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Case study — Urban Resource Institute

Building the development engine inside one of the nation's largest DV service providers

Four months to give a government-funded organization of hundreds a private-philanthropy function: structure, standard operating procedures, a trained board, and an SVP set up to own it.

5%
Private revenue when we arrived — the gap we were hired to close
Sector
Human services · New York City
Urban Resource
Institute
The problem

One of the largest domestic violence service providers in the country, leaning almost entirely on government contracts — private philanthropy was just 5% of revenue. A new SVP of Development was arriving with no workflows, SOPs or role definitions to receive them, and fundraising was fragmented across departments in what the team called the "triangle of pain."

What we did

A cross-departmental assessment and future-state department design with clear role definitions; a complete SOP suite covering the full fundraising lifecycle; a role charter and 30/60/90 ramp plan for the incoming SVP; targeted prospect pipelines across foundations, corporations and individuals; actor-driven solicitation training for executives, board and staff; and a dedicated gala workstream from sponsorship matrix to post-event pledge conversion.

The result

A development function with structure: an operating rhythm that embeds coordination across departments, an SVP set up to own it, trained solicitors at every level, and a 90-day post-engagement roadmap — in four months.

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Clients

Organizations we have served

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