We teach you to find, retain, and upgrade donors
Grow your fundraising skills with proven frameworks, data-driven training, and unlimited coaching.
The Fundraising Academy is a place to learn fundraising strategy, improve donor communications, increase donor retention, and get live feedback.
Apply and find out if you’re a good fit by booking a call today.
Apply TodayIn the call, we'll audit your fundraising and identify what’s possible for you in the next 90 days and beyond to grow your revenue.
The fundraising flywheel
Build your own fundraising flywheel
What is a Fundraising Flywheel? It’s our proven blueprint to help you make donors an important part of your team. And when donors feel connected, and part of your mission, they give more. And they stay with your organization longer.
Look, there is no silver bullet in fundraising. No fast fix. No magic formula that will make your revenue worries disappear overnight.
But since we’ve started implementing the Flywheel with our clients—both large >$50m in revenue and small (<$5m in revenue)—we’ve consistently seen donor retention improve and lifetime value increase.
That’s because the Flywheel is simply the basics of good fundraising executed consistently over time.
- Listening to donors with qualitative and quantitative data.
- Asking the right people for the right things. Sharing the vulnerable truth about your needs and then boldly, and unabashedly, asking for help.
- Reporting back on every gift in a responsive and real-time way to involve donors in the outcome of their generosity. And to earn the right to ask again.
- Engaging with your true believers by doing stuff together. Asking for brain-share before asking for wallet-share.
- Celebrating every gift. At every level. With open hands and open hearts. Because your donors deserve to feel valued and seen and thanked.
If you would like to make donors an important part of your team—and raise more money, from more people, more often—you’ve come to the right place.
The Fundraising Academy is designed to not only teach you how to build your very own Flywheel, but support you along the way with practical tools and encouragement.
Apply TodayFrom the desk of Michael Mitchell
Dear fellow fundraiser,
Fundraising is a noble profession.
This I believe with all my heart.
But I didn't always feel that way.
The first time I was responsible for building a fundraising plan and actually hitting the revenue goal attached to it I remember thinking “I have no idea how to do this.”
Not “I'm nervous.” Not “this will be hard.”
I. Have. No idea. How to do this.
The goal was 17% year-over-year growth.
I had no idea how we’d get there. I couldn't explain it to my CEO or board. And I couldn't make anything repeatable.
Intuitively, I knew how to fundraise. I'd watched good fundraisers work, I'd had mentors who took me on donor visits and gave great feedback on my appeals, I'd even had a professional development budget.
But I didn't have a system for any of it.
So I did what most fundraisers do… I made everything up on the fly… all the while hoping no one would figure out that I had no idea what I was doing.
I sent appeals hoping they'd work. I said yes to tactics I'd read about in articles or heard in webinars without knowing if they'd actually move the needle. I made up timelines. I tried things once, didn't see immediate results, and moved on to the next shiny idea.
Sometimes I got lucky, and things worked.
When they didn't? I blamed myself.
I did that for fourteen years.
And I hated fundraising most of that time.
Not the mission. Not the donors. Not the work of connecting generous people to meaningful causes.
I hated the job.
The constant low-grade dread, the exhaustion of never quite knowing if what I was doing would pay off, the feeling that I was one bad quarter away from being exposed as someone who didn't actually know what he was doing.
The worst part?
I was actually doing a lot of things right. Listening to donors. Asking boldly. Thanking well. Reporting back. The basics.
But I was doing them unconsciously. Inconsistently. Without a system that made them repeatable.
Sound familiar?
Everything changed when I discovered the Fundraising Flywheel™.
It was the system I wish someone had handed me fourteen years earlier.
The Flywheel isn't complicated. It's the basics of good fundraising…
- Listening
- Engaging
- Asking
- Celebrating
- Reporting
…executed consistently over time.
It’s a simple repeatable system with the power to transform your fundraising.
The Fundraising Academy exists to give you that system now. Not after fourteen years of guessing.
