i team

Development Services
Research, Writing, and Editing

Creating a written document to use in your development operation requires much more than putting pen to paper and hoping for a good outcome. Whether your purpose is to create a case for support, submit a foundation grant proposal, design an annual gift appeal package, write a donor acknowledgment letter, or produce a board development training manual, a successful outcome depends largely on your advance work and knowing your audience. At i team, we work collaboratively with our client partners to research, design, write, and ultimately educate and motivate stakeholders and potential investors.

Writing successfully involves much more than filling out an application form, writing a letter, or caring deeply about your cause. You need to have detailed knowledge of your agency, your community, your stakeholder market, your field, and the funding source. Most important, you must have a plan of action.

After all, excellent writing is not just a matter of being an expert in your field of interest. There is a craft that is specific to creating a successful outcome—with tools and skills developed over many years and the experience offered by the i team.

The i team consultants offer depth of experience, guidance, and support that not only assists with your writing projects, but helps you create internal capacity so that you learn and grow from the writing project experience. Together with our clients, we create a hands-on learning lab. Some of the critical services offered by i team include:

Creating a comprehensive case for support for your annual gift appeal, your capital campaign, or your special project such as a foundation relations program.
Facilitating the human interaction and knowledge management necessary to create genuine community input for a project’s successful launch.
Researching and managing the necessary background information and knowledge that supports your written solicitation, case documents, or foundations proposals.
Evaluating, monitoring, and measuring your project outcomes, whether you are measuring the product or analyzing the process.
Drafting, editing, and formatting development and marketing/promotional pieces or comprehensive foundation grant proposals.
Creating dynamic and user-friendly educational, training, and orientation components that can be easily employed in a wide variety of situations.
Analyzing client research and donor database needs; comparing and contrasting system options; and recommending courses of action that will fulfill client requirements.
Coordinating design and writing efforts on behalf of client organizations; managing input, timelines, information flow, and production.
Researching foundation grant proposal databases and providing targeted, sequenced plans for approaching foundation prospects.

The i team brings many resources to the table, including comprehensive public and private foundation research capabilities, state-of-the-art research processes through its Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) membership, project management training and certification, and years of successful development writing and design experience.