Brand Basics
Graham-Pelton is a fundraising consulting firm that exclusively services nonprofits, including independent schools, higher education institutions, healthcare organizations, social change organizations, and international organizations. Our team of fundraising consultants practices active listening to ensure we understand each client’s unique needs while also providing sector-specific expertise.
Campaign Feasibility and Planning
We help nonprofits prepare for and launch major fundraising initiatives, including capital campaigns. Our feasibility and planning services involve conducting feasibility studies to assess donor readiness and creating detailed roadmaps to navigate each phase of the campaign.
We also acknowledge that not every nonprofit needs a full-scale feasibility study. We offer Graham-Pelton’s Campaign Accelerated Planning System (CAPS) to help these organizations move quickly and develop a comprehensive campaign plan in a shorter time frame.
Capital Campaign Management
Graham-Pelton is a flexible capital campaign management partner, offering three distinct campaign management models, including:
- Complete Execution: The Graham-Pelton team executes our capital campaign on nonprofits’ behalf, allowing them to focus on their missions.
- Collaborative Partnership: The Graham-Pelton team acts as an extension of a nonprofit’s fundraising staff, working hand-in-hand to support campaign operations.
- Trusted Counsel: Graham-Pelton team acts as campaign advisors while the nonprofit runs the capital campaigns, providing insights, sharing best practices, and offering new ways of thinking.
Data Intelligence and Fundraising Analytics
Graham-Pelton’s team of fundraising experts analyzes nonprofit data to assess trends, identify opportunities, and make data-driven predictions. We offer:
- AI-enhanced predictive modeling
- Major/principal gifts portfolio management
- Capacity and wealth screening
- Annual fund/cohort segmentation
- Peer/aspirant group analysis and benchmarking
- Alumni and constituents insights surveys
Fundraising Communications
Graham-Pelton’s team helps nonprofits develop their campaign messaging strategy and brand identity through:
- How to Inspire Humans, Not Donors™ visioning and priority setting
- Clarifying the organization’s vision and funding priorities
- Developing a compelling case for support
- Establishing a powerful brand identity for each campaign
- Post-campaign support to maintain momentum
Visioning
Inspiring Humans, Not Donors™ is Graham-Pelton’s proprietary visioning session, designed to surface the core ideas, aspirations, and emotional anchors that will shape a compelling case for support. Facilitated by our communications experts, the session engages organizational leadership, board members, and key stakeholders in an intentional, creative process that clarifies why the campaign matters.
Case for Support
Graham-Pelton has developed Case IN5™, a disciplined framework for building cases for support that are clear, compelling, and actionable. Grounded in behavioral research and decades of frontline fundraising experience, Case IN5 recognizes that people decide emotionally first, then rationalize with facts. The framework provides a disciplined, five-part structure that turns complex strategy into clear, compelling messaging.
Strategic Growth Planning
Graham-Pelton helps nonprofits outline their strategic goals for the future and create detailed, flexible road maps for achieving them.
Key to this service is our custom Growth Plans, which are development plans that make the business case for an organization’s goals. These plans articulate the value and impact of strategic goals, providing nonprofits with the pitch they need to attain board buy-in and secure funding for their growth priorities.
Beyond GratitudeTM
Beyond GratitudeTM is Graham-Pelton’s unique approach to helping hospitals and healthcare organizations develop grateful patient programs. Through Beyond GratitudeTM, we help organizations start or grow their programs, providing tailored services that build trust between development professionals and healthcare providers.
Transitional and Interim Staffing
Graham-Pelton provides staffing services both for nonprofits that need short-term coverage and organizations seeking long-term transitional support. Our team of skilled professionals can help organizations maintain momentum by stepping into the following critical positions:
- Director of Development
- VP of Advancement/Chief Development Officer
- Major/Principal Gift Officers
- Campaign Director
Training and Workshops
Graham-Pelton offers workshops and training sessions tailored to fit each client’s needs and hosted by our team of experienced fundraising professionals.
Our most popular workshops include:
- Campaign Readiness for Boards
- How to Inspire Humans, Not Donors™ Visioning and Priority Setting
- Unlocking AI: Practical Applications for Fundraising Professionals
- Major/Principal Gift Officers Training
- Fundraising for Deans and Academic Leaders
- Beyond Gratitude™ Physician Engagement
Company History
Over the course of his career, our founder and CEO, Craig Leach, had racked up experience as both a fundraising consultant and a client. Through his own firsthand experience at three national fundraising firms, he came to recognize two universal approaches to fundraising management that served the consultants well, but didn’t align with clients’ best interests.