When you join the Fundraising Academy…
- You will learn
- You will get live feedback
- You will be supported and encouraged
- You will practice
- You will implement your new skills
It’s exactly the kind of support I wish I had when I was staring at a 17% growth goal with no idea how to get there.
The world needs you… and every other fundraiser out there trying to change the world… to have the know-how, the tools, and the support you need to make sure your mission is fully funded.
The Fundraising Academy is a “community of practice” for fundraisers like you, who are tired of transactional fundraising… and who want their “mass” fundraising to be as relational as possible.
I'm glad you're here. Now… let's build your Flywheel.
The Fundraising Academy is perfect for your non-profit if…
You’re doing most of your fundraising with an in-house team (or you are the entire team), but you could use a team of fundraising professionals in your corner. Does this sound like you?
- You're serious about growing an individual giving program, and have at least 500 donors on file. You actually want to protect your organization from being dependent on just a few donors who do most of the giving.
- You need a clear and proven plan to follow. Your day is spent putting out fires, and you're never able to deliver on those good intentions you have at the beginning of every new fiscal year.
- You know your donors should be hearing from you more, but you keep getting pulled in 1,000 different directions. This program will not only help you stay on track—you won't have that dreaded feeling of not knowing where to start.
- You need examples (aka, a shortcut) to get started. Don't worry, we've got you. You'll get the exact same playbooks, checklists, and examples of successful fundraising that we use in our own work with clients (where we have to deliver results).
- You don't have time to get a PhD in fundraising and marketing, but you're accountable for results. We get it… you don't have time to take all the courses, attend all the webinars, read all the books, go to all the conferences. That's why we did all those things for you. And we continue to do them so we know what's working.
- You want live feedback, critiques, and improvement of your fundraising.Even the best strategist in the world could use a sounding board. And even the best writer in the world could use an editor. Our team is available to review your work every day.
- You want to train—and retain—your fundraising team. Let’s face it, finding and keeping talented staff is hard. Like really hard. In the Fundraising Academy your team gets weekly support from our team—an investment into making sure your team feels valued.
- You’re tired of going it alone. Chances are, very few people in your life understand what you do. Maybe most people in your organization don‘t even get it. If that’s the case, rest easy. You’ve found your people.
What You’ll Achieve
You’ll create an effective fundraising plan you can actually execute
Your donors will feel like they’re an important part of your team
You’ll feel excited about your fundraising, instead of dreading it
You’ll be in a position to raise more money, from more donors, more often
Fundraising is hard. But growing your fundraising is even harder.
Go from “winging it” to “growing it”
Aimlessly trying one thing after the other
Having a clear, established 12-month plan
Not knowing where to start
Having a step-by-step process
Boring, uninspired messaging
Clear and compelling fundraising copy
A general fundraising offer
A specific fundraising offer
Not sticking with a plan long enough to see meaningful results
Building good fundraising habits that build consistency over time
Being inspired by a tactic that “works” and then disappointed when it doesn’t
Nailing the fundamentals of fundraising and optimizing your program consistently
Doing the same things over and over (“we’ve always done it this way”) and expecting different results
Trying new things, testing new strategies, and staying rooted in making data-driven decisions (even if the data makes you uncomfortable)
Leaning on “best practices”, gut feelings, and the way you (or your boss) would like to see fundraising done
Creating “proven practices” for your organization by testing with your own data
How It Works
Part Coaching. Part Execution. All wrapped in community and accountability.
2-Week Online Training
To onboard, you’ll complete a short training covering the proven 5-step Fundraising Flywheel process and methodology.
One-Page Fundraising Plan
We’ll help you create a roadmap for the next year, based on your resources and capacity.
Trainings & Courses
Throughout the year, we create and release short, relevant courses to help you hone new skills and learn new tactics.
Weekly Copy Clinic
Bring your emails, direct mail appeals, newsletters, landing pages, and more. We’ll review them, give you feedback, and coach you on how to make them better.
