Fundraising is a people business.
TRANSCEND Advancement is a consulting practice for small and mid-sized nonprofits and independent schools. We help you raise more money and keep the people who give it, with equity built in from the start and data that serves the people behind the numbers.
Beyond Limits. Beyond Goals. Beyond Giving.
Beyond limits
Small development offices don’t need a shrunken copy of a university’s playbook. They need systems sized for the staff they have, so the work gets done without anyone working every weekend.
Beyond goals
A campaign total is a number on a thermometer. What matters is whether the people who got you there give again next year, and whether your team is still standing when they do.
Beyond giving
Generosity shows up as time, introductions, advocacy, and money. A healthy organization notices all of it, counts all of it, and says thank you for all of it.
What We Do
Fundraising and Development
Capital campaigns, major gifts, annual giving, grants, and an honest look at how your development office runs.
Marketing and Communications
A clear story about why your work matters, told the same way on your website, in your appeals, and at the podium.
Community Engagement
Members, alumni, volunteers, and events, planned so that the people who show up once come back.
Board Partnership
Retreats that end in decisions, training that makes the ask less terrifying, and a working relationship between board and staff.
Inclusive Philanthropy
Fundraising, hiring, and governance that reflect the communities you serve. Not a separate workshop. The way the work gets done.
Data and Systems
A donor database you can trust and the handful of numbers that tell you what to do next.
How We Work
We listen first
Before we recommend anything, we learn your mission, your history, your people, and what has already been tried.
We build the plan with you
Every plan is sized to your capacity, with owners and dates, so it survives contact with a busy Tuesday.
We do the work alongside you
We draft the case statement, run the retreat, rehearse the ask, and guide the data cleanup with your team rather than around them.
We measure and adjust
We agree on what success looks like, check it, and change course when the evidence says to.
Who’s Behind It
TRANSCEND Advancement is Mary-Ellen Lavigne’s practice. She has spent about two decades in nonprofit advancement, much of it in independent schools, and came to fundraising by way of theater and mathematics at Wesleyan University. Advancement needs both: the story that makes a donor lean in and the numbers that tell you which donor to call first.
What Clients Say
TRANSCEND Advancement completely transformed our approach to our annual fund. They helped us build sustainable systems that engaged our alumni and parent community in ways we had never achieved before. Our giving participation increased dramatically.
As a small organization, we were struggling to tell our story effectively to major donors. The strategic guidance we received helped us craft a compelling case for support that resonated deeply with our community and secured the funding we needed to launch our new season.
We needed a partner who truly understood equity-centered fundraising. TRANSCEND Advancement provided the strategic insight and data-driven approach necessary to align our development practices with our core values. They are genuine partners in the fight for justice.
From the Blog
Beyond Giving. A new post every Thursday on fundraising, boards, communications, equity, and data.
Fundraising Is a People Business, and Other Things I Believe
Welcome to Beyond Giving, a new post every Thursday on fundraising, boards, communications, equity, and data. First up: what I believe, and why.
Checking Your Appeals for Savior Framing
What savior framing looks like in fundraising words and images, a printable review checklist, and before-and-after sentences to borrow.
Choosing a Donor Database for a Small Organization
Requirements before demos, questions for vendors, the real cost including staff time, migration, and a scorecard for small nonprofits.
Tell us what you’re working on.
The first conversation is free and comes with no pitch deck. Bring the campaign that stalled, the board that won’t fundraise, or the database nobody trusts, and we’ll talk through where to start.