PHOTO CREDIT: Cypress Hills LDC, Dances for a Variable Population (Kelly Stuart), A Call to Men, Girls Write Now (Katie Zanecchia), Neighbors Together, Minkwon Center for Community Action

Our clients cite the lasting benefits of Cause Effective’s work in 2014:

► More board members have volunteered to solicit on our behalf ► A strategic approach around planning special events ► Our new development committee is vibrant ►

We are more strategic in how to approach

prospective donors ►

Clearer individual donor and board fundraising plans ► The board is serving as ambassadors

of our program ► Increase in new donors ► We are better at defining what is

needed ► A sense that others might value our work as much as we do ► Increase in people asking

for the organization ► The

board is re-energized to take the organization to the next level ► A roadmap to follow in the coming years

Cause Effective strengthens the nonpro�t sector by increasing the capacity of nonpro�ts to build sustainable communities of supporters.

We provide carefully tailored counsel to help organizations diversify funding, raise more money from individuals, activate boards of directors, and produce successful anniversaries and special events so that they can achieve long-term, community-based change.

2 0 1 4 P R O G R A M R E P O R T

In 2014 Cause Effective shared its expertise in sustainability with more than 1,500 nonprofits in the New York metropolitan area. Nonprofits in transition – planning for growth, changes in leadership, program expansion – reached out to Cause Effective for help in developing a roadmap for change and taking critical steps towards more diversified funding and greater board involvement.

Through workshops, via the web, and in face-to-face relationships, Cause Effective led nonprofit board members, staff and volunteers in breaking new ground. Here are two Cause Effective client stories:

• THE URBAN ASSEMBLY, dedicated to empowering

underserved students by providing them with the academic and life

skills necessary for college and career success, serves over 9,000

students and alumni annually in 23 public schools it created in

partnership with the NYC Department of Education. The Urban

Assembly came to Cause Effective to grow and develop its board’s

ability to govern more strategically and realize its full potential for

fundraising at levels appropriate to the growth of the organization.

Cause Effective

helped The Urban

Assembly create

board committees and

assess current board

members’ readiness

and capabilities to

lead those

committees. Over a

period of six months

the board elected a new slate of officers and shifted the focus at

board meetings from operational and programmatic updates to

broader policy deliberations, including creating a first-ever Project &

Policy Committee to help the CEO steer through the knotty issues of

a shifting environment for school reform. According to UA’s Founder

& CEO Richard Kahan: “The reorganization of the board into committees has truly engaged the board in the work we are doing. The new structure creates a real partnership between staff and board, with a constant flow of focused information and ideas going both ways.”

“Cause Effective helped us have a facilitated conversation on difficult topics so we could better address the current issues facing the organization,” remarked new board vice-chair Kristin Kearns

Jordan. “You didn't tell us what we wanted to hear, you told us what we needed to hear.”

Cause Effective worked closely with the Governance Committee

to perform a needs assessment to inform board recruitment, as well

as setting out recruitment and onboarding procedures to engage new

members in productive ways. Jeff Smith, new board chair, noted:

“Cause Effective’s clear thinking not only opened new doors with new people, but also helped reinvigorate long-time Board members and stimulate new inspiration and ideas from within.”

Cause Effective also worked with the board's Development

Committee to increase the board's participation in fundraising,

resulting in a first-ever benefit honoree and event chair, increased

table sales, and a 15% higher net.

• COOL CULTURE partners with NYC’s premiere museums

and cultural institutions to ensure that more than 50,000

low-income children annually enjoy free, unlimited access to arts

and culture, leading to deep gains in literacy and early childhood

learning. Cool Culture approached Cause Effective for help

building its pipeline of individual donors so it could support

ongoing programmatic growth.

Cause Effective gathered together a braintrust of Cool Culture

fans and advocates – both insiders and outsiders – to open up the

organization's thinking about who might be likely to support Cool

Culture, and how the organization could build bridges to reach

these new prospective donors. This planning process, observed

executive director Candice Anderson, “drew back the curtain of mystery around fundraising to make it about building the interest of people who share our passion for families and arts and culture. Board members now understand that there are people within their own circles, or just outside them, who are more than willing to help – we just have to ask that they join our campaign.”

Cause Effective coached a newly-reconstituted Development

Committee in creating a Board Fundraising Action Plan, which

gave board members clear strategies to rally around. Board

members held a series of cultivation events, including one at the

Jewish Museum, which resulted in a host of new prospects the

board has begun to engage through personalized followup.