At one extreme, a resident management approach: clients had to commit to a consultant on-site five days a week. Through this approach, nonprofits had to relinquish full control and involvement in the development process, relying on the consultant to implement a boilerplate template within a vacuum.
At the other extreme, a coaching-based approach: clients had to settle for a monthly visit from a far-removed consultant who would drop in and paint a picture of success at a philosophical level.
Both approaches were rigid, centered on commoditized services, and resulted in transactional relationships.
A vision started to formulate in Craig’s mind: to build value-based, trusted relationships, helping to build capacity and competency within the client’s own team.
In 1998, Craig found himself ready to start his own consulting firm. Named in honor of his grandfather, Craig selected the name Graham-Pelton. Since our founding, Graham-Pelton has connected nonprofits across the globe with the resources, knowledge, and expertise necessary to tackle the greatest challenges facing humanity.
Alongside proven practice, we are attuned to the forces shaping philanthropy today. From data and AI to generational giving, planned giving integration, and the Great Wealth Transfer, these insights are embedded directly into our analysis, recommendations, and deliverables, ensuring clients receive relevant and actionable guidance.
Mission
Graham-Pelton’s mission is to elevate philanthropy. We provide bespoke fundraising consulting services, equipping nonprofits with the confidence that they can raise more money, delivered with the precise clarity of how.
Contacts & Socials
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News & Updates
International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Educating Girls Symposium Sponsor
We were proud to sponsor and present at the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Educating Girls Symposium at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.
Our fundraising consultants shared Graham-Pelton’s framework for assembling and retaining fundraising development teams during capital campaigns. The presentation explains how to optimize existing resources, set staffing goals based on campaign objectives, and develop powerful retention strategies.
NEAHP 2026 Annual Educational Conference Sponsor
Graham-Pelton is proud to sponsor and participate in the New England Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s (NEAHP) 2026 Annual Educational Conference. Graham-Pelton has long supported NEAHP’s mission to advance healthcare philanthropy across New England.
Frequently Asked Questions
What specific services does Graham-Pelton provide?
Graham-Pelton provides a range of fundraising consulting services, including:
- Feasibility studies
- Capital campaign management
- Visioning and case for support development
- Interim staffing
- Data analysis
- Fundraising communication and brand development
- Staff training and internal capacity building
- Grateful patient fundraising program development
Is Graham-Pelton better for large institutions or small nonprofits?
Graham-Pelton primarily works with large nonprofits.
How much do Graham-Pelton consulting services cost?
Our service costs are tailored to the size of the engagement, including the number of staff required and the project’s timeframe. For a specific quote, please reach out to our team with more information about your project.
What is the “Beyond Gratitude” model?
Our Beyond GratitudeTM model is our approach to helping hospitals and healthcare organizations develop grateful patient programs. Our approach is designed to provide a comprehensive, compliant, and collaborative grateful patient/family program where patients can express their gratitude and healthcare and development professionals can work together smoothly and with clarity.
We take an individualized approach to each organization we work with, ensuring we account for history, culture, and unique needs. However, we also have a general framework, which involves:
- Relationships: We help healthcare providers, fundraising staff, and donors develop strong relationships and cultivate an environment where each group feels heard and can buy into the grateful patient program.
- Data: We train development teams to analyze patient data, allowing them to identify optimal giving prospects while still respecting patient privacy.
- Operations: To keep grateful patient programs running long after their initial implementation, we help healthcare organizations develop workflows and a fundraising infrastructure they can rely on.
Can Graham-Pelton provide interim staffing?
Yes. Whether a nonprofit needs short-term coverage or longer transitional fundraising support, our professional consultants can become part of their team. Our boots-on-the-ground approach can provide nonprofits with expert fundraising advice and internal capacity building simultaneously.
In which sectors does Graham-Pelton have the most expertise?
Graham-Pelton’s team of fundraising consultants is prepared to work with nonprofits in any industry, including organizations that operate internationally. However, we have particular expertise working with hospitals and healthcare organizations as well as educational institutions, such as universities and independent schools.