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. Our mission is to help small and mighty fundraising teams overcome barriers and find the path to making big dreams a reality. We provide customized, practical, and creative solutions to ignite your program through training, coaching, strategy development, and implementation.
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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 PBS Wisconsin, blowing bubbles onto the set during pledge breaks for the Lawrence Welk Show.
Alice has worked extensively in fundraising for small nonprofits in many charitable areas, including public media, rural healthcare, education, and science. Alice thrives in finding creative solutions for the fundraising challenges of small organizations, as well as teaching and training about practical and realistic tactics. She specializes in strategic and development planning, campaign and development program assessments, board and organizational training, executive leadership coaching, individual giving, and grant proposal evaluation. As counsel, Alice is in the trenches, serving as Director of Development for KAWC Colorado River Public Media and Border Radio in Yuma, Arizona, since 2006. Alice is also recognized for her on-air presence on public television and radio pledge drives and national PBS fundraisers such as Downton Abbey and The Civil War. Alice was the 21st recipient of the AFP Founders' Medallion, recognizing extraordinary service to the sector. She was the 90th fundraising professional 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. In addition, Alice teaches for the Masters in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Denver, serves on the University of Wisconsin Communication Arts Partners Board as the Internships Co-chair, is a CFRE Ambassador, and represents GoalBusters as an Associate Member of Rogare, the international fundraising think tank. When not fundraising, Alice hosts epic Chinese New Year parties, is a slow runner, and is a retired competition ballroom dancer. Follow @aliceferris 
 Annagreta Jacobson, GPC
Annagreta Jacobson, GPC, Consultant/Grant Specialist,
has over 20 years of research and writing experience, serving various 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 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. She earned the Grant Professional Certified credential in 2022.  Robin A. Kasel, CFRE
Robin A. Kasel, CFRE,
Consultant, has over 20 years of experience in sales, project and account management and professional fundraising. She started in promotional merchandising working with clients such as Target, Kohls, Kimberly-Clark and Sam’s Club before transitioning into the professional fundraising industry with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA Aviation Foundation) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Robin has extensive, practical experience in annual fund management, strategy and fund development, capital campaigns, board management, event planning and major gift fundraising. With a degree in Psychology, she understands what drives people to make the decisions they do and what causes them to give. Robin has been a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) since 2014 and has received her Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential in 2020. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of East Central Wisconsin and chairs their Gala committee, and the Canary Fund of Green Bay that focuses on granting change-makers in Northeast Wisconsin who work to address unmet needs in our communities. She also recently joined the Development Committee of the Women’s Fund of the Fox Valley. When not fundraising, Robin enjoys spending time with her family and training in the martial arts with her two children. In November 2021, she earned her black belt in karate.  Amanda Butterworth
Amanda Butterworth,
Executive Assistant, provides project management for conferences and speaking engagements, and supports GoalBusters operations. She has over 15 years of experience working with nonprofits. She is an active volunteer in her spare time and has served as a board member for nonprofits by helping to fundraise and organize events. Amanda has also presented at nonprofit conferences. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she studied Community Studies.  Matthew Ferris
Matthew J. Ferris, Technical Assistant, was the inspiration for this company’s start, 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, is the senior employee. He specializes in website design and maintenance, data entry support, design, and conference and meeting staffing.
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 James S. Anderson, CFRE
James S. Anderson, CFRE,
Partner, has more than 30 years of sales, fundraising, and training experience and specializes in marketing and branding strategy, multimedia production, sales and sponsorship training, board and organizational training, and executive coaching. Jim also frequently supports public media on-air fundraising with passionate, entertaining, and compelling on-air appeals coast to coast. In underwriting sales for public broadcasting, Jim’s teams set records for the highest gross contract year, highest gross contract month, and the highest development year in station history. As counsel, he serves as Underwriting Manager for KAWC Colorado River Public Media and Border Radio in Yuma, Arizona. Jim is an Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Master Teacher, a Past President of AFP Northern Arizona, and in 2010, was the AFP Northern Arizona Fundraising Professional of the Year. Jim achieved his Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential in 2013. Jim speaks Spanish, is an avid photographer, and has almost 100 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 infamous) Jim-isms. Follow @goalbustersjim
 JC Patrick
JC Patrick, Consultant, has over 30 years of development experience and an extensive background in marketing. JC has worked with GoalBusters clients since 2014. She specializes in corporate and individual giving programs, writing donor communications, program analysis, social media, generational trends, fundraising for public broadcasting, and marketing plan designs. JC spent ten years as the Station Development Manager for NPR, working with 800+ member stations in all areas of corporate fundraising, with a focus on online sponsorship and generational marketing. She held two positions at Houston Public Radio – Director of Corporate Support and Director of Marketing and Development, where she and her team were the recipients of national awards in marketing, underwriting, and overall development. JC began her career in commercial television production, then moved into advertising before coming to fundraising. She is a frequent presenter at industry conferences and workshops. JC holds a BA 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 and is currently working toward her Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential. JC lives on ten mountaintop acres in rural Arkansas with her family and pets. She spends her free time writing her blog, making and selling jewelry, and collecting all manner of interesting antiques.
 Dave Tinker, CFRE, FAFP
Dave Tinker, CFRE, FAFP,
Consultant, has more than 25 years of fundraising and nonprofit management experience 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, 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, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International recognized Dave as one of the first six Distinguished Fellows of AFP (FAFP). In 2013 Dave was honored as AFP Western Pennsylvania Chapter’s Outstanding Fundraising Executive. Dave was appointed to the Brentwood School Board in 2020 and was elected to his first full term in 2021. He previously 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 also serves on UpPrize.org and Velocity Pittsburgh’s advisory committees and chairs AFP International’s Marketing, Awards, and Communications committee. He is also 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  Elta Foster
Elta Foster, Membership and Database Management Specialist, supports 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.
 Justin Anderson
Justin Anderson, Video and Communications Specialist, leads GoalBusters media editing and production and supports social media strategy implementation. He is a voiceover actor, freelance composer, producer, vocalist, and music instructor. Justin has also been 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. More on his production work is available on his website.
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GoalBusters Affiliates
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 15+ years, and he has never let us down.