Our Philosophy
(a.k.a. the "Manifesto")
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At GoalBusters, philanthropy, and fundraising, is not about money. Yes, money is involved, and we help our clients raise money and do more with the resources they have. But fundamentally, the charitable sector must make the world a better place and lift up the people and beings living in it.
Fundraising is not about "shoveling coal into a machine." The purpose of your organization must matter to the communities you serve. You must care about more than yourself. It comes down to the root of the word philanthropy: it means love of humankind. Therefore, we work with causes that we believe in. When we work with a client, we throw our hearts and souls into the organization. It's about authenticity, and ultimately, we can't fake that. Causes that we support include public and community media, education, healthcare for the under-served, diverse communities, arts and cultural programs, progressive causes, social justice, social services, and our professional associations. We also work with organizations that are courageous and invested--in your cause, in a growth mindset, in making the world a better place--because if you're not committed to your cause, why should anyone else be? In addition, we work with people who are committed to the highest standards of ethics and professional practice. And don't just give that lip service—live it. Finally, we work with people who find joy in what they do. Because without joy, you're just shoveling coal. Because of this philosophy, our vetting process is a two-way street. You, as the client, are learning more about our skills and services. We are learning about your mission and your excitement and commitment for it. We hope you are sincerely passionate about what you do, so that we can be too! With this philosophy, we have helped raise more than $100,000,000 for organizations and philanthropic causes globally, nationally, next door and down the road. |
Fundraising is not about "shoveling coal into a machine." Fundraising is about making lasting change for the better in our world.
It's philanthropy: love of humankind. |
What GoalBusters Delivers
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What we hope You Bring to the Table
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 Alice L. Ferris, MBA, CFRE, ACFRE
Alice L. Ferris, CFRE, ACFRE, Founding Partner, has more than 30 years of professional fundraising experience, not including her volunteer start at Wisconsin Public Television, blowing bubbles onto the set during pledge breaks for the Lawrence Welk Show.
Alice specializes in strategic and development planning, campaign and development program assessments, board and organizational training, executive leadership coaching, individual giving and grant proposal evaluation. Alice is an advisory board member for the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the Wisconsin School of Business and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Communications Arts Program. Alice is also a past chair of the ACFRE Credentialing Board and a former officer of the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Board. In addition, she served as president of AFP Northern Arizona five times (don't ask) and is an AFP Master Teacher. In 2020, Alice became the 21st recipient of the AFP Founders' Medallion, recognizing extraordinary service to the sector. She was the 90th fundraising professional in the world to attain the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive (ACFRE) credential and also maintains her Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) status, which she obtained in 1999. Alice is also the only three-time honoree as AFP-Northern Arizona Fundraising Professional of the Year. Alice is recognized for her on-air presence on many public television and radio pledge drives, and on the national public television fundraisers, among them Downton Abbey, Suze Orman's Financial Solutions for You, Ken Burns: America's Storyteller, The Civil War, and many more. Alice also teaches Chinese cooking and an occasional class in ballroom dance. Her personal blog is alicesrestaurants.com. Follow @aliceferris 
 Annagreta Jacobson
Annagreta Jacobson, Foundation and Corporate Grant Specialist, has over 20 years of research and writing experience, serving a variety of organizations including Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Family YMCA, Northern Arizona Food Bank, and Mountain Charter School. Contributing to the success of GoalBusters clients since 2010, Annagreta’s research and proposal development experience also includes a variety of education, social service, science and public media projects. Annagreta started in resource development work in Seattle, Washington at the United Way of King County and the Swedish Medical Center Foundation. Later, while pursuing a Masters in Not-for-Profit Leadership, Annagreta served as an annual giving manager and major gifts officer for Seattle University within the Albers School of Business and Economics. The joy of writing project proposals to secure student scholarship and professorship endowments led Annagreta to pursue grant writing beyond the university arena. Since 2004, Annagreta and her family have enjoyed living in the Flagstaff community, raising two kids and pursuing life interests including residential architectural drafting, hiking, skiing, and teaching yoga.
 Elta Foster
Elta Foster, Membership and Database Management Specialist, provides support for clients seeking to build their first donor database, rebuild an existing database, or optimize a current database. She also provides client specific training on Bloomerang, Raiser's Edge and eTapestry.
 Amanda Butterworth
Amanda Butterworth, Executive Assistant, supports conference and presentation services, travel, and meeting logistics. She has been involved with nonprofits and charities for the last 10 years, has served on two different charity boards and enjoys volunteering in her spare time. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
 Justin Anderson
Justin Anderson, Communications Specialist, provides social media content creation, campaign implementation and general communications support. He is also a freelance composer, producer, vocalist and music instructor. Justin is a television and film extra for many productions in New York City, where he is based. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Bio-Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition from Northern Arizona University.
 Matthew Ferris
Matthew J. Ferris, Technical Assistant, was the inspiration for the start of this company, which was founded while Alice was a stay at home mom, going crazy with a newborn. Matthew has attended meetings for GoalBusters since he was born, and, as was pointed out by Jim at a workshop, is the senior employee. He specializes in website design and maintenance (including this one), design and digital art, conference and meeting staffing. As Matthew noted at a conference, he's the Lifetime Intern. He is currently majoring in Economics in the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, Montreal, Québec.
