What is your history as consultants?
Gardner & Associates (G&A) is a new venture, but both Paul Gardner and Walt Eilers are “senior consultants”. Paul has 36 years of fundraising experience and Walt 11 years. We worked together at different times over the last 24 years. At one time Paul and Walt were partners in Larry Bone and Associates, a fundraising partnership.
When Walt returned to Arkansas from his corporate period at Century Telephone and WorldCom, he reconnected with Paul. Paul recognized that Walt’s skills in research, grant writing and strategic planning expanded his skills in campaign design and management. For the last four years, we partnered at Horizons Stewardship.
Now that each of us is eligible for Medicare, we combined our talents and passions into a new venture, Gardner & Associates. With our complimentary skills our G&A partnership offers efficiency, strength and versatility. We are a two-man operation, but so much more.
Why did you select “Growing philanthropy.” as your tag line?
It originally began as a play-on-words building off the “gardner” of Gardner & Associates. At first, we thought it catchy. Then, we realized that our consultant role fundamentally helps nonprofits to grow and in doing so we help grow philanthropy. It expresses our mission and experience.
What is Gardner & Associates’ specialty?
We have a range of specialties because of the experiences that each of us brings to the partnership. Paul brings national level experience in campaign design and management. He also has broad relationships through his decades of involvement in AFP. Walt brings the commercial experience of market research and strategic planning. He also brings writing, research and grant skills. Finally, his background in telephone and broadband offers technology and marketing strengths.
What is your greatest strength?
G&A’s ability to customize your campaign. Over 50 years of experience in a variety of fields enables Paul and Walt to audit/inventory a client’s operations and needs and focus on the primary elements that will best serve their campaign. Through customizing we bring effectiveness and efficiency to each client.
What are you working to improve?
Our primary focus today is helping our clients to adapt to the challenges of a weak economy and recession. The current economic environment requires greater use of collaboration, restructuring and in some cases consolidation. We are in a new and challenging era. G&A offers insights into adapting to the new paradigm and making the most of a weak economy.
What impact do you see technology having on philanthropy?
We see technology as the future of nonprofits growing philanthropy. Technology (computers, broadband, software, wireless, social networking and online giving) enables each G&A client to reduce expenses, gain effectiveness (customize your message) and increase the operational efficiency of your staff and volunteers.
G&A encourages its clients to invest in database software to enhance their stewardship, create an easy-to-use website, cultivate prospect through appropriate ecommerce vehicles and social networks and streamline your financial records with software linked to your database.
The next step is to engage prospects and volunteers in “social networking.” Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Flickr all offer new ways to inform people of your mission, needs and successes. Outreach has become and will continue to grow as a digital medium.
G&A provides creativity and leadership in accessing technology to “grow philanthropy.”
What is your best advice to a nonprofit considering fundraising?
Know yourself. Look in the mirror. Look around.
Spend time doing internal research. Inventory your board to determine their strengths. Assess you operations and operating budget. Conduct a community needs assessment to determine how well your mission is meeting community needs. Survey the marketplace to determine how many other groups are doing similar things.
Get a clear picture (warts and all) of your current condition. That will give both you and your consultant a realistic vision of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.