Cape Fletcher Associates

For too many organizations, “money” is the biggest obstacle to reaching a given goal or vision. Cape Fletcher believes fundraising for those financial resources is one of the more solvable obstacles in our social impact sector. Although it requires a plan and resolute diligence to deploy the plan, a fundraising strategy is a challenge that can be met. This is a solvable problem for most organizations!

The vast majority of Cape Fletcher’s client base is in Central Indiana, with a few clients outside of the state. Our clients typically feature operating budgets in the $2-10 million range. And our capital campaign work ranges from $2 million up through $100 million, with the vast majority of feasibility study and campaign work in the $5-20 million range.

Cape Fletcher Associates provides any number of services including:

1.) Development Assessments and Audits: Identify areas of opportunity and possible growth for your development program. This is often a first step for an organization seeking to build on its culture of philanthropy.

2.) Development Plan: Much like the way a nonprofit must have a strategic plan, so too should its fundraising program be led by a strategic development plan. How and where are limited resources focused that will elevate contributed revenue in the most effective way — a development plan is essential to preparing for the future.

3.) Feasibility Study: Many organizations preparing for the future recognize that a large, significant step may be just around the corner in the form of a capital campaign. But how much can we raise, how long will it take, and who are our likely lead donors to meet that goal? These questions — and many others — are addressed through a feasibility study.

4.) Capital Campaigns: Monumental changes at an organization often require transformational giving. Effectively-managed capital campaigns provide donors and prospective donors with a way to make charitable gifts much larger than their typical annual support. We provide campaign counsel (typically following a feasibility study) to organizations seeking to ensure the goal is achieved/surpassed, it is met on-time, and the campaign is conducted with the highest level of polish.

5.) Philanthropy Counsel: For many nonprofits, they realize a funding cliff is around the corner and need both a strategy and the accountability and counsel to prepare for that upcoming cliff. Many of our clients — whether smaller nonprofits looking to grow their base of support to become a bigger operating budget, or a larger nonprofit seeking greater revenue diversity — find great benefit to on-going philanthropy counsel. Often this involved the development staff, as well as a given frequency of engagement with the ED/CEO and perhaps even board leadership.

Cape Fletcher’s principals, John Mainella and Michael Pettry, have experience in the Central Indiana (and beyond) nonprofit sector including in higher education, arts & culture, association and membership, basic needs, and other CBO institutions. John and Michael believe that fundraising doesn’t simply occur Monday through Friday, between 9 and 5 — they are always available to assist whenever a client needs!