Nonprofit Organizations & Membership Associations - Need to do MORE with LESS?  Our team makes this easier by filling in the gaps between having to hire full or part-time professional staff and what typically can be done by volunteers. Managing Director Joy Duling spent more than a decade working in various administrative and project leadership capacities for nonprofit organizations and state government agencies.  With a shrewd sense of planning and attention to detail, Joy now applies her skills to support community-based organizations and online membership associations. Request a consultation to talk with us about how we can help with:    Membership Enrollment & Renewals  Informational & Members-only Websites Blog Set-Up & Content Development Annual Reports & Membership Surveys Grant Research, Proposals & Correspondence Meeting Facilitation & Temporary Project Management Event Planning & Registration Systems E-Commerce Set-Up   To this unique partnership,   YOU Bring: Your nonprofit wish list - your hopes, dreams and aspirations for what your organization could be   WE bring: Fresh ideas for how to make your wish list a reality;   Step-by-step implementation planning and project management;   A team of writers, graphic artists, technologists and virtual assistants to do the "heavy lifting";   Commitment to keeping our promises - a team approach means that work is delivered on-time, every time.    Examples of Success:        Affordable Assisted Living Coalition - logo design, website design & maintenance, set-up of members-only portal, management of member renewal & sponsorship systems, program research, strategic planning facilitation; development of annual report.    AmeriCorps - Illinois Department of Human Services / AmeriCorps  – Delivered grant writing technical assistance workshop to 30+ agencies at state level, followed by one-on-one consultation and grant reviews for all agencies applying for competitive funding.  Goal was to have at least one Illinois agency receive federal funding.  End result was four agencies being funded and $900,000+ in new funds coming to Illinois.    Illinois Association of Public Health Administrators  - website design and maintenance; set-up of contact management service.   Illinois Rural Health Association - website design and maintenance.   Preschool Owners / Illinois Child Care Association - website design and maintenance; e-commerce system; annual conference registration system.     Quality Quest for Health of Illinois - proposal writing and project management services after the 12-month proposed project was successfully funded at nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.   Metropolitan Oasis Community Development Corporation – Several grants have been prepared for this organization over the past three years, including two rounds of state funding.  These efforts have resulted in multi-million dollars of funding for the agency and significant program expansion.    SPARC - Facilitated the development of a new strategic planning process, including performance tracking software. Crittenton Centers – Successful in securing funds from the Illinois State Board of Education for early childhood prevention programming.  This was especially notable because the agency had applied for these funds in the previous year and had not been selected.   Another grant in the area of violence prevention was also received.  Komen for the Cure – Successfully acquired a grant through a corporate foundation.   Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation - Helped the founder plan for the start-up of this new nonprofit foundation; Prepared a winning application for the “Start Something Amazing” competition for the Microsoft Corporation; one of five selected out of over a million applicants.   Communities at Maple Lawn - Secured private foundation funding to purchase a disaster warning siren for the retirement community campus.    Serve Illinois – Have been annually featured as a speaker on grant writing and/or strategic planning at regional volunteerism conferences.   Illinois Department of Human Services / Division of Mental Health – Annually contracted to prepare Requests for Proposals; including proposals focused on quality improvement in mental health services and training development and coordination.   Eureka College – Eureka, IL – Secured $30,000+ in grant funds for a green campus initiative.   IL Alcoholism & Drug Dependency Association – Successful in securing state funding for program expansion.  Another prevention-focused grant submitted to a national foundation made it through a rigorous pre-selection process and resulted in being one of only a handful of sites selected for personal site visits by the selection team.   UCP of Illinois – secured a private foundation grant that was used by the organization to acquire strategic planning facilitation.   How Our Fees Work: We start by creating a clear plan of attack... what do YOU want to accomplish this year?  And then, we'll provide recommendations for exactly how that can be done, pulling in members of our team who specialize in specific areas as needed. Most one-time projects are quoted as a flat-rate price, rather than hourly... thus avoiding any surprises on a monthly invoice. For ongoing work, we develop a quarterly support plan for you which outlines the scope of ongoing work and you pay a flat monthly fee which covers all the necessary support to get your projects done.      "We were very glad to have an opportunity to work with Joy because we definitely needed an outside person to review our proposal and to see if we were articulating what the RFP had stated. And sure enough, what we had discovered was that we were really missing the mark with that regard and Joy competently and compassionately, I think, pointed us in the right direction.   The technical assistance that she provided was just incredible. She divided the Request for Proposal into a manageable document. What had previously seemed like this almost incomprehensible document from the state was now something that made a lot more sense the way Joy broke it down for us. And I feel like Joy made the workshop we attended more enjoyable and she made just the whole grantmaking process more understandable from the point of view of the grantor as well as the grantee.   After working with Joy, I can definitely say that our proposal is a much better document. It’s much more focused on what the grantor was looking for, and I would recommend Joy because of her strong technical skills that she conveys and very compassionate manner.   I think there were times our proposal was maybe kind of going in the opposite direction that we needed it to, and Joy was able to kind of point us in the right direction.   I feel like not only our proposal, this particular proposal, is better, but I feel like our organization is better because I feel like I definitely have a much better understanding of the grantmaking process and what we need to do to make out grant work, to answer the questions in the RFP and make sure we’ve got a better chance of being funded.   So thank you, Joy, for working with us." Billy Woodward, Director of Emergency Services Red Cross of Central Illinois   Hi, Joy! I just wanted to leave you a quick message and thank you from the bottom of my heart. When we started our work together, and I came to you and said that I wanted to start my foundation, I never imagined all the things that you would truly be able to help me with, from filling my board of director spots to helping me write my grants to assisting me with my website copy, and coaching me on the day to day activities of things that I could better do to be more efficient with my foundation.  I am so confident that my foundation is going to continue to flourish because of all of the assistance that you’ve given me. And really, I have to say that I owe you because you took my vision and you crafted it into something miraculous.    Now, through my foundation, I can make others’ dreams come true, and there’s no better feeling than that.  I cannot wait to work on future projects with you, and I hope you have a great day because you've made this one of the best years of my life.   Thank you!   Michelle Tjelmeland, Founder Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation www.ciafonline.org   "Hi, Joy, I have some awesome news...WE WERE APPROVED FOR THE ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM......... I AM SO THRILLED.... THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WONDERFUL GRANT WRITING SKILLS... GOD BLESS YOU>>>>>>>" Toya Robinson, Executive Director Metropolitan Oasis CDC www.metropolitanoasiscdc.org   NOTICE:  Provided in accordance with FTC guidelines - 12/1/2009 Testimonials posted to this website are the perspective of individuals who are successful and/or enthusiastic about their experience. Testimonials are not representative of everyone’s experience and only provide information about the individual’s experiences as to the point in time when they are provided. All testimonials are authentic and accurate. Testimonials may be edited for clarity or brevity. All claims have been documented and verified for accuracy. No one has been paid to share their stories here. Individual results will vary.