Know Where You Are So You Can Plan Where You’re Going

Assessments and data analytics provide the foundation from which to plan future programming and philanthropic activities, or to revamp, revitalize or restructure your organization. Any sort of planning requires that you know what your current circumstances and results are, whether it’s a review of your current internal activities and programs, evaluation of impact, or a comparison of your activities to comparable organizations in the industry.

At Alford Group, we approach assessments as an opportunity to move your organization forward. Our assessments result in actionable recommendations to enhance your business practices, raise more funds, inform your funding strategy, or start a new program. We offer many types of assessment and analytics, including:

• Fundraising Operations Suite – a suite of services that will help you assess the current state of your internal operations; analyze your donor data in new, insightful ways; identify areas of focus and uncover new prospects; and ultimately improve your fundraising results.
  • Alford Analytics – a 360º view of how your donors engage with your organization, including historic trends and gaps in giving relevant to fundraising strategy and implementation. Map your donor journey – how donors are acquired, how long they stay, when they peak, how and when they increase to major giving, and more.
  • Demographic Donor Scan – data preparation and in-depth analysis that compares your donor data against over 400 consumer demographic identifiers that will help you with acquisition, marketing and communication efforts.
  • Fundraising Operations Assessment – focused review of all fundraising operations designed to identify areas of improvement and new operational structures and protocols that will strengthen your program.
• Organizational Assessment – assessment of current mission, vision, organizational culture, governance, programs and services, human resources and staffing, facilities and technology, financial management, funding and fund development, and/or marketing and communications.
• Development Assessment – assessment of resource development activities, staff and infrastructure.
  • Rapid Development Assessment – focused assessment on fundraising operations that can be centered around a particular area of interest to quickly surface fundraising opportunities.
• Philanthropic Market Assessment – a holistic view of your organization  that will assist in identifying and maximizing opportunities. Find out how your donors and prospects perceive your organization, how their philanthropic giving priorities match your needs, and how they want to be engaged. Learn best practices and determine how your organization stacks up among similar organizations. Often conducted to determine whether the market will support a capital campaign or to analyze the interplay between the internal development function and the external perceptions of your organization.
• Impact and Program Evaluation – identification and measurement of key organizational and/or programmatic outcomes. Determine progress or demonstrate results, gather information to refine design and approach, and/or share learnings with broader constituencies.
• Benchmarking – assessment of best practices, strengths, areas of opportunity internally and for partnership, and potential threats relative to similar organizations in the industry.
• Governance Analysis – assessment of your board’s capacity, structure, recruitment, orientation, governance and term limits.
• Constituent Perception Analysis – assessment of insight and perspectives from internal and/or external stakeholders regarding perceptions of the organization currently or its plans for the future.