A Few Words from our Let's Build Hope Clients

Candace Schwartzkopf,
Grants Manager
Memory Care Home Solutions

“As a young professional, I found the Annual Fund Training Camp to be incredibly valuable! It was an invigorating week and I left with tools, insight, and connections that span across each aspect of philanthropy. I would highly recommend the opportunity to anyone at any level in the field."

Hanne Hawkins,
Director of Development
The Center for Autism Education

"Training camp left me feeling energized and excited about my future in development! Linda and her amazing team of professionals have gone above and beyond to help me feel supported and confident. The knowledge I gained and the relationships I formed that week are invaluable."

Tyronica Dowdy, 
Director of Development

"I attended annual fund training camp three weeks into my new position as Director of Development. This training should be prerequisite education for all those in the development field. Not only did Linda and Dawn generously share their years of experience, they provided valuable tools to ensure that we are planning for a successful future. As a bonus, Linda and the team make themselves available for ongoing coaching and mentoring for those who attend the training. Thanks to Let’s Build Hope, I feel confident that we can build an efficient AND effective development team to advance the mission of Almost Home."

Paul B. Anderson,
Board Chair
Loyola Academy of St. Louis
(retired, BNSF Railway)

"Linda and the LBH team are awesome. They have extensive experience in the area of philanthropy and attending their seminar allowed our organization to leverage their teachings into some new and efficient development programs.  We have transformed our individual donor approach with tools and techniques we learned from Linda and her team. I would recommend LBH to any organization - their seminar is built to enhance philanthropy efforts from beginners to experienced development professionals. They include a diverse list of subject matter experts as guest speakers to provide a comprehensive perspective of the current development environment. Their curriculum is second to none, well organized, and packed with actionable approaches to fundraising."
"Linda and Dawn at Let's Build Hope impressed me from day one when they started working with one of our Catholic Charities federated agencies. That initial involvement and the opportunity to attend the boot camp in July 2019, prompted us to engage them to conduct a boot camp for our eight agencies in 2020. They are experts with proven methods at a strategic and tactical level. Learning from them has made us a stronger federation! Thank you!"

Theresa E. Ruzicka, CPA
President, Catholic Charities of St. Louis

"I attended the LBH boot camp in late 2017 and our Advancement team worked directly with Dawn Miller throughout 2018. Although I had been doing some fundraising for years, I learned so many valuable skills from the LBH team, including how to write an effective Case for Support, how to properly steward donors, how to put metrics to the art of fundraising, and how to best work with my board of directors. Each year our fundraising revenue has increased substantially, and has exceeded our fundraising goals. The LBH approach is rooted in decades of collective expertise, and yet, they somehow personalize strategies with startling success. LBH never made me feel like a client; rather, they felt like an extension of my team. I will always have professional appreciation and
​personal affection for Dawn and Linda."

Julie McDowell,
​Director of Advancement

Gina Marten,
​Executive Director

"As a startup nonprofit, ​Girls in the Know turned to Let’s Build Hope to develop an annual fundraising plan in 2016. We weren’t large enough to hire staff but were at a critical stage of growth with our first 3 figure, multi-year gift. To help us properly steward our gifts and build a sustainable plan, LBH stepped in to function in our development director role and together we built and executed the plan that has resulted in 264% growth over the past 4 years. We developed our “I Am Enough” giving club aimed at paying the girl power forward and acquiring program graduates as lifetime donors. Linda also led a board retreat to help us develop our 10-year Impact Statement that drives our strategic planning and answers the question, “Where are we headed."
We exceeded our goals in year one and have maintained our relationship for 3 years. Linda Haley and Dawn Miller are a unique combination of brilliance and heart. They have been an instrumental part of our success and growth.
We are a small shop. We needed someone to hold our hand and LBH delivered.”

Julie Rudden,
Development Associate

“After being in my Executive Assistant position for 10 years, I gained the confidence to be truly effective as a Development Associate in my work after I spent a week learning from the Let's Build Hope team. Linda and Dawn helped our department come together as a team and coordinate our efforts so our fundraising could be more impactful. They were generous with their time and knowledge even after training. And they helped us create an online 24 hour campaign called #Safe4aNight ​that was a new source of revenue. It blew away any expectation our team and our board had. I can't thank them enough for their expertise and especially their friendship!”

