Nonprofit Consulting Services in Colorado

How We Work

Nonprofit Consulting Tailored To Your Organization

We start by listening to your mission, your goals, what’s working, and where you need support. From there, we build a clear plan around your organization and your needs. That way, our recommendations fit how you actually work and where you’re headed.

You stay in the loop the whole way, with regular check-ins and clear updates. As your needs change, we can scale support up or down. We approach every project with a focus on aligned people, defined processes, and a shared purpose.

Let’s Talk

What We Do

Our Nonprofit Consulting Services

We offer four key services, designed to keep you funded and focused. Whether you need one or all four, each draws on our deep experience in the nonprofit sector and a real understanding of your needs.

Grant Writing and Fundraising

Partner with us on the full spectrum of grant writing services. Showcase your good work and increase your budget.

We do it all: prospect research, letters of intent, the narrative, the budget, the submission, and the support for reporting. We’ll also help you develop and manage grant calendars and strengthen funder relationships. Our work includes state and local government, corporate, and foundation proposals. We love to share what we know with your staff, to grow the internal capacity of the organization.

Grant prospecting and research
Full-service proposal writing
State and local government, corporate, and foundation proposals
Grant management, calendars, and reporting

Strategic Planning

Build realistic, adaptive plans to achieve impact. Learn, grow, and have fun doing it!

Nonprofit strategic planning built for the real world. We design processes that help groups understand where they are, gather what stakeholders actually think, and produce solid yet flexible plans. Effective strategic planning will help you move from reactive to intentional.

Facilitated planning sessions
Stakeholder and community engagement
Mission, vision, and values work
Implementation plans

Facilitation and Training

Engage your team in productive, results-oriented retreats, meetings, and training on nonprofit management topics.

Board and staff retreats, community meetings, and effective training, all starting with cooperative agenda design. We bring a background in adult learning and instructional design. Our toolkit includes diverse facilitation methods such as structured decision-making, storytelling, small-group work, real-time consensus building, and much more!

Board retreat facilitation
Community and stakeholder meetings
Meeting design and facilitation
Mediation

Program Development

Strengthen long-standing programs or build new ones!

Program design is a creative, iterative process. We start with your mission, then match community needs to your capacity and skills. We use a variety of strategies including asset mapping, logic models, goal setting, evaluation, testing, and more.

Needs assessment and asset mapping
Logic models and theory of change
Program redesign and simplification
Evaluation planning and measurement

Who We Work With

Since 2014, we’ve worked with grassroots community groups, arts and culture organizations, city departments, state agencies, foundations, schools, and all types of nonprofits. Our clients span every stage, from newly formed efforts to well-established institutions.

We’re Denver based, and much of our work is in Colorado, but we also work virtually for grant writing, planning, and facilitation. We’ve partnered with organizations across the United States and internationally.

See our full client list

Testimonials

What Our Clients Say

Kerri has been instrumental in helping me lead my non-profit organization from board leadership to fundraising to program design. Kerri is knowledgeable, reliable, and creative and I’d highly recommend Kerri to anyone looking to hire a consultant. In addition to all the coaching and support she has provided me, she is a highly effective grant writer. She took us from $5,000 to over $180,000 annually. She is also happy to teach and help my staff learn about grant writing.

Brendan BuckleyExecutive Director, Beat the Streets NYC

Kerri provided excellent facilitation and project management for our project this year. We ended up with some big-picture questions at the end, which was not anticipated, but I was immensely grateful to have her expertise on board to help us work through them. Kerri was delightful to work with. Friendly, professional, compassionate, astute, conscientious, and encouraging. She was highly organized and built momentum throughout our engagement. There were many times when she suggested new approaches and reflected back our progress.

Meredith BadlerColorado Business Committee for the Arts

Purpose Aligned has been a superior partner to the RiNo Art District over the years. They have helped the district in everything from Strategic Planning to Board Development and Organizational Structure. Kerri is thorough, direct, and fun to work with. Her work has helped the district grow and adapt in our ever-changing environment while helping us plan for our future. She works well with internal staff, board members, stakeholders, and the greater community.

Tracy WeilExecutive Director, RiNo Art District

Kerri’s professional, high-level support has allowed me to dedicate time, energy, and resources to creating a strong foundation for DAVA. From fine-tuning fundraising and events planning to board training, we have used this time to strengthen our internal systems and build the overall capacity of our organization. The improvements I have seen in our org leadership in just one year are impressive.