Emboldened by these results, board members have made plans

for additional cultivation opportunities throughout the year to

further build a diverse roster of prospective supporters. “Cause Effective helped us put our new board members to work in a way that engaged everybody,” reflected board chair Edwina

Meyers-Lynch.

“Cause Effective was embedded with our board to answer questions as they arose, helping to mobilize peer-to-peer outreach that hadn’t happened before,” observed Anderson. “People are really energized now – it’s great for the Cool Culture team to have a board that’s excited and digging in to fundraising!”

PHOTO CREDIT: Brooklyn Community Services, Hetrick-Martin Institute, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Resources for Children with Special Needs, Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center (William Weng)

PHOTO CREDIT: FoodFight, Just Food (Diana Liao), Sadie Nash Leadership Project (Breukellen Riesgo), Women for Afghan Women, The Center for Anti-Violence Education

OUR FUNDERS MAKE THIS ALL POSSIBLE. Cause Effective

conducted over 40 workshops and trainings in 2014, helping

board members and staff work together to uncover core strengths,

unleash potential, and achieve sustainability. We express our deep

appreciation to our 2014 funders and partners:

• Association of Nonprofit Specialists

• BNY Mellon

• California Community Foundation

• The Curtis W. McGraw Foundation

• Fiscal Management Associates

• Foundation Center

• GIFT

• The Hyde and Watson Foundation

• ioby

• Investor’s Bank

• Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

• Lawyer’s Alliance for New York

• M & T Bank Foundation

• Mertz Gilmore Foundation

• New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

• The New York Community Trust

• NYS Literary Presenters Technical Assistance Program

• New York Women’s Foundation

• Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York

• Northern Trust – Chicago Community Foundation

• NYC Mayor’s Office of Contract Services

• Theatre for Young Audiences

• UJA-Federation

• United Way of New York City

And nearly 100 individuals whose support means more of New

York's vital nonprofits can benefit from Cause Effective's

assistance.

CAUSE EFFECTIVE 2014 SNAPSHOT

MISSION AREA• Arts & Culture 40 (28%)

• Education, Youth & Families 37 (26%)

• Health & Human Services 30 (21%)

• Civil Rights & Social Advocacy 16 (11%)

• Community Development 10 (7%)

• Economic Development 10 (7%)

BUDGET SIZE• Over $20,000,000 4 (3%)

• $2,000,001 - $20,000,000 31 (26%)

• $500,001 - $2,000,000 30 (25%)

• Under $500,000 55 (46%)

ORGANIZATIONAL AGE• 1-5 Years 14 (12%)

• 6-10 Years 15 (12%)

• 11-25 Years 42 (35%)

• 26-50 Years 37 (31%)

• Over 50 Years 12 (10%)

CONSULTANCY FOCUS• Board Fundraising 83 (27%)

• Year-Round Fundraising 50 (17%)

• Donor Diversification 49 (16%)

• Board Effectiveness 34 (11%)

• Major Donors 32 (11%)

• Special Events/Anniversary 32 (11%)

• Board Recruitment 19 (6%)

• Other (staff recruitment) 2 (1%)

Full financial data is available on our Guidestar profile: http://bit.ly/CauseEffective_Guidestar

• A Call to Men • Academy for Teachers • ACE Integration Head Start • Afropop

Worldwide -- World Music Productions • ALIGN • Arab-American Family Support

Center • Ariva • Art Connects New York • Artists Alliance Inc • Arts for Art • The

Billie Holiday Theatre • BOOM! Health • Bridge Street Development Corporation •

Bronx House • Brooklyn Community Services • Brooklyn Historical Society •

Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A • Brooklyn Workforce Innovations • Center

for Anti-Violence Education • Center for Children's Initiatives • Center for Family

Representation • Center for Urban Community Services • Children's Arts Guild •

Chinese Theatre Works • Cidadao Global • Coalition for Asian American Children

and Families • Committee for Hispanic Children and Families • Community Access •

Community Health Action of Staten Island • Community Impact at Columbia

University • Community Mediation Services • CONNECT • Cool Culture • Cora

Dance • Corona Youth Project • CSH • Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation • Cypress

Hills Local Development Corporation • Dance Theatre Etcetera • Dances For A

Variable Population • Dancing Crane • Diversity in Arts and Nations for Cultural

Education • Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families • Elders Share the Arts

