Fuel Your Future
Looking to take your digital fundraising to new levels? This program is for you.
- Build your skills with a cohort of your peers.
- Invest in you and your organization.
- Find new donors - and keep them!
- Raise more support for your nonprofit on ColoradoGives.org.
This one-year exclusive capacity building opportunity has three key components to support your digital fundraising growth: strategy, technology, and skilled volunteers to help you execute projects.
It's free and made possible by Schlessman Family Foundation. Application deadline: Friday, April 19 | 5 PM MT
Fuel Your Future
Looking to take your digital fundraising to new levels? This program is for you.
- Build your skills with a cohort of your peers.
- Invest in you and your organization.
- Find new donors - and keep them!
- Raise more support for your nonprofit on ColoradoGives.org.
This one-year exclusive capacity building opportunity has three key components to support your digital fundraising growth: strategy, technology, and skilled volunteers to help you execute projects.
It's free and made possible by Schlessman Family Foundation. Application deadline: Friday, April 19 | 5 PM MT
Application is currently closed
Application is currently closed
STRATEGY
Digital Fundraising &
Copywriting Courses
Fundraising experts at NextAfter Institute™ host monthly one-hour webinars aimed at enhancing your nonprofit’s digital fundraising strategy. You'll gain actionable insights you can implement immediately. Engage with instructors and fellow participants through a dedicated Slack channel. Plus, enjoy a complimentary 24-month membership to access the NextAfter Training Institute™.
First-Year Participants: Become a Certified Copywriter and elevate your fundraising campaigns when you complete a 4-week course in September run by experts in Donor Psychology (Phil Psych®) at the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy™.
Returning Graduates: Copywriting 2.0 is a capacity building workshop to help internalize the philanthropic psychology concepts across your entire organization. This training is held over three half-day virtual training sessions in September.
STRATEGY
Digital Fundraising &
Copywriting Courses
Fundraising experts at NextAfter Institute™ host monthly one-hour webinars aimed at enhancing your nonprofit’s digital fundraising strategy. You'll gain actionable insights you can implement immediately. Engage with instructors and fellow participants through a dedicated Slack channel. Plus, enjoy a complimentary 24-month membership to access the NextAfter Training Institute™.
First-Year Participants: Become a Certified Copywriter and elevate your fundraising campaigns when you complete a 4-week course in September run by experts in Donor Psychology (Phil Psych®) at the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy™.
Returning Graduates: Copywriting 2.0 is a capacity building workshop to help internalize the philanthropic psychology concepts across your entire organization. This training is held over three half-day virtual training sessions in September.
TECHNOLOGY
ColoradoGives.org
Embeddable Donation Form
You have the FREE essential tools on ColoradoGives.org. Now, you can add your ColoradoGives.org donation form directly to your organization's own website and take advantage of our low processing fees. Watch this video to learn more.
- Securely accept credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank account donations.
- Customize your donation form with suggested giving amounts and descriptions that represent your fundraising priorities.
- Reduce the burden of maintaining several donation buttons and accounts.
- Take advantage of low processing fees. Your nonprofit will never pay more than 2.05% per transaction.
- Donation receipts are automatically delivered to every donor immediately after their donation is completed.
TECHNOLOGY
ColoradoGives.org
Embeddable Donation Form
You have the FREE essential tools on ColoradoGives.org. Now, you can add your ColoradoGives.org donation form directly to your organization's own website and take advantage of our low processing fees. Watch this video to learn more.
- Securely accept credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and bank account donations.
- Customize your donation form with suggested giving amounts and descriptions that represent your fundraising priorities.
- Reduce the burden of maintaining several donation buttons and accounts.
- Take advantage of low processing fees. Your nonprofit will never pay more than 2.05% per transaction.
- Donation receipts are automatically delivered to every donor immediately after their donation is completed.
EXECUTION
Catchafire™
Subscription
As you learn new digital fundraising strategies, lean on your Catchafire™ subscription to connect with skilled volunteers to help you execute your fundraising projects.
- 150+ project and consultation templates are available to support you in areas like marketing, IT, finance and fundraising.
- This subscription is available to everyone in your organization.
EXECUTION
Catchafire™
Subscription
As you learn new digital fundraising strategies, lean on your Catchafire™ subscription to connect with skilled volunteers to help you execute your fundraising projects.
- 150+ project and consultation templates are available to support you in areas like marketing, IT, finance and fundraising.
