Teach Plus is a national nonprofit empowering excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to lead on key policy and practice issues affecting equity and student access. With a growing footprint across 12+ states and aspirations to reach $20M in annual revenue, the organization engaged Stronger Consulting to assess and strengthen its fundraising infrastructure.
Three core needs drove this engagement:
The team was effective and had built solid reserves, but lacked the systems, structure, and back-office infrastructure needed to operate at the next level.
Virtually all $13M+ in annual revenue flowed through foundation and grant funding. Individual giving — a potential $5M+ opportunity — was largely untapped.
Fundraising responsibilities were distributed across national and regional staff with limited clarity, creating duplication and missed opportunities in donor cultivation and stewardship.
Conducted a comprehensive audit of Teach Plus's national and regional fundraising operations, including staff interviews, CRM review, pipeline analysis, and benchmarking against peer organizations of similar size and focus.
Analyzed donor logic and funding streams, completed a fundraising staffing benchmarking study, and identified CRM integration opportunities to streamline national-regional coordination.
Synthesized findings into a multi-year fundraising plan with phased individual giving targets, a recommended donor management flow, and a staffing structure model anchored by new Regional Development Director roles.
Provided coaching, technical assistance, and recruiting support to operationalize recommendations — including developing the Regional Development Director job description and onboarding approach.
Evaluated the feasibility of Local Advisory Boards (LABs) at regional sites as a low-risk engagement strategy for local champions, pipeline cultivation, and community connection.
Teach Plus was already doing the hard work of elevating teacher leadership across the country. Stronger’s role was to help translate that mission momentum into a more durable fundraising strategy, one that clarified the donor management lifecycle, strengthened regional development capacity, and created a practical path to growth. The goal was not just more revenue. It was building the infrastructure to sustain greater impact for teachers and students.- Mike Montoya, CEO, StrongerConsulting
Stronger Consulting partners with mission-driven organizations to turn complex challenges into clear, practical action — from strategy through implementation.