We don’t do everything. And we don’t do it for everyone.
Who we help and how
We help nonprofits who want to grow change the way they
find new donors, retain them longer, and grow lifetime value
by building a multi-channel fundraising system based on
donor understanding.
Our clients include international development NGOs, hospital
foundations, healthcare and research nonprofits, nature
conservation organizations, and local poverty relief charities.
Our services focus on fundraising growth strategy, donor
acquisition, integrated fundraising campaigns (direct mail,
email marketing, paid media and ads), digital fundraising,
midlevel programs, monthly giving programs and legacy giving
programs. Every engagement is grounded in donor research
and insights.
Our best-fit clients
Are midsize and large nonprofits ($10-$50m in annual revenue from individual donors—not grants, foundations, or institutional funding) in Canada and the US
Recognize that donor behaviour is changing and traditional fundraising playbooks are producing diminishing returns
Want to modernize how they acquire donors, retain supporters, increase lifetime value, and build durable giving programs
Are interested in long-term strategy (not quick, cheap fixes) for growing their top and bottom lines with ideal-fit donors
Understand that real growth starts with diagnosis: data, donor insight, positioning, unit economics, and strategy before jumping into execution
Are prepared to invest in learning what truly drives generosity among their current and future audiences through research, testing and experimentation
Value partnership over vendor relationships, and want an expert team that can challenge assumptions, bring ideas, and help lead change internally
Are prepared to commit the time and attention of their Executive, Fundraising and Marketing teams both at the beginning of the engagement and throughout the partnership
Want to build something that compounds in the long term: stronger brand, lower acquisition costs, better retention, deeper donor loyalty, and ultimately more net revenue
In short: if you want more than “more appeals sent” or “better ad clicks”—and
instead want to build a modern fundraising growth engine, we’re likely a strong fit.
If you don’t check all the boxes, it doesn’t mean that we can’t help you. But a
majority of the following ring true in our most successful client engagements.
Nonprofits seek our expertise when they’re:
Not getting the kind of insights, thinking and results they want from their current agency
Too dependent on a shrinking base of loyal donors to carry more and more of the giving
Not consistently acquiring enough new donors to replace attrition and fuel future growth
Relying on legacy tactics, one-off campaigns, list swaps, or “the way we’ve always done it” to drive revenue
Seeing flat results from appeals, digital ads, email, or direct mail—and unsure what to fix first
Missing opportunities to unlock the full value of their donor file through upgrades, midlevel giving, monthly giving, recurring giving and legacy giving programs
Struggling with low donor retention, weak second-gift conversion, or poor stewardship after the first donation
Sitting on valuable donor data but lacking the insight, systems, or strategy to turn it into action
How we help solve those problems
We implement our services within an intentionally designed and chronological, 7-step framework that fits into two larger phases as follows.
Phase One
Total Fundraising Review & Revenue Roadmap
The TFR & Revenue Roadmap is a diagnostic and prescription process that will leave you with a documented 3-year revenue growth strategy and a data-driven plan designed to help you reach, acquire, keep and upgrade more donors.
With all new clients, regardless of type or size, we always start here. And we require no further commitment.
The project includes:
An in-depth donor audit of your data, channels and performance across your revenue engine and strategy—along with qualitative and quantitative insight and research with donors.
A revenue growth roadmap with clear, specific and actionable steps to grow durable revenue across brand, demand and expand. This includes a testing roadmap and list of key initiatives, ranked in order of priority. Whether you work with us or not, you’ll walk away with a data-informed growth system to achieve the outcomes you want.
Projections, budgets and scenario modeling based on the unit economics of your donor file, and what we know is possible based on industry benchmarks and our client data. You’ll know how much to invest, and what to expect.
Phase Two
Implement A Fundraising Flywheel
The previously described Total Fundraising Review & Revenue Roadmap will establish your path to the outcomes you need to achieve, and also identify the right combination of strategies and tactics to deploy.
