fall 2026 — sustaining donor relationships, institutional knowledge, and fundraising momentum, and preparing a smooth transition once WFS hires its permanent Development Director.