- This subscription is available to everyone in your organization.
Real Stories.
Real Results.
Real Stories.
Real Results.
Discover what last year's participants had to say.
Feedback on the Copywriting Course
"Wow, I’m truly grateful for your time, attention, and such a meaningful class! My biggest takeaway is our ability to help donors see their best selves, and that they are already amazing. It is POWERFUL! The feedback and the content were incredible. The instructors incorporated Phil Psych® in their feedback, making us feel GREAT." - Sarah A.
Discover what last year's participants had to say.
Feedback on the Copywriting Course
"Wow, I’m truly grateful for your time, attention, and such a meaningful class! My biggest takeaway is our ability to help donors see their best selves, and that they are already amazing. It is POWERFUL! The feedback and the content were incredible. The instructors incorporated Phil Psych® in their feedback, making us feel GREAT." - Sarah A.
FAQs About Level Up Program
Q: Does this program cost money for my nonprofit?
No, all costs for the program are covered and made possible by Schlessman Family Foundation. The best part is that all staff members from your organization can participate in the monthly NextAfter Institute training program and leverage skilled volunteers at Catchafire.
Q: Will funds be granted to my nonprofit as a result of being awarded this opportunity?
Costs for all program deliverables are covered as stated above. If additional funds are available, they will be applied to your 2024 Colorado Gives Day campaign as a matching grant based on your attendance throughout the program courses. 100% attendance equals more matching grant funds for your campaign. By completing the application you agree to its terms.
Q: Are all course classes, collaboration and homework conducted online?
Yes. We want to make the content as accessible as possible so there is no in-person aspect. All sessions are recorded and accessible to nonprofit cohort participants.
Q: Do I need to attend all courses live, or can I move through them at my own pace?
The Digital Fundraising Course hosted by NextAfter Institute must be attended in real time as the course is interactive.
The 4-week Copywriting Course is accessible for the cohort participant to go through the virtual course material at his or her convenience and at their convenience. Attendance is tracked for all courses offered. Note, only one seat is available for attendance to the copywriting course.
Q: How much time do I actually need to commit to the program?
For most of the year, we estimate about 5 hours per month at most. This estimate is based on the NextAfter Institute™ programming. Additional hours should be allocated in September for the copywriting course.
This is a one-year course, running from June 2024 - June 2025.
Q: My nonprofit is not currently live on ColoradoGives.org. What should I do?
Enroll to be added to the ColoradoGives.org platform so you can take advantage of these opportunities in the future. Click here to learn more!
Q: Can I invite a colleague go through the program with me?
Any and all staff members from your organization can participate in the monthly NextAfter Institute™ training program and leverage skilled volunteers at Catchafire™.
Only 1 seat and 1 Certificate of Fundraising Copywriting are awarded per nonprofit for the copywriting course.
For returning participants, we encourage all members of your organization to attend the Copywriting 2.0 workshop.
Q: What do you mean by, “If selected, your organization agrees to use ColoradoGives.org as your primary online fundraising platform”?
We are requesting that all online fundraising campaigns for your nonprofit from June 2024 to June 2025 use ColoradoGives.org as your primary online fundraising platform. By leveraging ColoradoGives.org for online fundraising, your organization benefits from:
- All cohort participants leveraging the same software
- Funds are raised online through an unified platform
Lowest Transaction Fees Available:
- ColoradoGives.org is FREE to Nonprofits
- 93% of platform fees covered by donors in 2023
- When fees not covered by donors, 2.05% is retained
Q: What is involved in the copywriting course 2.0 for returning Level Up participants?
Copywriting 2.0 is designed as a capacity building tool that organizations can adopt to internalize the philanthropic psychology concepts from Copywriting 1.0 into their routine processes. This requires key stakeholders in your organization participate in a customized and lighter version of Copywriting 1.0.
Organizations participating in this course should recruit a minimum of four team members. Ideally, this team includes your:
- CEO
- C-suite director of communications
- C-suite director of programs
- And the graduating alumni of Copywriting 1.0
With their team member support, participants can put their knowledge into practice. Together, they will build a workable plan to update their organizational templates for various types of communications.
The training sessions are customized to the needs of the organizations. We achieve this customization by asking each participating organization to send a sample of 10 pieces of their communications from the past 12-months. During the training, we recommend improvements to these communications based on the PhilPsych concepts.