Weekly Fundraising Jam Session
We’ll help you solve for stewardship issues, guide you on fundraising strategy, or coach you on a challenge you might be facing.
Monday Momentum Calls
On the first Monday of every month, we’ll go through a fast-paced session to check in on your progress and help you set realistic goals for the coming month.
Quarterly Mapping Sessions
At the beginning of each quarter, we’ll check in on the progress you’re making on your One-Page Fundraising Plan to make sure you’re on track to meet your goals.
Offer Hours
The strength of your fundraising offer is one of the most important factors that affects your results. We host regular calls to workshop your offers and make them stronger.
Two Yearly Build-a-Thons
Twice a year, we choose one key component of your fundraising and spend two days together building it. For example, we just completed a Build-a-Thon on creating a strong monthly giving program.
Asset Reviews
Post your fundraising pieces in the community, and our team will give you feedback for improvements. Plus, you’ll get insights from your peers as well.
Community
Learn from and be encouraged by other fundraisers who share everything they’re learning as they're sharpening their fundraising skills too.
Accountability
Have people in your corner who care about your success, and who will nudge you to take action and challenge you to implement what you’re learning.
Don’t just passively learn. Actively get help from fundraisers.
This Isn’t a One-Time Course Or a Short-Term Program
Almost every training out there for fundraisers is either:
- Videos you watch on your own time
- A short, cohort-based program that only runs for a few weeks
We’ve got plenty of courses, and being in the Fundraising Academy does feel like being in a cohort of awesome fundraisers.
But what’s completely different than anything else out there is that we have an active community made up of our own team—as well as your non-profit peers—that is actually reviewing your work, every single day of the week, as long as you’re in the program.
"I love the ability to get really specific, real-time feedback. We've seen good stats over the course of last year when it comes to renewal rates and donor satisfaction. I credit the help in the Fundraising Academy for helping us get there."
Adam Breininger
COO
Recommendations That Are Tested & Up-to-Date
We’re in the community, training people and reviewing fundraising every day
You can ask questions and get feedback, every day of the week. You can post your emails, appeals, donation pages, ads, and more for us to review throughout the week. As you can see below, our team is active in the community every single day!
This is not not a good fit for you if…
You're just starting out and have no donors on file. Our best advice is to call, email, and gather as many people as you know to start building a donor base. A good place to start is by listening to the BuildGood Fundraising podcast.
You want to raise more money from governments, foundations, grants, corporations, and other institutions. That's not our expertise. We're laser focused on building a broader base of individual donors.
You want to land a mega gift from an ultra-wealthy stranger. We won't help you identify the next MacKenzie Scott or cold-pitch Oprah. We're focused on helping you cultivate the donors you already have so they become your major donors over time.
You're looking for a quick fix. Sorry, we can't help you there. Fundraising is all about playing the long game, testing and optimizing, and showing up consistently with care and passion.
You're looking for a 100% done-for-you solution. That's what great agencies deliver. But it’s a higher investment. The Fundraising Academy is meant to give you all the tools you need to succeed—along with support and encouragement and real-time feedback.
You're not willing to try new things. Growth is just another word for change. If you want to grow, but don’t want to change, you might be disappointed with the outcome. If you want to do more of the same, but get different results, this program isn't for you.
Take a Look Inside The Fundraising Academy
In the call, we'll audit your fundraising and identify what’s possible for you in the next 90 days and beyond to grow your revenue.
Recent Member Wins
Meet Your Mentors
Chris Gilliland, CFRE
Copy Coach
Chris leads the weekly Copy Clinics, where she’ll review your emails, appeals letters, newsletters, and more—and challenge you to create moments that “awaken the heart” with your copy. She’s one of only a handful of people in the world certified in Philanthropic Psychology and Fundraising Copywriting with the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy.
Michael Mitchell
Co-Founder & CEO
With 20 years experience in fundraising shops, large and small, Michael's been in the trenches, fought the good fight, and lived to tell the tale. His mission is to help you unleash more generosity and increase your impact. No matter where you are in your fundraising journey, he's been there too, and he's committed to helping you get where you want to go.
