CLIENTS & CASE STUDIES
Visionary Nonprofit Organizations Ready for Sustainable Growth
Case Studies
Driven by our namesake, we act in true partnership with our clients. In collaboration with the best in the industry across nonprofit management, fundraising, and marketing through the ABW Partners collaborative, our clients are guaranteed the support and direction they need to fulfill their vision.
“ABW Partners creates work that sticks. The development strategy they crafted lives on every day in our work through frameworks we constantly revisit, insights that guide our decision-making, and dashboards we live by.”
— Karen Silverman, Chief Advancement Officer, Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Boston
THE OPPORTUNITY
Under the leadership of a new and dynamic CEO, JF&CS appointed a new Chief Advancement Officer to build a comprehensive development strategy to support philanthropic growth in conjunction with an emerging reinvigorated strategic vision and direction.
THE WORK
We designed a strategy & implementation plan: The goal was to move JF&CS from incremental to strategic philanthropic growth.
We identified a key objective to ground the strategy: We grounded the strategy in aligning philanthropic investment with donor motivations.
We pursued a key tactic to support the strategy: This was to shift the team’s energies to expanding its major, institutional, and middle-tier donor relationship program.
We recommended an updated team structure: We advised and supported reconfiguring roles and responsibilities of a cross-stakeholder collaborative team to include the CEO; development, marketing & program professionals; and board members.
THE RESULTS
With a new strategy & implementation plan at hand, the Chief Advancement Officer was set up to succeed. She is leading the team on a growth trajectory with an expected 8% increase in overall dollars raised and a greatly expanded & cultivated pipeline of prospective major & impact donors who will be engaged in future philanthropic initiatives.
A Development Strategy to Enable Sustainable, Philanthropic Growth
THE OPPORTUNITY
In response to a rapidly changing philanthropic landscape in the wake of a global pandemic, JCamp 180 had the opportunity to gather Jewish summer camp field leadership for a multi-day convening to foster robust discussions, planning, and skills building—all geared toward enabling philanthropic growth.
THE WORK
We engaged in a comprehensive intake: This revealed the most salient fundraising challenges and opportunities, and enabled us to identify notable trends and exemplary practices to teach replicable best practices in fundraising.
We designed the program: This included not only the hybrid conference but also the robust curriculum and complementary digital resources.
We implemented the tactics: There were keynote addresses, small group discussions, case studies, practitioner interviews, and facilitated peer-to-peer sharingImplementation tactics and tools included facilitation, teaching, visual scribing, and mapping. We also provided dedicated time for individual work using the complementary resources to ensure participants walked away with actionable plans.
We evaluated & provided recommendations: We designed and distributed a simple evaluation tool, reviewed feedback, and made final recommendations on ways to build upon this important work.
THE RESULTS
JCamp 180 supported a more confident and inspired field of leaders and practitioners. They returned to their purposeful work with concrete strategies to not only enhance existing fundraising practices but also pilot new strategies to foster growth-oriented, sustainable philanthropic growth. On a field-wide level, there was strengthened camaraderie and a discipline of sharing challenges and successes for the benefit of the whole.
An Immersive Conference to Inspire Deeper Impact & Philanthropic Growth
An Endowment Campaign to Enable Possibilities & Permanence
THE OPPORTUNITY
Gann Academy had recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, an opportunity to both commemorate the school's impact on its students & community and unveil an exciting vision for the future. This milestone was also a catalyst for a compelling philanthropic call-to-action to support that vision: strengthen the school's funding model through growing its endowment.
THE WORK
We engaged key stakeholders: By understanding donor motivations, leadership potential, spheres of influence & capacity for major philanthropic investments, we sought to foster deeper connections with key stakeholders.
We learned from successful organizations: We conducted a comprehensive scan of similar organizations that had effectively leveraged a milestone to transform their fundraising efforts. This research provided valuable insights and keys to success.
We developed a compelling case for investment: We worked closely with Gann Academy leaders to develop a persuasive case for philanthropic investment that resonated with donors, highlighting the long-term impact and benefits of supporting the school's endowment.
We provided guidance for campaign success: We produced a development & campaign leadership report that assessed the organization's readiness for an aspirational endowment campaign. This report included a recommended campaign goal, and a comprehensive plan to achieve success.
THE RESULTS
Gann Academy successfully raised nearly $15 Million toward the endowment. The dynamic leadership team we partnered with leveraged our comprehensive strategy and ongoing guidance during the quiet phase of the endowment campaign to achieve this outcome. This will go a long way toward strengthening Gann Academy’s funding model, ensuring greater possibilities and permanence.
“What makes Andrea Wasserman and ABW Partners distinct is their ability to truly understand the organizational dynamics and complexities of nonprofits. As CEO, I appreciated working with someone who excels at theoretical strategy work but also understands the reality of what happens when a strategy is implemented in the real world with real people.”
— Dalia Hochman, Head of School, Gann Academy
Clients
We are proud to work with visionary nonprofits ready for sustainable growth. We care deeply about our clients’ visions, missions, and success, and we bring joy and levity to hard but consequential work.
Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore
Atra: Center for Rabbinic Innovation
Avodah
BBYO
BaMidbar
Birthright Israel Foundation
Boston University Hillel
Camp Interlaken JCC
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
Capital Camps
CASJE
Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Boston)
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)
Encounter
Foundation for Jewish Camp
George Washington University Hillel
Gann Academy
Gateways
Gather, Inc.
Hannah Senesh Community Day School
Hillel International
Honeymoon Israel
Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue
JCamp 180
The Jewish Education Project
Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Boston
Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta
Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester
Jewish Federation of Greater Washington D.C.
Jewish Federations of North America
Jewish Learning Venture
Jewish Rock Radio
JPRO
Leading Edge
Living Links
Matan
NatureServe, Inc.
Navy Seals
OnBoard
Onward Israel
PEJE/Prizmah
Project Accelerate
Ramah Darom
Rashi
RootOne
Rose Community Foundation
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
Temple Israel of Roslyn
UJA-Federation of New York
Union for Reform Judaism
UpStart
Vibe Israel
University of Wisconsin Hillel
“Andrea had an uncanny ability to learn our work, culture, challenges, and opportunities quickly. As our scope of work expanded, Andrea brought important insights into the trajectory of our organizational growth and forecasted for us the necessary staffing adjustments.
Most of all, Andrea brings a truly principled generosity of spirit to how she does her work. I cannot recommend her highly enough!”
— Yona Shem-Tov, Encounter Programs, Executive Director