Charity Shift

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Co-Founder and Country Director of Project Somos Children's Village Guatemala.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Charity Shift?

After fourteen years since the start up of the organization, we felt it was time to hire a professional Fund Development Manager.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

After several interviews we felt that Sara Hoshooley of Charity Shift was the perfect fit for Project Somos. She had years of experience and her values were inline with our organization's.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Charity Shift provides an annual Fundraising Plan, oversees campaigns, grant-writing, supports consistent communications, plans special fundraising events, manages our donor database, etc.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Our sole contact is with Sara.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Thanks to Sara, we have a new and more efficient database. She has created systems to better track our donors. She provides positive communication to our donors. She has successfully organized two special events. She keeps the organization on track, following the annual fundraising plan.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Sara and I have weekly video conference calls, strategizing around fundraising. We also meet every other week to have a communications meeting. She is always on top of tasks and helps keep the rest of us on track to follow through on our fundraising plan.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I am impressed at the level of work ethics. A lot of heart goes into the work and for that, we are always impressed and grateful. Sara is constantly learning and generously sharing her knowledge and resources to better serve the community we work with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We look forward to being able to meet in person to strategize more in the future

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of operations of a nonprofit organization called Blind Beginnings Society. We support children and youth who are blind or partially sighted through a variety of programs and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Charity Shift?

We needed someone who could help us with grant application writing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Charity Shift provides ongoing grant writing support for us.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with Sara (Fundraising Consultant).

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $6,700 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Between 2020 and 2021, they’ve been able to help us receive around $72,500 successful grants.

How did Charity Shift perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m delighted with their responsiveness; they meet deadlines, and communication has been great. We work collaboratively on some applications, and I’m thrilled with how they manage those processes — it’s a seamless partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sarah is knowledgeable about the nonprofit sector and always offers suggestions and advice for our organization — it’s great to work with her. Sarah also seems passionate about what she does, and I think she goes above and beyond helping us with things that go outside the scope of our contract.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — I’m thrilled with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Invest time with them so they can understand the work that your organization is doing and its importance.