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April 2009– The Rodale Institute – a national leader in organic farming headquartered in Kutztown, Pennsylvania – is poised to launch an Organic Green Revolution. To help them build public awareness and raise funds to accomplish this goal, Rodale has retained the services of Schultz & Williams (S&W) to assist with its short- and long-term development needs.

The Institute has a 60-year history. In that time Rodale has demonstrated that “regenerative farming methods can curb global warming, improve the nutrient value of food and prevent famine”. Rodale Institute is at the forefront of new technologies, including a highly energy-efficient organic no-till system. Institute leadership has also led advocacy efforts that have created federal funding for regenerative agriculture. A growing set of outreach programs and communications vehicles rounds out the ways in which Rodale is doing its part to revolutionize agriculture and combat climate change.

Schultz & Williams is prepared to help the Institute in two important ways:

by providing interim staff to support its immediate needs to sustain current fundraising activities and meet short-term goals; and
by conducting strategic development planning that will study the Institute’s internal strengths and weaknesses related to fundraising, assess its opportunities and challenges in the marketplace, and chart a course to achieve its long-term goals for expanding its base of support.

Schultz & Williams will apply our integrated consulting approach—fundraising, management and marketing—to help define the best solutions to help Rodale Institute create a strategic development plan. S&W’s work will engage the Institute’s staff and volunteers in the formulation of strategies, thereby ensuring maximum buy-in and participation in the implementation of recommendations.

Our approach to assisting Rodale includes materials reviews, site tours and staff discussions to get to know the organization; reviewing Rodale’s development history; assessing and recommending specific development staffing functions; interviewing key Board members, donors and prospects; presenting assessment results and identifying priorities for building a robust development program; writing and testing a case for support; defining a strategic development plan that includes grassroots philanthropy, major gifts, foundation and corporate fundraising, special events, and planned giving; and developing marketing strategies to raise public awareness of the Institute’s path breaking work.

Founded in 1987, Schultz & Williams is a national consulting firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today S&W works with nonprofits throughout the United States and continues to exemplify its legacy as one of the first firms in the country to combine the principles of development, management and marketing into our consulting services—an approach that proves successful for nearly every client challenge.