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 James S. Anderson, CFRE
James S. Anderson, CFRE, Partner, has more than 30 years of sales and sales training experience through his positions with local media and national research companies such as Nielsen Media, Simmons and Scarborough Research. Consistently recognized as a top revenue producer ($30 million+), Jim earned "Sales Executive" and "Negotiator of the Year" awards.
Jim specializes in donor psychology, marketing and branding strategy, social media marketing, multimedia production, direct sales and sponsorship training programs, and board and organizational training. Jim frequently supports public radio pledge drives with passionate, entertaining and compelling on-air appeals coast to coast. Jim currently serves as the president of AFP Northern Arizona, his third time serving in this volunteer role. Jim served on the AFP International Communications and Marketing Committee, the Committee on Directorship and is an AFP Faculty Training Academy graduate. In addition, Jim was the 2010 Association of Fundraising Professionals Northern Arizona Fundraising Professional of the Year. He received his Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential in 2013. Jim has an extensive background in media production, and has created projects ranging from training videos for 300+ television stations nationwide in the USA, to promotional videos for client events. As an instructor at Northern Arizona University, he received superior evaluations from the hundreds of students who participated in his "Communications Analysis" and "Sales, Research, Marketing and Promotion" classes. Jim speaks Spanish, is an avid photographer, and has more than 63 million views of his photos on Google Maps. He also married his cousin, but it didn't last. Jim also has a list of "world famous" (or maybe just notorious) Jim-isms. Follow @goalbustersjim
 JC Patrick
JC Patrick, Associate Consultant, has almost 30 years of development experience in addition to an extensive background in marketing. Since 1992, she’s focused on corporate and individual giving programs, direct response campaigns, development program assessments, sales training workshops and board retreats, and designing marketing plans. JC spent ten years as the Station Development Manager for NPR, where she worked with 800+ member stations in all areas of corporate fundraising, with a special focus in online sponsorship and generational marketing. She held two positions at Houston Public Radio – Director of Marketing and Development and Director of Corporate Support. Her prior lives include careers in retail and agency advertising, as well as nine years in commercial television production. JC is a frequent presenter at industry conferences and is the recipient of several national development awards in marketing, underwriting and overall development. She holds a B.A. in Radio/TV from the University of Houston and is a graduate of the Honors College. She successfully earned RAB's title of Certified Digital Marketing Consultant.
 John Dawe, MNA, CNP, CFRE
John W. Dawe, MNA, CNP, CFRE, Associate Consultant, has been helping organizations build influence, impact, and leadership for more than 15 years. Serving in various organizational roles as strategic planner, change management consultant, outsourced development officer, and numerous interim leadership roles from CEO/Executive Director, CIO, CPO, and CMO, Dawe has helped organizations across the country find their voice, amplify it, and get others to share their message. Dawe’s extensive experience in utilizing and growing prospect lists and creating data-driven digital and volunteer-led campaigns has helped nonprofits across the country build successful fundraising programs. He has advised countless businesses and nonprofits over the years including professional and trade associations, community foundations, advocacy organizations, colleges and universities, arts and cultural groups, hotels, restaurants, retailers, and more. He is a frequent conference presenter on topics such as nonprofit leadership and management, fundraising practices and ethics, digital fundraising, capacity building, and change leadership.
Dawe received his Masters of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) Degree with Distinction from North Park University (Chicago) in 2016. He received the CNP (Certified Nonprofit Professional) credential in 2015, CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) credential in 2009, and became an AFP Master Teacher in 2010. The Association of Fundraising Professionals Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter recognized Dawe in 2011 for Outstanding Service. Follow @johndawe Dave Tinker, CFRE, FAFP
Dave Tinker, CFRE, FAFP, Associate Consultant, has more than 25 years experience of fundraising and nonprofit management after a summer internship at Ketchum, Inc. Fundraising Counsel led him to change his career path from medicine to fundraising. Dave has worked in education, health, and disability nonprofits throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Dave specializes in grant proposal creation and editing, prospect research, capital campaigns, using technology in fundraising, social media marketing, major gift and planned giving programs, annual giving programs, team problem solving and collaboration, and board and volunteer management. In 2016, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International recognized Dave as one of the first six Distinguished Fellows of AFP (FAFP). In 2013 Dave was recognized as AFP Western Pennsylvania Chapter’s Outstanding Fundraising Executive of the Year. He has served on the boards of Brentwood Athletic Association, Brewhouse Artists, Pittsburgh Planned Giving Council, East Liberty Kiwanis and was a PA Kiwanis Lt. Governor. Dave currently serves on the advisory committees of UpPrize.org and Velocity Pittsburgh. He is on AFP International’s Marketing, Awards, and Communications committee, Leadership Academy Task Force, and is an AFP Faculty Training Academy graduate. He received his Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential in 2001. Dave has been an adjunct professor of informatics at Muskingum University for their Master of Information Systems, Strategy, and Technology program since 2011. Dave is a youth softball coach, band parent, and volunteer at his church. Follow @davethecfre | ||||
GoalBusters Partners
Dennis Gilliam
SIGNALS RADIO provides cost-effective and creative broadcast engineering, including transmitter installation, renovation and relocation, studio build out, renovation and upgrades, emergency engineering services, and more. We have worked with principal Dennis Gilliam for 10+ years and he has never let us down.