After more than 45 years and 700 successful fundraising campaigns securing more than $1.8 billion, we’ve identified the one factor that makes all the difference in raising funds and transforming communities: relevance. 

Empowered by these insights, we’re proud to introduce NCDS’ new "Roadmap to Relevance and Revenue," because only relevance can elevate your organization's “go-to” status and attract increased revenue. 

What is the Roadmap to Relevance and Revenue?

The Roadmap is a one-of-a-kind, eight-week program designed to elevate your Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Organization (EDO), or similar entity to the forefront of your community's economic future. 

This is the definition of relevance — and it looks different for every organization. Informed by our proven process, each Roadmap produced is unique and 100% custom to your organization and community’s unique dynamics, environment, and circumstances. 

Recognized for its immense standalone value as the core foundation for our fundraising campaigns, we now offer the Roadmap independently, leveraging our insights from 45 years to elevate your organization’s relevance and revenue potential.

Three Reasons the Roadmap is Essential

1. Relevance Always Precedes Revenue

As access to funding gets increasingly competitive, relevance is the primary determinant of whether your organization is well-funded or struggles to secure even token support. The Roadmap is your proven path to status in the eyes of your community, ensuring your organization becomes the go-to place for community growth and economic development.

2. Custom Solutions for Unique (and Complex) Environments

Every community and organization has unique dynamics. Our Roadmap offers a customized course of action tailored to your specific environment, strengths, and dynamics, allowing you to maximize your impact while elevating your profile as the leader of your organization. 

3. Affordable, Accelerated, and Prescriptive

Designed to be accessible and affordable, the Roadmap eclipses the need for expensive strategic planning and/or fundraising consultants. We’ve polished and streamlined our process over 45 years to ensures you achieve the most direct route to relevance and increased revenue, providing custom, actionable strategies that support stronger asking rights.

Five Benefits You’ll Find in the Roadmap

You’ll hear us say this often because it simply cannot be overstated: 95% of fundraising has nothing to do with money. It’s all about how relevant you are, which includes what you plan to do, how you plan to do it, and the community leaders who buy into that plan. 

The Roadmap will get you there, and this is what you can expect:

1. We Protect You as the Leader

We’re not in the business of overturning your applecart. Our process boosts the community’s perception of you as a leader trying to improve your organization’s value and operational models into a highly relevant, highly fundable entity. 

2. Better Asking Rights

Without relevance, even the best fundraising techniques or “better ways to ask” fall flat. The Roadmap arms your organization with stronger asking rights, making it easier to secure significant financial commitments from stakeholders.

3. Custom, Actionable Plans

We don’t use boilerplate plans, even if they worked somewhere else. Instead, our approach is entirely custom and prescriptive, ensuring that your strategies are aligned with your unique dynamics and stakeholder expectations.

4. Anti-Groupthink

Our process avoids the pitfalls of groupthink and instead focuses on confidential, one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders. This method provides genuine insights and actionable recommendations, free from the biases and hijacked agendas of focus groups or surveys (which offer questionable data at best).

5. Performance-Driven Strategies

The Roadmap provides straightforward, actionable strategies, coupled with key performance indicators, all tailored to your organization. Plus, the Roadmap includes quarterly follow-ups to coach your progress and course-correct as needed to make your path to relevance and revenue as direct as possible. 

Start the Journey Today

Your organization has the potential to be the cornerstone of your community's economic future. 

Contact us for a free consultation to learn more about how NCDS' user-friendly and accelerated Roadmap can elevate your organization's impact and fundraising potential.

‍