Strategic Planning

Not-for-profits share certain business imperatives. With limited resources, they must meet the needs of their constituents effectively in a highly competitive environment. Robinson Ventures helps its not-for-profit clients to develop and utilize resources, manage growth and competition, and serve their constituents well.

Our typical strategic planning outcomes include:

  • Increased organizational perspective and insight;
  • Growth in corporate responsibility and program scope;
  • Improved adaptability and resourcefulness in agency development;
  • Greater sensitivity and focus in staff development;
  • Heightened management and leadership capabilities;
  • Better alignment of organizational goals, and of vision and program strategy.

Fund Development/Fund Raising

Limit your "crisis fundraising," build flexibility into your finances, increase board involvement, and use your time more productively. Robinson Ventures works with those who are new to nonprofits, new to the development function, or existing nonprofits that need to revitalize their development function. Our engagements are ideal for board members and volunteers as well as staff.

At the conclusion of our engagements, you should understand:

  • The importance of a diversified funding base.
  • The players in the fund development process.
  • How to conduct an assets inventory.
  • How to develop your mission and case statements.
  • How to identify new funding opportunities.
  • How to set realistic goals.
  • How to prepare your development plan & calendar.

At Robinson Ventures we bring together nonprofit organizations and funders, effectively producing meaningful dynamic collaborations that touch the lives of many. For more information on our Fund Development consulting engagements, click here.

Grant Writing

Grant writing is an investment in your organization's future. Successful grant writing is as much an art as it is a science and to generate a constant and reliable flow of funding from grantors takes time, commitment, experience, and persistence to succeed.

Robinson Ventures is a professional grant writing team with experience in writing and securing public and private sector grants. By contracting with Robinson Ventures for your organization's grant writing needs you will: 

  • Identify and target your prime funding opportunities and develop a strategic path for acquisition of long-term funding needs.
  • Enable your organization to submit professional grant applications on a regular basis.
  • Eliminate last-minute deadlines and piecemealed grant proposals.
  • Allow your administrative staff to concentrate on management issues, rather than on the time-consuming tasks of researching, writing, and submitting grant proposals.
  • Eliminate the cost of a salaried in-house grant writer.
  • Train your staff to write grants.

Board Development

Effective nonprofit Boards of Directors choose to hold themselves to high standards and are continuously raising the bar in terms of how they handle their increasing responsibilities. This includes not only fiduciary responsibilities to their stakeholders but self-development responsibilities as well - self-development of the board as a unified entity and self-development of its individual Directors.

A board's responsibilities to its organization and to the constituents it serves are broad and complex. On-going development of its collective capacity and willingness to carry out the following responsibilities is essential for the success of any organization: 

  • Providing strategic as well as ideological (core values, mission, etc.) guidance to the CEO and Senior Leadership.
  • Monitoring CEO performance and ensuring that an implementable Succession Plan is in place.
  • Monitoring the organization's performance (Are strategic and mission-critical initiatives being implemented on time and on budget?).
  • Maintaining ethical and legal standards.
  • Managing risk (Is the board able to anticipate threats to the organization and does it have plans in place to prevent or at least minimize those threats?)

Self-Development, the other fundamental area of responsibility of every board, involves developing and improving the board's own competencies and those of its individual Directors. A board that values self-development is one that:

  • Has a process for evaluating its collective effectiveness.
  • Has a process for evaluating individual Directors.
  • Acknowledges and addresses areas of tension among board members and among board members and the CEO.
  • Acquires skills to make tough decisions and have difficult conversations while remaining productive.
  • Recognizes and capitalizes on the talent of individual Directors

At the end of the day, the Board is responsible for all aspects of the organization. Without an effective Board you will not have an effective organization. Robinson Ventures' Board Development, and Board Advisory consulting services provides the facilitation and training that can assist your organization in becoming a high performing board.