Odell Simms, Inc. has developed a reputation as one of the premier fundraising consultants around the world. We are “closers” and excel at securing major donor gifts and corporate sponsorships at the six-, seven-, and eight-figure levels for capital campaigns, national initiatives, and programmatic efforts.
We offer a broad spectrum of support to meet the diverse needs of our clients—from strategic consulting to aggressive in-market representation. Some organizations engage Odell Simms, Inc. because they have exhausted their existing prospect pools and pipelines. Others need expert guidance to open avenues for funding that align with new strategic priorities and initiatives. And many rely on our firm because they simply don’t have the manpower or expertise to dedicate to development efforts.
Regardless of our function, Odell Simms, Inc. is committed to driving measurable results for our clients. Our success is grounded in a methodology that couples in-depth research and proprietary market intelligence with extensive networking and cultivation to help our clients build long-term partners. With deep knowledge of and access to more than 20,000 high-level decision makers and 12,000 corporations and foundations, our firm builds strategic connections to help our clients achieve their objectives.
Fundraising & Sponsorship Services
Evaluate a client’s mission, programming, leadership, financial health, and fundraising capacity and deliver recommendations to establish or enhance development efforts.
Analyze existing leads and develop a new pipeline of prospects based on Odell Simms, Inc.’s relationships, which afford unique intelligence on prospects’ current priorities, openness to certain gift levels, budget deadlines, and political issues that impact giving.
Assess the likelihood of a fundraising campaign achieving its goals in the desired timeframe and market by evaluating campaign strengths and weaknesses, potential leaders and donors, implementation guidelines, and expected management costs.
Develop a strategic fundraising plan that identifies target constituencies, outlines approaches for major donor prospects, determines benefits and recognition opportunities, and defines campaign milestones.
Refine an initiative’s case statement, messaging, and branding to differentiate it from competing campaigns, and tell that story through a suite of customized materials that make the philanthropic and business cases for support.
Generate broad-based fundraising support through mail and online communications targeting specific markets and demographics.
Identify and engage appropriate individuals to build an influential board and leadership team that can give significant funding and offer networks to raise major gifts.
Serve as aggressive, in-market representation—developing strategy, setting appointments, attending meetings, cultivating relationships, making the “ask,” and re-engaging existing donors for upgraded contributions.
Develop proposals, concept papers, letters of intent, government grants, and other documentation to solicit or respond to a prospect’s interests and criteria.
Plan and execute fundraising events, including selecting and recruiting honorees, identifying appropriate sponsorship levels, engaging top sponsors, developing a guest list of potential donor prospects, and managing logistics.
