A Smarter Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy: 7 Questions Every Leader Should Ask Before Hiring Silver Maple Strategies

If you’re exploring Silver Maple Strategies for the first time, welcome. We totally get that you’re searching for the best fit to meet your nonprofit fundraising strategy and impact goals while pursuing greater operational resilience. You deserve clarity and confidence as you decide whether Silver Maple Strategies—and our most popular client package, the Growth Foundations Retainer—is right for you.

Below, I’ll walk you through the seven most common questions new nonprofit leaders ask about this program. Or you can watch the video below, which contains all of the same information. My hope is that by the end, you’ll know whether we’re the right fit—or if another excellent service provider might serve you better.

1. How much does the Growth Foundations Retainer cost?

The Growth Foundations Retainer is a fixed-fee engagement of $1,500 per month, typically structured as a 12-month partnership. We ask for a good-faith commitment to that full year, but technically, it’s month-to-month—because if you’re not getting value, you shouldn’t keep working with us.

I tell clients all the time: If you’re not seeing value, fire us. Use that money somewhere it delivers a real return. Some organizations stay for years because they keep seeing results and growth. Others graduate after a year because their direction shifts or they’ve achieved what they needed. Either way, that’s success.

Key takeaway: $1,500/month, flexible commitment, and complete focus on delivering value worth far more than your investment.

2. What’s included in the Growth Foundations Retainer?

Our approach is rooted in what we call the Nonprofit Resilience Leadership Model. We define resilience as your ability to thrive no matter what’s happening in the world around you. That comes down to three pillars: Clarity, Morale, and Flexibility.

Here’s how we help you strengthen each pillar:

Kickoff Workshop (Clarity)

We begin with a 3-hour Zoom setup workshop. It’s an in-depth session where we unpack your organization’s vision, what’s working, what’s hard right now, and where you want to go next. Together, we build a 12-month plan—your Key Indicators of Progress (KIP) Dashboard—to keep us focused and accountable.

Monthly Coaching (Morale)

Each month, you’ll have three 30-minute coaching sessions and one 60-minute KIP Dashboard review. These meetings focus on keeping momentum, refining strategy, and ensuring you feel confident and supported as you pursue your fundraising and organizational goals.

Content, Systems, and Tools (Flexibility)

We ghostwrite leadership-level content (based on interviews with your team, funders, and champions), help you tell your story, and surface new funding opportunities. We also help you explore systems—including tools like ChatGPT where appropriate—to make your workflows faster and more sustainable.

Key takeaway: You’ll receive coaching, strategy, and implementation support across clarity, morale, and flexibility—always tailored to your nonprofit’s goals.

3. How much time will this take me and my team?

The best results come from clients who can invest 2–5 hours per week. That includes our calls, your internal discussions, and any “homework” we mutually agree on.

Sometimes we do the legwork—researching funders, writing collateral, building tools. Other times, we’ll ask you to make strategic calls your board or team must own. We’ll guide you through those decisions and help you keep momentum without overwhelming your schedule.

Key takeaway: Expect 2–5 hours per week total. We do much of the heavy lifting so you can focus on what matters most: fundraising and leadership.

4. How soon will we see results in our nonprofit fundraising strategy?

Most clients start seeing tangible momentum within the first week or two. During that time, we complete your setup workshop, build your KIP Dashboard, and often tackle one urgent opportunity right away—whether that’s messaging a giving campaign, refining a case statement, or aligning a new funding strategy.

We aim to deliver value fast, because early wins create energy and trust that compound over time.

Key takeaway: You’ll feel progress in the first two weeks—often faster.

5. Can you guarantee a financial return on investment?

Short answer: no—and that’s intentional.

We’re not registered fundraisers in any U.S. state, and we don’t do direct fundraising for clients. Instead, we focus on building your long-term fundraising capacity. These are the systems, skills, and assets that keep generating results for your nonprofit and your clients long after our initial engagement.

That said, our goal is to deliver at least $200,000 in measurable value (in training, tools, strategy, and assets) within your first 12 months. If you don’t believe you’ve received that level of value by mutual agreement, we’ll continue working with you at no additional cost until you do.

Key takeaway: We don’t promise dollars raised. Instead, we promise extraordinary value, lasting capacity, and dedicated partnership.

6. What happens if we get off track or behind schedule?

Life happens, especially in nonprofit work. You’re juggling funder meetings, events, and board priorities.

If you need to pause or reschedule, we’re flexible. Your deliverables reset quarterly, so if you skip content in January, you can double up in February or March. We can also substitute—say, trade an article for a board workshop or staff training if that’s what you need most.

Our only rule: at the end of each quarter, unused deliverables don’t roll over. It keeps things clean for both teams.

Key takeaway: We’re flexible and responsive. We’ll adapt to your pace while ensuring you continue receiving full value.

7. Can I talk with some of your other clients?

Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it.

We’re proud to connect prospective clients with current or past partners who can speak candidly about their experience. This includes what’s worked, what’s been hard, and what it’s like to collaborate with me and the Silver Maple Strategies team.

We’re not the right fit for everyone, and that’s okay. We want to make sure you have complete confidence in your decision.

Key takeaway: Yes. We will recommend clients you can speak with directly. Transparency and fit are essential to our model.

Ready to explore whether the Growth Foundations Retainer is right for you?

Interested in exploring how you can build your nonprofit’s resilience, impact, and fundraising capacity? Book a free 30-minute Strategy Session with founder and CEO Nate Birt to discuss your situation:👉 https://calendly.com/silvermaplestrategies/strategy-session

No cost. Not commitments. Just value. And if you’re not quite ready yet, we totally understand. You can browse our blog at SilverMapleStrategies.com for more straightforward answers to the questions real nonprofit leaders ask us every day.