Putting the Pieces of Your Fundraising Strategy Together

Program Overview

Putting the Pieces of Your Fundraising Strategy Together is a dynamic half-day workshop (4 hours) designed for social entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and founders of for-profit businesses with a social mission. This program is ideal for organizations that are ready to connect their funding strategies into a cohesive, sustainable, revenue-generating system.

Who This Is For

• Nonprofit leaders new to the fundraising experience
• Small organizations and projects that are ready to grow but need a structured approach
• For-profit social enterprises seeking to diversify revenue with philanthropic funding streams

What We’ll Accomplish

In just half a day, participants will:

• Identify their strongest funding opportunities (grants, crowdfunding, recurring giving, sponsorship, etc.) and see how these strategies can support each other.
• Map one strategic integration such as connecting a crowdfunding campaign to a recurring giving pipeline, or syncing a grant calendar with sponsorship outreach.
• Create a 90-day action plan with clear, step-by-step next actions
• Develop cross-promotional messaging that bridges and strengthens multiple funding streams

Participants Walk Away With

• A custom integration roadmap: a visual plan for how their chosen funding strategies connect
• A 90-day action plan: specific steps to move you from ideas to implementation
• A messaging framework: templates and talking points to unify your fundraising communications across channels

Why This Matters

Too often, small organizations and social entrepreneurs piece together fundraising efforts without a cohesive strategy, leading to burnout, missed opportunities, and donor confusion. This program provides the tools, frameworks, and confidence to build a sustainable, integrated funding system that supports your mission and growth.

Format & Delivery

• Length: 4 hours (half-day, in-person)
• Materials Provided: Integration roadmap template, 90-day action plan template, messaging framework, and resource guide

Outcomes

Participants will leave with: Clarity on their best-fit funding strategies. A roadmap for integrating those strategies. Actionable next steps for the next 90 days. Messaging tools to engage donors, partners, and supporters.

Facilitator Bio

Melissa Watson Erickson, CFRE,MSOL, aPHR

Melissa Watson Erickson is a detail-oriented, results-driven leader at the intersections of art, innovation, business, and philanthropy. As the founder and principal consultant of The Funding Studio, she has supported creative and mission-driven organizations nationwide inbuilding sustainable funding ecosystems. Melissa brings over a decade of experience in strategic fundraising, organizational development, and capacity-building, empowering creative professionals and social entrepreneurs through education, fiscal sponsorship, and hands-on consulting.

Her career includes leadership roles at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In both roles, she supported the entrepreneurship centers and led fundraising strategy, major donor portfolio management, and professional development initiatives.

Melissa has secured major gifts, built and trained high-performing teams, and developed programs that have increased capital, visibility, and community engagement for a wide range of organizations.

Melissa holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University, a BA from University of the Arts London, a credential in fundraising (CFRE), and certifications in women’s entrepreneurship (Cornell), digital marketing (Columbia Business School), diversity & inclusion (USF),and professional coaching. She is a frequent speaker and panelist at universities, conferences, and festival son philanthropy, fiscal sponsorship, and nonprofit leadership, and is recognized for her transparent, accountable, and solutions-oriented approach.

Please review the guidelines before registering.

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