Sharing is
caring.

Foster Avenue has joined The Giving Institute, a membership organization that seeks to “elevate the fundraising, consulting, and nonprofit services industry and enhance the philanthropic sector.” The Foster Avenue team is looking forward to joining with the Institute’s other members in its mission to champion thought leadership that empowers generosity.

While you might also find the song “Bless the Broken Road” a bit cheesy, it really crystallizes some profound wisdom for me. As my career (and life) has progressed through ups and downs, lefts and rights, I often refer back to its wisdom. That reality is frequently out of phase with perception; what feels like a detour leading into a ditch often proves, through hindsight, to be a waypoint driving me forward.

After more than a decade of partnering, Foster Avenue and Melichar Consulting are excited to announce their merger into a single company focused on driving fundraising performance for higher-education, healthcare, and cultural philanthropies. The company will operate under the Foster Avenue name, offering clients a unique blend of modern, personalized counsel, and donor-centric fundraising communications strategy.

Our colleagues at Ovrture recently posted a fictional tale of one donor’s journey, shedding light on the multitude of use cases and engagement opportunities made possible through this platform.

Question: How do you meet donors’ growing need for clarity and brevity in the context of a massive fundraising campaign – that high-stakes setting where building genuine relationships is essential to success?

Institutions preparing for major campaigns work hard to decide goals, recruit leaders, and populate pyramids. Those are all important. But too many organizations invest too little too late on the most important thing: campaign message strategy.

Foster Avenue. That’s the new name you’ll now see on this website and any communications from our team. After 40 years as Snavely Associates, we see how radically our industry has changed in just the last five years. We’ve responded — with a dynamic approach that requires a new name to capture who we are…

Messaging Shapes an Effective Campaign — Institutions preparing for major campaigns work hard to decide goals, recruit leaders, and populate pyramids. Those are all important. But too many organizations invest too little too late on the most important thing: campaign message strategy.

As we reflect on the year, we’re proud of all that our mission-driven client partners and our team have accomplished. In the face of inflation and many other challenges, our clients found creative ways to forge connections, overcome staffing shortages, and keep on asking. Our team doubled down on our areas of strength and continued our quest to deliver the modern campaign.

The cure for fundraising fluency deficiency … As a public service, Foster Avenue urges development leaders across the nation to inoculate their fundraising campaigns against the dangers of fluency deficiency, a debilitating condition that can lead to campaign anemia and failure to thrive. Fluency deficiency is characterized by fundraisers with a stunted ability to grasp the institution’s campaign message and adapt it with fluidity.

Is Foster Avenue’s new video the next box office smash? First, let’s squelch the rumors: Keanu Reeves did not “hang out” on the set of Foster Avenue’s new video. And Halle Berry did not don Versace for the film’s gala debut. In truth, we didn’t host a red-carpet event at all. But our new film…

In our last episode, Luke Skywalker and his lightsaber were facing off against…no one. And bored audiences were leaving the theater in droves—proving our point that every story needs a Darth Vader to excite the passions of the populace. That’s true of your campaign story as well.

In your campaign story, your institution is the hero. Or it’s your donor. Or it’s both at once, when they join together to make this a classic buddy picture.

But who is the villain?

We’re not about making your campaign look pretty, but about making it succeed—requiring us to meet the higher bar of being your comprehensive thought partner, not a temporary artist-in-residence.