Caitlin Padanyi
Lead, The Fundraising Academy
Caitlin is your main guide in the Fundraising Academy. She leads the community, helps members create their fundraising plans, and runs the Monday Momentum and Quarterly Mapping sessions. Before helping launch the Fundraising Academy, she was working with clients of BuildGood to guide their strategy, and create effective fundraising campaigns. She’s certified in Fundraising Copywriting with the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy.
Mike Duerksen
Co-Founder & Coach | CEO, BuildGood
Mike leads the weekly Fundraising Jam Sessions, as well as the Build-a-Thons throughout the year. When he’s not hanging out in the Fundraising Academy, he guides the work with BuildGood’s largest clients, with a focus on new donor acquisition. His mission is to take everything the agency is learning with client work, and make it accessible to as many people as possible.
Your investment for weekly support, live feedback, and coaching and training
Pricing designed with small-to-midsized non-profits in mind.
Monthly
$1,200/month
pay as you go
- Weekly coaching calls
- Quarterly planning calls
- Courses and playbooks
- Daily help in the community
- Fundraising Build-a-Thons
Annually
$12,000/year
One-time upfront payment
- Weekly coaching calls
- Quarterly planning calls
- Courses and playbooks
- Daily help in the community
- Fundraising Build-a-Thons
- 90 day, 100% money back guarantee
Our 100•90•0 Guarantee
If you choose the annual plan with an upfront investment of $12,000, you are covered by a completely risk-free guarantee for you and your non-profit.
We are so confident that you’re going to get instant value from your investment that we’ll let you have access to the Fundraising Academy for a full 90 days with a 100% money back guarantee.
Create your fundraising plan…come to all the calls… watch all the trainings… test out all the strategies… give this whole thing a full test drive.
And within 90 days, if you can’t genuinely state that we did not deliver the value you were hoping for… you will be entitled to a full refund.
No questions asked.
Everything you’ve downloaded, everything you’ve deployed… you get to keep that for the rest of your life. No harm, no foul.
Why?
We’re only interested in providing exceptional value to fundraisers and helping them be more effective at leading more donors toward greater generosity.
We’re confident in this program, and what it will do for you. That means you have nothing to lose.
Academy FAQs
The Fundraising Academy has courses in it, with playbooks and templates. It’s also a community where people hang out, ask questions, encourage each other, and post their work for review. And it’s also a group coaching and training program, with at least two calls every week. You can join as many calls as you’d like to ask questions directly and work on them live with a coach (or to just observe and absorb).
You’re certainly welcome to! Some people do. But most members show up to calls when they need help with something, are stuck somewhere, or could use an extra few brains to help them think through something. The calls are meant to be a support system for you. Use them however they make the most sense for you.
Your Fundraising Academy membership comes with 3 seats. That means three people from your organization can take full advantage of everything in the program. Extra seats are $2,000/year. If you have a larger team, you can email hello@buildgood.com for a custom quote.
Getting your copy reviewed is simple. Login to the Fundraising Academy online community, and post your word doc, PDF, etc. right in the forum. Our team will review your copy and reply with feedback. You can also bring your copy to the Copy Clinic call that happens every single Tuesday, and we will workshop it in real-time with you. Getting this feedback from professional writers is like having a whole marketing team working on your copy!
Of course! In fact, it’s the only way to join. Your next step is to book a 30-minute call with one of our Fundraising Strategists. In the call, we'll audit your fundraising and identify what’s possible for you in the next 90 days and beyond to grow your revenue. We’ll also be very open and honest about whether this program is a good fit for you and your organization.
Get started
Interested in joining the Fundraising Academy?
Apply and find out if you’re a good fit by booking a call today.
In the call, we’ll audit your fundraising and identify what’s possible for you in the next 90 days and beyond to grow your revenue