Over three decades ago, the Murdock Trust assembled a group of small and emergent nonprofit organizations to teach them the basics of fundraising. Since then, hundreds of organizations have benefited from the Essentials of Development — valuable training that helps them both articulate their mission and create a development program that will sustain the organization for years to come.

Since 1993, this program has engaged 30+ cohorts | 420+ organizations | 1,360+ participants

Program Basics

Over a pair of two-day sessions, our team of development coaches present valuable materials and strategies designed to help small to mid-size organizations build a sustainable development structure. Material and strategies covered include methods for developing a case statement, special approaches to donors with major gift capacity, role-playing on how to make “the ask,” an overview of the board’s role in the development program, and more.

Areas of Focus

Essentials of Development is named for its four essentials, which are directly tied to the program’s outcomes:

Essential #1: The Case Statement

• An organization’s presentation piece for one-on-one interactions with prospective and continuing donors, the case statement is a key element of the Essentials program. It is written in conjunction with a philosophy of development describing how and why your organization seeks financial support from stakeholders, and what benefits or outcomes donors receive when they give. Each organization completes the Essentials of Development program with a polished case statement. To put the case statement into practice, at least two personal donor calls will be made and assessed by the Essentials faculty before the May session. (Log in to see the Case Statement Videos.)

Essential #2: The Annual Plan

• A strong annual plan allows organizations to execute their mission and purpose through budgets and funding goals. This written strategy is prepared during one of the two-day seminars.

Essential #3: Segmented Donor List

• Segmenting your donor list and having unique strategies for each segment — even to the level of individual donors — is a key value of the Essentials philosophy. Seminar participants will learn how to divide their roster of donors for maximum personalization and effectiveness. Each organization will leave with a segmented list of its donors, including a strategy for re-engaging lapsed donors.

Essential #4: Development Team

• An important component of any development strategy is having a core group of organizational leaders involved in the cultivation and solicitation of major donors. Each organization will begin to establish its development team, beginning with those who attend the seminar (see #3 below under Expectations).

What to Expect

Each organization is assigned a development coach to guide you through the training. All participants are expected to attend two in-person sessions, both 2 days long. In 2025, those trainings will take place on January 27-28, 2025, and May 19-20, 2025. These in-person sessions are at the Hilton in Vancouver, WA.

Program Expectations

There are four primary expectations of organizations participating in the Essentials of Development program:

1. Prior to the seminar, each organization will complete a current survey that asks questions related to the organization’s finances, donor history, development strategies and more. Two additional surveys will build on the first survey. Completion of all surveys is a requirement of the Essentials program. The Trust uses this information to assess each organization’s progress and improve the Essentials program, and organizations will be given feedback regarding all survey results.
2. Organizations will be coached by an Essentials faculty member, who works with the organization from the survey prior to the first seminar through the remainder of the training, to assess and build the organization’s development process.
3. Because of the core value of development teams, each organization will bring three people to both seminar sessions: the head of your organization (e.g., Executive Director), and 2 board members, preferably including the board chair. If an organization has a paid development staff person, that individual is welcome to join as a fourth participant.
4. Each organization will complete its assigned work — specifically, the creation of the documents described above under Core Values and Outcomes. These documents will be evaluated by the Essentials faculty.

Assessment

Real-time evaluation and feedback are provided during the Essentials of Development seminars and coaching sessions. Additionally, the Trust follows up with each participating organization to determine the program’s impact on the number of donor calls being made, board/director support, and the level of increase in giving revenue.

Participation Fee and Requirements

There is a $900 fee per organization. This fee, paid upon registration in Fall 2024, will include hotel stay and meals for both sessions, all program materials, access to the Windshield fundraising software, 8 hours of virtual personalized coaching, and 8 hours of in-person personalized coaching. The Murdock Trust subsidizes the balance of the program cost, which is $17,000+ per organization. Each participating organization is responsible for covering the cost of travel to/from Vancouver, WA for the in-person sessions.

Essentials IS for organizations that are…

1. Small to mid-sized that need help increasing the contributed income base of their revenue stream
2. Willing to exert the concerted effort to implement the four “Essentials” of development in their fundraising practice
3. Desiring to focus mostly on increasing their individual donor base, including major donors
4. Committed to including the Executive Director and two board members in both training sessions (Note: the same two board members should attend both sessions).

Essentials IS NOT for organizations…

1. Looking for help mostly in the area of foundations and grants
2. Seeking to get their foot further in the door with the Murdock Trust
3. Hoping for a “quick fix” for their contributed revenue need

How to Apply

• Applications for 2025 are now closed. If you missed the deadline but are interested in applying for 2026, please email essentialsofdevelopment@murdocktrust.org.
• If you have any questions about the program or the application process, please email essentialsofdevelopment@murdocktrust.org. 

Resources

Learnings

• On May 31, 2022, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust hosted a seminar led by Colby Reade, Director of Communications at the Murdock Trust, on the intersection of social media and fundraising. In the seminar, Colby introduces skills for leveraging social media for development and answers questions from the current Essentials cohort. Watch the 53-minute recording here.
• On March 28, 2022, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust hosted a 58-minute seminar led by Brad Layland, CEO of The Focus Group, on the subject of raising planned and estate gifts. In this training, Brad explains the critical importance of estate gifts to your fundraising strategy, and how to make the ask. Watch the recording here, and view the slides from the seminar here.

Digital Downloads

Below is a list of materials and handouts included in the Essentials of Development Book:

• 2024 Essentials of Development Workbook
• Annual Fundraising Plan – Calendar (Excel)
• Annual Plan – Planning Worksheet
• Annual Fund Development Strategy and Plan
• Prospect Workshop Handout