Deborah Grossman,
​Community Volunteer and Board Chair

"I heartily recommend Let’s Build Hope to any nonprofit that is ready to take its development work to the next level. Linda Haley is a professional who makes the work fun! She helped transform our organization’s understanding of the importance of development in support of our mission by educating both our board and staff.  The LBH boot camp is one of the best educational opportunities I have come across on the topic and well worth the time and financial investment.  From building an achievable but aggressive plan, to training and coaching us along the way, LBH provided the knowledge and experience we needed to be successful.  Linda was with us every step of the way and exceeded expectations."

Ben Chambers, CFRE,
​Development Director

“I can’t say enough about what LBH has done both for CHADS Coalition and my career. Before I started working at CHADS, Linda overhauled the organization’s approach to fundraising, making our operation more efficient and better-positioned to secure large gifts. After I started, I both attended boot camp and worked with Linda as a consultant. The move from Development Officer to Development Director was intimidating, but she was with me every step of the way with encouragement, guidance, and constructive feedback. To this day, when I’m facing a challenging situation, one of my first thoughts is “what would Linda say?” Whether you’re looking to take your organization to the next level or advance your own career, I can’t recommend working with LBH enough.”
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"​The Missouri Baptist Healthcare Foundation turned to Let’s Build Hope to develop a program to retain and upgrade low and mid-level donors through more intentional solicitation and stewardship. The resulting “Champions For Care” program has been very successful in all respects. This first year, we’ve exceeded our projections at the upper levels of our gift table. Donors have liked the concept of making a gift that is directed to a particular major project that is achievable through collective giving with other MoBap donors. Linda Haley has been great at coaching us through this program and has good fundraising instincts. She made this program clear and exciting. We are a small shop. We needed simple and achievable and Linda delivered."
~Debra Victor, Vice President, Missouri Baptist Medical Center
~Nancy Burchfield, Foundation Gift Officer, Missouri Baptist Hospital Foundation
~Sylvia Manewith, Major Gifts Officer, Missouri Baptist Hospital Foundation
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“Working with Linda Haley has transformed our organization’s development and stewardship efforts. Her expertise and guidance enabled our organization to increase our contributed income by over 20% and to exceed our development goals. During the first year Linda provided coaching to our Development Director, our Board, to me, and to our staff as a whole. As a result our work with individual donors grew by leaps and bounds. As a musician I had very limited experience in fundraising. Through the year of consulting and the Development Boot Camp Linda gave me an entirely new perspective and an organized approach to stewarding donors. This training gave me the confidence to reach out to individual donors and secure major gifts that were beyond what I had thought possible! Linda is an incredible teacher and terrific development coach. I would recommend her enthusiastically to every non-profit organization!”  
​~Barbara Berner, Artistic Director/CEO

Our Annual Fund Training Camp Attendees Speak!

​"Amazing week! I am fired up about putting this training into action!"
"This training was invaluable to me."
"Your extraordinary experience with so many nonprofits speaks volumes."
"You met and exceeded our expectations."
"One of the best training sessions I’ve ever attended."
"This was a smart investment ... I left with numerous takeaways that will help shape what we’re trying to accomplish."
"The value you bring to the philanthropic landscape is huge indeed."
"I have LOVED this Boot Camp! Your class was as perfect as perfect can be."
"Your class is much needed and extremely beneficial to all levels, which is rare. I loved it!"

​"Linda Haley started giving me informal advice on fundraising when I came to my position at St. Vincent. In 2015 we formalized our relationship with her as coach to help us build new and more effective processes in the Development Department. These efforts resulted in 2015 revenues raised from contributions, foundations and trusts at 99.7% above budget and 12.8% over 2014’s record-breaking year in the same categories.  Linda has consistently demonstrated her expertise with advice honed to our unique situation and needs, and her dedication to and support of ​our mission of helping youth with challenging life circumstances is unparalleled. ​THANKS, Linda, for all you do for St. Vincent!"
~​Carla A. Monroe-Posey, PhD, LCSW, MSHA
Former Executive Director​
We welcome new partnerships!
Let’s Build Hope teaches and mentors through
​hands-on, real-world training.
Contact us today for a free consultation!
LetsBuildHope@LBH-STL.com
(314) 716-2496​