Navigating Change: Effective Strategies for Economic Development Organizations
Perhaps somewhat ironically, change is often the only constant in business. We live in a VUCA world – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. This phenomenon touches everything today, leading to head-spinning and rapid change on both a global and local scale. Economic Development Organizations (EDO) face a unique set of challenges to address. What does […]
Childcare and Workforce Development: The Critical Link for Fundraising Now
Childcare is getting a lot of press these days. Beyond the mountain of evidence that it pays huge dividends in reading skills, graduation rates, secondary education attainment, and lifetime earnings, the link to economic development is becoming increasingly important. Many of our clients now consider it an integral part of their economic development program of […]
Tom’s Takeaways in 2023: A Year of New OVP’s
It’s been quite a year for Convergent and we are rolling into 2024 with a full head of steam. As some of you know, for all of our more traditional campaigns, we develop what we call an Organizational Value Proposition®, or OVP. For clients engaged in economic development activities, we move to a more straight […]
Address Housing Shortage through Economic Development Strategies
Putting plans in place requires the actual fundraising itself. Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development Organizations (EDO) can pursue numerous avenues to meet fundraising goals. Most economic developers can utilize the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to access grants to develop viable communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding […]
Leveraging Your EOY Fundraising Data for Campaigns
In Q1, nonprofits, chambers, and economic development organizations should review their 2022 giving data in an EOY fundraising review. It is essential to identify critical insights into year-end gifts that could lead to long-term investor relationships and future contributions. In a previous blog, Turning Data into Dollars, Convergent’s General Manager Brian Abernathy referenced real examples of organizations […]
Survey Says: GrowthZone’s 2023 Annual Chamber Survey
GrowthZone, a leading Chamber CRM solution, just released their 2023 Chamber survey results, we found the trends to be very interesting, particularly through the lens of fundraising. You can review the details for yourself at GrowthZone. The surveyed Chamber leaders’ top 3 concerns were: #1 Member Engagement & Retention, #2 Growing Membership, and […]