Krista RobinsonExecutive Director, Downtown Aurora Visual Arts

Purpose Aligned Consulting guided City staff and the Creative Alliance for Downtown Aurora, a community 501c3 board, through a six-month planning process for the Aurora Cultural Arts District. Kerri’s expertise and facilitation translated our vision into an actionable plan. The plan has already helped us reach key goals, including a $75,000 grant to activate Fletcher Plaza and the expansion of our district’s boundaries to include more retail and arts organizations, and supported our application for creative district recertification with Colorado Creative Industries. I valued the experience enough that I brought Kerri back to facilitate the Aurora Arts & Cultural Commission’s annual retreat afterward. Highly recommend.

Ginger White BrunettiCity of Aurora, Library and Cultural Services

Kerri and her team at Purpose Aligned Consulting supported us through a tricky planning stage, and I am so glad we chose to work with her! I am also particularly happy we chose to work with a team that understood the importance of language access and cultural competency. I would absolutely rehire and recommend Purpose Aligned Consulting for future projects.

Kristen MayCity of Westminster

Working with Purpose Aligned Consulting has been one of the best decisions we’ve made for FCRJ. AJ has helped us secure nearly $600,000 in grant funding, including approximately $200,000 supporting our work into next year and the following, a tremendous impact for our organization. What makes AJ and Purpose Aligned different is how relational their approach is. AJ has become an extension of our organization, taking the time to understand not only our programs, but our philosophy, our vision, and our passion for the work. He genuinely cares about what we are building and has helped us grow both our funding and our capacity to think more strategically about our future. We also deeply value the expertise and fresh perspective Kerri brings to the team. We feel fortunate to have Purpose Aligned alongside us as we continue growing FCRJ and expanding our impact in the communities we serve.

Eric S. LeeFull Circle Restorative Justice

Working with Lone and Purpose Aligned for grant writing has been a game-changer for HRAC. She’s so much more than a grant writer. She helps with ideas and funding strategy and is a good sounding board when I’m wrestling with a tough decision. She’s added fresh new language to our applications. She helps me stay on top of my foundation relationships and build new ones. She brings calm and organization to all of our work. Beyond keeping me from working 80+ hours per week during heavy grant application times, I really look forward to our check-ins each month!

Lisa RavilleHarm Reduction Action Center

Purpose Aligned Consulting came recommended and highly regarded from past clients in the Denver and Aurora Metro Area. Kerri led us through a well-thought-out, fully developed process to creating the Strategic Plan not only for the Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites but, the Aurora Museum Foundation in accomplishing a solid new mission and vision for the future of both entities.

Scott WilliamsDirector, Aurora History Museum

Your advice with our tricky board issues was spot on. I didn’t realize how much people’s feelings and our clunky processes were impacting us. Bringing this stuff to the surface and developing better processes has allowed our board to concentrate on their work and stop getting sidetracked in the little details.

A nonprofit Executive Director

Questions

Nonprofit Consulting, Answered

What does a nonprofit consultant actually do?

It depends on what you need. Sometimes it’s an outside facilitator, so the executive director can take part in their own retreat. Sometimes it’s the capacity to write six proposals in a quarter so your team doesn’t have to. Sometimes it’s a neutral party who can raise hard issues in a productive way. Sometimes it’s a partner who already knows the funder landscape, so you’re not starting from zero. We listen closely to your needs and make sure our work helps you meet them.

We are a small organization. Are we too small to work with you?

No. Many of our clients are smaller nonprofits. Small organizations often get the most out of this work. One well designed process or a true sounding board can be so powerful when resources are scarce.

Do you only work with nonprofits?

Mostly, but not only. We have done substantial work for federal agencies, local government departments, foundations, and schools.

Can we start with one project rather than a retainer?

Yes. There are many ways to work with us. Reach out today to discuss your needs.

Do you offer immigration legal services?

Not through Purpose Aligned. That work lives with Immigration Response Group, a separate organization founded by Kerri that expands access to immigration legal services. For nonprofit consulting, you are in the right place.

How do we know which service we need?

That is what the first conversation is for, and it is free. After our initial chat, we’ll have a good idea of how we can best support you.

Nonprofit Consulting Services In Colorado