About Us
About Raiser Sharp Consulting
Raiser Sharp Consulting is a mission-focused organization providing planning and consulting services which allow you to raise better leaders, raise more exposure and raise more funds. Joseph Morrison, Founder and CEO brings more than 40 years experience to the table, and we direct our services exclusively to the not-for-profit community.
Raising Leaders
Your staff and your board members are critical to your success. We make sure they are working to their highest levels, including the fundraising process – and how they can help drive it forward – as well as best practices for boards. We can also help you identify how to best build your board: what skills do they have, what skills do they need? Who is available and willing, and how do you recruit them? We work closely with you to ensure your board is engaged and supporting your cause in the right way.
Raising Exposure
In an increasingly wired world, supporters are deciding how they want to engage with you in accordance to their personal preferences. While email, direct mail and traditional websites will continue to play an important role in marketing, social media and integrated marketing is now the preferred means of communication for many people. By“fishing where the fish are,” nonprofit organizations can reach their audience through their preferred means of communication. Learning how to effectively integrate all of your marketing and social media tools into your strategic plan will greatly enrich the management, support and advocacy of your organization.
Raising Funds
The dynamics of fundraising require a specialized approach for your organization. One size does not fit all. At Raiser Sharp Consulting, we always create the solution that fits your specific needs. Whether it be creating a fundraising strategy, managing your budget, coaching the Executive Director, or all of the above, we bring more than 40 years experience and a mature perspective to the table, and work closely with both you and your volunteers to ensure your success.
About Our Founder
recruitment of Chief Executive Officers as volunteers. Joe assisted in the creation of a $5 million capital campaign to renovate the Philadelphia Council headquarters. Joe was also involved in many other types of fundraising and administrative projects while at the Scouts, including direct mail development, grant writing and foundation solicitations, individual gift requests, special event creation and implementation, corporate fundraising, newsletter development, and running the city-wide workplace phase of "Scouting for Food."
In 1995, he founded and incorporated a small marketing communications/ desktop publishing company, securing contracts with the City of Philadelphia, PECO Energy, and WDAS radio. When an offer posed itself, Joe restructured the company into, and sold it as, an Internet based business. His outgoing duties were limited to continuing corporate alliances, and providing vision for the strategic plan.
Joe refined his management skills as Executive Director of Interfaith Housing Development Corporation of Bucks County, which he assumed in September, 1998. In this role, he provided the top leadership, direction and fundraising expertise to a fourteen-year-old affordable housing nonprofit with an operating budget of $680,000 and had responsibility for property development and rental programs of over $3,000,000 annually. He was accountable for the complete administration and cultivation of eight full time staff members, a twenty-nine member Council of Representatives, a fifteen member Board of Directors and over five hundred volunteers. Joe developed a keen awareness of human service issues, and strengthened the organization by attracting top quality leadership to the board and staff and securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in public, private, state and local funding such as the Federal Home Loan Bank, the PA Department of Community and Economic Development, and the W.W. Smith and Fannie Mae Foundations.
In 2001, Joe assumed the position of Deputy Director, Administration and Finance for Habitat for Humanity of Bucks County. He was responsible for the fundraising strategy and implementation for a $10 million housing development project, and helped to bring national media attention to this unique project. His duties included the creation of a fundraising plan, which was unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors, the recruitment of all personnel to fulfill the plan, and the securing of all monies needed to reach the overall goal, including project sales, gifts-in-kind, special events, appeals, direct mail, and foundation and grant solicitations. In addition, he personally orchestrated the successful securing of $2 million in financing from a local bank, a $1,000,000 county grant, and the cultivation of two major lead gifts: one for $650,000 and another for $370,000.
In 2005, Joe founded Raiser Sharp Consulting, LLC, and now provides training, consultation and support services throughout the country in the areas of Fundraising and Development, Organizational Management, Board Development, Strategic Planning and Social Media to a wide range of nonprofit leaders and charitable organizations. He possesses a quiet energy and easily captures the complete confidence of donors, volunteers, board members and staff alike.
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In 2014, Joe was selected to lead a breakout session for the national 2014 BoardSource Leadership Conference, held in Washington D.C. His presentation, The Board/CEO Marriage: Comfort or Chaos was well received by all who attended.
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In 2017, Joe personally developed and launched the Donor Finder System, the world's most effective high performance online fundraising program for nonprofit leaders that is available today. The Donor Finder System is a complete step-by-step system for growing your nonprofit using time-tested principles in education-based marketing and fundraising. Unlike other programs that offer fragmented pieces of the fundraising puzzle, The Donor Finder System is the completed puzzle itself; the core framework by which a nonprofit leader can easily build, measure and grow her donor base without getting caught deep in the weeds of social media, prospect research or trying to figure out “what elements to include on a donor page.” The system consists of three core elements that must be implemented the right way, in the right order.
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Joe Morrison resides in Morgantown, PA with Leslie, his wife. Joe's two grown sons live on their own, both in the Philadelphia suburbs. His eldest, David, is the founder of Morrison IT Solutions, a one-stop shop for IT help serving small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
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Joe began his professional career with the Boy Scouts of America in January, 1985, dealing with corporate executives in establishing mentoring programs for high school aged young adults as part of the Exploring program. He served in several other roles, including Finance Director, where his duties included personally directing six special fundraising events annually including one celebrity Golf Tournament with net revenues of $140,000- and the
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Joseph J. Morrison, Jr.
Founder & CEO
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