Fundraising & Organizational Development
Helping social change organizations succeed - building the structures, cultures, and resources to best meet their missions and the needs of their communities.
Organizations seek out consulting support for many different reasons. Some need help clarifying their theory of change, mission, or strategy. Some are navigating a merger, leadership transition, or hiring process, or need to build greater trust and role clarity within and between staff and boards. Others are wrestling with high turnover and demoralized staff, or trying to develop stronger practices for feedback, transparency, and accountability. And almost all organizations need to strengthen their revenue—to grow their programs, weather downturns, address shortfalls, and sustain their work for the long haul.
These needs are rarely separate. Leadership and organizational culture affect fundraising. Financial pressure affects staff capacity and morale. Unclear roles and structures can make it difficult to carry out even the strongest strategy. What makes my work distinctive is that I understand and work across these intersections.
In my organizational development and change-management work, I help clients build the trust, clarity, structures, and practices they need to build on their strengths and address persistent challenges. Together, we clarify roles and values, strengthen leadership and decision-making, change practices and structures, and navigate leadership or organizational transitions. Whether I am conducting an assessment or facilitating a retreat or meeting, I create opportunities for meaningful participation, collaborative decision-making, and honest conversations about power. My work is rooted in joy, liberatory practice, belief in change, and deep respect for the people and organizations I partner with.
Grassroots fundraising is another core part of my work. I help organizations build the resources they need to grow their programs, weather downturns, and sustain their work over time. That can include developing a strategic fundraising plan; strengthening individual giving, major donor, or recurring donor programs; planning campaigns and funder briefings; training people to make effective asks; and creating clear roles, timelines, systems, and accountability structures.
I approach fundraising as more than a way to secure money. At its best, fundraising builds relationships, develops leaders, and gives people a meaningful way to act on their values. I work with boards, staff, members, and volunteers to move fundraising out of the hands of one or two people and build a culture of joyful, robust participation - one that is rooted in the organization’s values, community, and vision for change.
For more than 25 years, I have worked as an organizer, fundraiser, nonprofit leader, facilitator, and consultant. I have served as an Interim Executive Director, Deputy Director, labor organizer, national campaign and chapter organizer, and development director.
Across these roles, one question has consistently guided me: How can we build organizations and movements that are effective, creative, sustainable, and consistent with their values?
Currently, I primarily work with membership and base building organizations and coalitions, but have also worked with many other forms of advocacy and social change organizations. Recent clients include ALIGN NY, Astraea Lesbian Foundation, Common Defense, Florida Health Justice Project, Freedom Center for Social Justice, Grassroots Asians Rising, Hoosier Action, Movement for Family Power, and Rethinking Schools.. You can find a full list of clients and testimonials here.
Before becoming a consultant, I served as Director of Development at Jews for Racial & Economic Justice. I built a fundraising program there that engaged the full staff and board, along with dozens of member leaders, and helped grow the organization’s budget from $275,000 in 2013 to $1.6 million in 2020. I also served for six years as National Organizer and Interim Executive Director of Military Families Speak Out and held fundraising and organizing roles with AFSCME, Jobs with Justice, 9to5, and Massachusetts Senior Action Council.
My work is rooted in joy, liberatory practice, belief in change, and deep respect for the people and organizations I partner with. And of course, we all find meaning and joy outside of our work! I am an obsessive WNBA and baseball fan (Go Liberty! Go Sox!), a JFREJ member leader, a summer beach bunny, a thrill-seeking city biker, a solo traveler, an avid fiction reader, and a proud snarky Jewish queer femme. I live in Brooklyn with my public defender partner, a ferocious warrior princess/Chihuahua named Xena, and a tiny cat with enough energy to power the whole city.
“I had known Nikki as a professional in the field with a stellar reputation for years before finding myself in need of grassroots fundraising support. True to her reputation, as a consultant, Nikki had extremely dynamic approaches to every aspect of our fundraising operation. What truly stunned me was her ability to stay grounded in our values and her incredible responsiveness to our unique community. It was also helpful that she was a joy to see every time we met. I highly recommend Nikki as a thought partner who brings real results!”
— Bethany Basile, Boston Workers Circle
Join my quarterly newsletter
I publish a quarterly newsletter with updates on my clients as well as thoughts on fundraising and organizational issues and opportunities for social change organizations.
Check out past issues here.