When you partner with GG+A, you get marketing communications expertise steeped in advancement strategy

Do you have prospective donors ready for principal-gift proposals? Big ideas that need to be developed into concept papers? Annual giving appeals that could use a fresh strategy and voice?

GG+A can help drive gift conversations with thoughtful, compelling writing.

We’re writers, first and foremost. All day, every day, we’re immersed in creating gift propositions that help move donors to engage and give. We understand best practices and innovation, and we see what works.

GG+A’s Strategic Communications team has hard-earned savvy in writing gift propositions for clients across all nonprofit sectors. We combine deep expertise in philanthropic writing with subject-matter knowledge in education, arts and culture, medicine, healthcare and science.

A flexible writing resource

Gift conversations can move at unpredictable speeds. A dean or curator has dinner with a potential donor, and two concept papers are needed within a week. Gift discussions with an eight-figure donor were on the back-burner, but the yellow light just turned green and you need a proposal in 15 days.Our Gift Proposition Writing provides you with a block of flexible hours—and you determine how they are used. We partner with you for a set number of hours, over a specific number of months. The more we work with you, the better we understand you, and the more efficient and effective we become writing on your behalf.

Expertise from GG+A writers

• 100% devoted to philanthropic writing
• A thorough understanding of best practices and innovation
• Experienced, outsider’s view of your distinctive position and argument for support
• Immediate, flexible writing help when needs arise quickly

We don’t work in a silo, but collaborate with talented gift officers and client teams.

Successful writing partnerships

For the past two years, a member of GG+A’s communications team has been writing for a comprehensive research university and medical center. Of the seven principal gift proposals and concept papers she has written for the institution—with a total value of $750 million—the client has raised approximately $195 million.

Our partnership has advanced the client’s strategic objectives in curbing opioid abuse, lifting the middle class, advancing research in cancer and heart disease, and educating future leaders. Additional solicitations are ongoing.

A compelling case for support is vital to fundraising success. We partner with clients to develop case statements that motivate donors by articulating a strategic vision, a rationale for philanthropy, and attractive giving opportunities. We can also assist by drafting white papers and major gift proposals that present a specific giving opportunity within an institutional context, nuanced to appeal to the prospect’s interests and motivations. Developing cases and proposals involves interviews with stakeholders and in-depth consultation with leaders on positioning and messaging.

In-depth evaluations can help clients build effective development and advancement communications programs. Grounded in best practice, our reviews focus on strategic planning and priorities, messaging, strategies and tactics, management and organization, and resources. The reviews can be supplemented by benchmarking analysis against peer institutions.

Ensuring that strategic priorities are aligned with fundraising opportunities is essential for maximizing philanthropic impact. Through a collaborative, multi-stage process that engages senior institutional leaders and key stakeholders, we can help clients define their vision and determine the philanthropic priorities that will galvanize support.

Communicating effectively with key constituents during each distinct phase of a campaign or fundraising initiative is a complex process. We help guide clients by developing communications plans that identify the goals and provide a blueprint for the optimal outreach strategies, tactics, and vehicles that will ensure effective communication with all key audiences.

A philanthropic messaging framework enables a consistent, disciplined approach to conveying strategically important messages through a range of channels and vehicles. These frameworks provide a structured set of messages that articulates a fundraising proposition by identifying core and supporting points, aimed at key audiences. Structured messaging can be useful for campaigns, annual giving programs, alumni engagement initiatives, and other fundraising efforts.

Through partnership with the GG+A Survey Lab, we test the appeal of the substance and language of clients’ philanthropic messaging using quantitative and qualitative studies. Our rigorous methodology produces reliable data on constituent interests, opinions, preferences, and priorities. The process can include online or telephone surveys, one-on-one interviews, or focus groups, often synthesizing perceptions from a combination of these approaches.

We have the expertise and resources to help clients expand their capacity to produce engaging development communications, including:

• Gift announcements for internal and external audiences
• Stewardship communications, both print and digital
• Stories and editorials for publications, such as leadership messages and donor features in alumni magazines
• Web copy and digital communications, such as e-blasts
• Proposal writing guides specific to clients’ language, style, terminology, and fundraising strategies
• Sample major gift proposals that communications staff can customize to a particular campaign priority or donor segment
• Editing services to assist clients in enhancing and polishing existing content

Development communications teams can benefit from our expert-led workshops on writing case statements, gift proposals, stewardship letters, and other key development communications. Group sessions might be followed by one-on-one individual coaching to provide feedback and support to a writer developing a specific proposal, announcement, or stewardship piece.

Taking a data-driven approach to evaluating clients’ current social media strategy and tactics enables us to provide detailed recommendations for aligning digital, social, and analog communications to produce goal-oriented results. These studies may be supplemented by a benchmarking analysis of select peer institutions.

We can support clients in crafting strong, inspirational communications materials by measuring individual pieces against defined criteria such as the power of creative concepts, editorial content, and visual presentation. We consider strategic intent, institutional and audience appropriateness, and cohesion. We can also provide services to help conceptualize and write creative materials, as well as coordinate design and production.

Our efficient and cost-effective methods help clients better understand key stakeholders’ developing interests and attitudes toward philanthropic giving. Customized to target a particular program area, audience segment, donor profile, or initiative, this research uncovers constituents’ interests, perceptions, opinions, motivations, and concerns. It also helps practitioners understand facets of prospect behavior and engagement, knowledge invaluable to development, communications, and donor stewardship.