• En Foco • Equal Justice USA • Equality Charter School • The Financial Clinic •

Flatbush Development Corporation • FoodFight • Freedom Productions • Girl Be

Heard • Girls Write Now • Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees • Harlem Link

Charter School • Harlem Needle Arts • Hetrick-Martin Institute • Hot Bread Kitchen

• I Challenge Myself • I.D.E.A.S. • ID Studio Theater Research and Performance

Center • Institute of Digital Media and Child Development • International African

Arts Festival • JCC Association of North America • The Jewish Education Project •

Just Food • Kentler International Drawing Space • KowTeff School of African Dance

• Latino Justice PRLDEF • The Laundromat Project • Lifting Lives • LiveOn NY

[formerly CSCS] • Local Development Corporation of East New York • Make The

Road New York • Making Books Sing • Marie-Christine Giordano Dance Company •

Mercy Center • MinKwon Center for Community Action • More Art • Mosholu

Montefiore Community Center • MOUSE • Music-Theatre Group • National Aphasia

Association • Neighbors Together • New York Asian Women's Center • New York

City Alliance Against Sexual Assault • New York City Gay and Lesbian

Anti-Violence Project • Norte Maar • North Brooklyn YMCA • Ossining Children's

Center • The Participatory Budgeting Project • Partnership for Inner-City Education

• Peace Islands Institute New York • Poets House • Project Enterprise • Read Ahead •

ReLearning Curve • Resources for Children with Special Needs • Restore NYC •

ROC-NY • Service Women's Action Network • Shadow Box Theatre • Soledad

O'Brien + Brad Raymond Starfish Foundation • Spoons Across America • Stanley M.

Isaacs Neighborhood Center • TADA! Youth Theater • Take Wing and Soar • Theatre

of the Oppressed NYC • Underground Museum Foundation • United Community

Centers, Inc. • Universal Temple of the Arts • Urban Assembly • Violence

Intervention Program • Voelker Orth Museum • Volunteers of Legal Service •

Westchester Stress Project • Whitebox Art Center • William Alanson White

Institute • Women for Afghan Women • Workshop in Business Opportunities

STRENGTHENING EVERY CORNER OF NEW YORK’S

DIVERSE NONPROFIT COMMUNITY

2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jacqueline Ebanks (Chair)Executive DirectorWomen’s City Club of New York

Martine Broeders (Secretary)PartnerHigh Spark Advisors

Gabriella Polur (Treasurer)Senior DirectorTIAA-CREF

Chelsea AmegatcherHuman Capital AnalystDeloitte Consulting, LLP

Christine RatnamConsultant

Nina KontosCommunications Lead, People DevelopmentGoogle

Yvonne MooreChief of Staff & Chief Operating OfficerAbigail E. Disney

Stephanie PalmerAssociate Director for Program Development & Direct Programs1199 SEIU Childcare Fund/Childcare Corporation

Claire ScanlonVice PresidentBNY Mellon

Barbara Brizzi Wynne, Esq.

EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS

Patricia JennyVice President for GrantsThe New York Community Trust

Lata N. Reddy, Esq.

Anita NagerPhilanthropic Consultant

Jeffrey S. Trachtman, Esq.PartnerKramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel

STAFF

Judy LevineExecutive Director

Gregory CohenSenior Associate

Susan GabrielSenior Associate

Shyla RiveraOffice Manager

Joining us in 2014:

Lilia Epstein-KatzProgram Associate

Ngozi OkaroAssociate Consultant

Dara SilvermanAssociate Consultant

505 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1212 New York, NY 10018(212) 643-7093www.causeeffective.org

121 nonprofits guided, one-to-one,

through board trainings, intensive

coaching and year-long fundraising

residencies

Over 60 board fundraising

committees activated – 75% of

Cause Effective clients report their

board members are more engaged

in fundraising or governance as a

result of our work together

1,500 nonprofit leaders

inspired by Cause Effective’s

consulting, coaching

and training

1,000 readers every week

accessing Cause Effective’s blog

and e-newsletter’s hands-on

advice on topics ranging from

board motivation to donor

appreciation

CAUSE EFFECTIVE 2014 BY THE NUMBERS:

Cause Effective clients report raising an average of $30,000

more from individual donors in 2014 as a result of our support

PHOTO CREDIT: Kentler International Drawing Space, Cool Culture, North Brooklyn YMCA, The Urban Assembly