CU Folk & Roots Festival
From stringing along to swingin’!
The C-U Folk & Roots Festival hired do good to assist them with the task of improving their marketing and public relations efforts. So we worked with them on training, then charting out a marketing plan to maximize visibility and buzz in the community during the group’s first year. We also conducted a first-year event assessment — a walk-through of the event with observations and recommendations to improve all future events.
After seven years, the festival is still going strong, and has tripled its operating budget, funding sources and overall attendance, growing from six hundred to over 2,000 attendees.
– Brenda Koenig, C-U Folk & Roots Festival, Founder & Steering Committee Chair
Cunningham Children’s Home
Staffing analysis brings effectiveness and efficiency
In a quest to find maximum efficiency and create a great work environment, Urbana, Illinois-based Cunningham Children’s Home had do good come in to conduct a departmental analysis of staffing structure, systems, and overall operations.
The analysis entailed detailed research into an array of department functions and interviewing and surveying staff and other key stakeholders and culminated in a detailed final report with recommendations to make the departments operations more effective and efficient.
do good is a competent, diverse, high-energy, efficient team that will add value to your organization.
– Cloydia Larimore, Vice President of Philanthropy, Cunningham Children’s Home
David Davis Mansion Foundation
Propelling historic museum into the future
When the David Davis Mansion Foundation came to do good wanting to better showcase and support their Bloomington, Illinois-based 1872 Victorian mansion and gardens, do good jumped into action with marketing and fundraising trainings for board members and volunteers to help them work as a team to raise their visibility and raise additional funds to support their work and preserve the historic home.
Christie Foundation
Taking it to the next level
When the Christie Foundation was ready to take things to the next level at their Champaign-based organization, they looked to do good.
Founded in 1975, the Foundation, which is the charitable giving arm of Christie Clinic, was looking to make a more profound impact in cultivating new generations of medical leaders, creating strong nonprofits serving in the community, and educating residents about medical issues.
do good first worked with the Foundation’s board and staff to develop a strategic plan. A variety of other projects followed, including creating a more diversified fundraising program for the organization. This included the development of a large annual event as well to recognize donors and Foundation scholarship winners and installation of a powerful database system to create a relationship-driven giving program. We followed that up with proper training and data migration.
Concurrently, we were working with to help them align programs with mission and created metrics and review systems to ensure targeted giving and return on investment.
Finally, we developed a great video and written storytelling project for the organization to highlight the work, impact, and successes of the Foundation’s medical scholarship recipients.
Click here to see a postcard created for the Christie Foundation with the help of do good.
Laura is the quintessential professional – superior response time, creative, easy to work with and tenacious. I would recommend Laura and her staff for consulting and marketing needs.
– Marsha Osterbur, Administrative Assistant, Christie Foundation
Mid-Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters
Changing young lives together
Mid-Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters has been a positive force in the lives of children for over 40 years providing mentoring relationships to build strong futures.
The Lumpkin Family Foundation partnered with do good to conduct a 10-part organizational assessment for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Our work analyzing and reviewing organizational operations gave their staff and board a comprehensive look at the state of their operations, including where they excelled and where they needed to focus organizational efforts. The report included basic financial notes, priority ratings, and personnel assignments to help the organization determine how best to begin addressing the noted needs. As a part of the organizational assessment process, do good also offered fundraising and marketing training for the organization’s leadership to help boost their capacities in these two key operational areas.
As the organization’s 40th anniversary approached, do good was again brought in to help create special campaign materials and a unique 40th year indicia, or mark, for the group to use. A multi-purpose set of brochures and inserts were created highlighting the new indicia for organizational members to use in cultivating new donors and volunteers.
Laura did a complete program assessment for Mid-Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters. She completed the assessment in a timely manner and was extremely thorough. Her recommendations were presented concisely in written form along with cost and time projections to the board of directors and executive director. We were very pleased.
– Toq Lawrence, former Executive Director, Mid-Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters
Camp New Hope
Fundraising and organizational effectiveness skyrocket with do good
Appeal letter created for Camp New Hope by do good Consulting.
Our work with Camp New Hope began with some tweaks to the organization’s fundraising program that, over time, have netted the organization significant growth both in their donor base as well as their donor-driven income.
Each year, Camp New Hope contacts do good for us to develop a story-driven fundraising letters for their holiday campaign. Annually, a different Camp New Hope camper tells their story of their time at the camp, located on the picturesque banks of Lake Mattoon in Neoga, Illinois. These heart-felt letters have increased response rates and donation amounts, and overall have led to growth in revenues of over 400%.