A vast majority of clients for which we design a roadmap then hire us to implement the program for/with them in some capacity.
In most cases, those programs include some combination of the following across multiple channels:
Donor Research & Insights
Understand what truly drives giving. We use zero-party data and testing to uncover donor motivations, friction points, and growth opportunities—so every decision is grounded in evidence, not guesswork.
Donor Acquisition
Reach new supporters through digital and direct-response campaigns that grow your file with right-fit donors who are more likely to give again.
Donor Retention & Loyalty
Turn one-time donors into repeat supporters through journeys, stewardship, and communications designed to improve quality of motivation and increase lifetime value.
Direct Mail
We implement direct mail programs built around donor behaviour, with cadences tailored to how donors actually give. From strategy to creative to production, we use direct mail to increase lifetime value across mass, mid, monthly and legacy.
Midlevel Giving
Identify upgrade-ready donors and move them closer with thoughtful segmentation, tailored outreach, and personalized donor engagement plans that grow generosity naturally.
Monthly & Recurring Giving
Build recurring revenue with monthly donor programs and automatic pattern giving programs that attract, convert, and retain supporters for predictable, compounding growth.
Digital Fundraising
We build testing roadmaps, acquire new names, emails, and donors, and optimize campaigns across channels to increase revenue and long-term value.
Legacy Marketing
Create a year-round planned giving program that keeps bequests visible, meaningful, and easy to act on—so future gifts grow steadily over time.
Fundraising Growth Advisory
We help align acquisition, retention, brand, and revenue goals into one practical strategy your team can execute.
All of our services are grounded in our Brand → Demand → Expand point of view on fundraising, and our approach to building a Fundraising Flywheel™. You can read more about our methodology here.
Pricing Expectations
The first step we take with all new clients is the creation of the Total Fundraising Review & Revenue Roadmap. We charge $15k-$30k for that project, depending on size and complexity.
You can scroll to the top of this page to learn about what that project entails and what the deliverable looks like.
When we implement a full-scale integrated fundraising program for our clients, most spend $120k-$300k/year in total on our agency fees—plus printing, mailing, media, ad spend and the tech stack that makes it all possible.
Other clients might choose to bite off the first few pieces of that plan in year one, or only work on specific initiatives with us, and in turn, spend more like $70-120k.
We of course will set expectations with these clients in regard to expected outcomes accordingly.
For clients who have scaled up internal marketing and fundraising teams, we may agree to limit BuildGood’s role to that of coach/consultant. In this case, we’ll help them construct the strategy and action plan, and then guide them through implementation and/or help them upskill their teams so they have the tools to execute the plan effectively. In these scenarios, because you’ll do the hard work under our guidance, our fees typically fall into the $4-5K/month range.
In short, we’re flexible in terms of how we work together.
Most importantly, we’ll help you figure out how to put the resources you have (both budget and internal staff) to work in the most effective way. We’ll also be very clear with you about expectations for results (and timing to get to those results) at any given level of investment.
Here’s what you can get done with BuildGood as your partner in the first 90 days.
Let us help you create and start to implement a metrics-driven, multi-channel plan to grow your revenue from new and existing donors.
Let’s have a chat →Get started.
- Book a call
- We’ll talk about your goals
- If it’s a good fit, we start working on a roadmap
Get insights.
- We do research to understand your data and donors, create a growth plan and model the economics to grow your file and revenue
- You get a 3-year roadmap for durable growth, along with specific and tactical initiatives
Ask why you didn’t start working with us years ago.
- We’ll come alongside your team as your growth agency and strategic partner
- We execute the plan and start growing your revenue and donor file
- We work closely together to uncover new insights and make changes as necessary
Running an RFP process, or want to connect directly with someone at BuildGood instead?
To submit an RFP, please email [email protected].
For all other new business questions, you can reach our Managing Director, Hannah Moerman directly at [email protected].