A few years ago, do good partnered with the Lumpkin Family Foundation to also conduct a full-scale organizational assessment for the Camp. Analyzing and reviewing 10 different areas of organizational operations, do good gave Camp New Hope’s staff and board a comprehensive look at the state of their operations, including where they excelled and where they needed to focus organizational efforts. The report included basic financial notes, priority ratings, and personnel assignments to help the organization determine how best to begin addressing the noted needs.
As a part of the organizational assessment process, do good also offered fundraising and marketing training for the organization’s leadership to help boost their capacities in these two key operational areas.
Click here to see the brochure that do good Consulting helped Camp New Hope create.
Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Staying at the top of their game with do good
For 40 years, the Illinois Stewardship Alliance has been an award-winning advocate for local foods and farms. With offices just blocks from the state capitol, their advocacy and programming has helped local farmers, other producers, and consumers access better, healthier, locally-raised foods.
To stay at the top of their game, the Alliance has sought do good’s help for a variety of organizational development issues. The organization regularly seeks training for board and staff in a variety of nonprofit best practices topics, including financial literacy and record keeping, data management, fundraising, and marketing.
They also know how important planning is, so we helped them develop annual fundraising and marketing plans to guide their work. We also helped develop some of the communications tools as well, including an engaging new brochure for their target audiences.
We also helped the Illinois Stewardship Alliance install and customize a new database, completing a data merge, de-dupping, and re-install process. Concurrently, we develop, coordinate, and launch their first formal annual giving campaign, including writing the first story-driven letter to send to donors.
Click here to see the brochure that do good helped the ISA create.
do good conducted a board training for us and we couldn’t be more happy with the results. Extremely knowledgeable and well-prepared with an excellent presentation balanced with reflective activities. Definitely recommend working with do good Consulting for all of your nonprofit needs!
– Lindsay Record, Executive Director, Illinois Stewardship Alliance
When I first met Laura Huth of do good Consulting, I could tell immediately that she was a highly skilled professional who truly knew her material, and who customized that material for our organization. She organized a strategic planning session which incorporated generous contributions of her other talents, including marketing, fundraising, membership recruitment, board/staff training, and evaluating committee structure/function. The entire Board was so pleased with the results that we have hired Laura for additional work. She has been a real boon to the Illinois Stewardship Alliance!
– Bret Beall, former board member, Illinois Stewardship Alliance
Kellogg Bird Sanctuary
Strategic plan guides bird sanctuary into the future
When the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary at Michigan State University decided to update their badly outdated old plan, they contacted do good Consulting.
The 180-acre wildlife center, located on the stunning shores of the 40-acre Wintergreen Lake in Augusta, Michigan, offers year-round walkable trails and public education programs.
The organization, which is a part of the University but operates fairly independently, did not have a plan guiding their efforts.
do good carried their key stakeholders – including staff, board, University personnel, and the public – through a dynamic multi-day strategic planning process that including research, a multi-faceted retreat, and the post-retreat plan development.
The plan has served as a guide for organizational growth and development efforts for years now, helping all key stakeholders understand future plans and their roles in making these plans happen.
Laura helped our Sanctuary to create a 5 year strategic plan. She created an electronic survey to collect input from a diverse group of stakeholders, provided an evaluation of the survey results and facilitated 3 different meetings to analyze the survey results, brainstorm solutions and create a plan. Laura compiled all of the ideas and provided us with a strong document to share with funders and stakeholders. Two years later the plan she led us to create is still viable and we are well on our way to accomplishing many of the tasks! Laura did all this while keeping our mission front and center, working within our limited budget and a fast-paced 3 month time period!
– Kara Haas, Kellogg Bird Sanctuary Director
Youth & Family Peer Support Alliance
Comprehensive start-up project kicks things off on the right foot
When Regina Crider pulled together a team of passionate, like-minded community members to found the new Youth & Family Peer Support Alliance in 2013, she had a dream of helping youth and families with mental health issues.
But she needed guidance on setting up a new organization, wanted a comprehensive branding and marketing plan that included a professional design for their new logo, new website, brochures, and business cards.
The do good team worked with the new Alliance team to get them off the ground. All the necessary papers were filed for their incorporation and 501(c)(3) federal tax status (which they received in less than four months). Next, do good set out to walk them through a comprehensive branding campaign, developing their new logo, developing a website, and creating brochures and business cards.
Today they are hard at work across East Central Illinois providing the support, programs, and connections that families need to successfully deal with mental health issues.
Laura is a dynamic nonprofit consultant. She worked diligently on our project and the results have been wonderful. I love that she not only brings her “know how” to the table she also brings all her resources and contacts as well. Laura is not just a consultant, she is an advocate for the nonprofit sector. She teaches and empowers her clients to grow in their understanding and practice. When you hire do good you are hiring the best of the best! They get the job done!
– Regina Crider, Founder and Executive Director, Youth & Family Peer Support Alliance
