Long Holland Strategies helps organizations and leaders unlock opportunities, power creativity, and catalyze social change.
Sarah Long Holland is a fundraiser, communicator, and strategic thinker.
As principal of Long Holland Strategies, Sarah helps her clients distill clarity from complexity, tell compelling stories, and generate transformative funding. Based in Chicago, Sarah serves clients nationwide.
Drawing on Sarah’s cross-sector experience in the arts, public health, higher education, corporate finance, and foundation philanthropy, Long Holland Strategies partners with nonprofit leaders and teams on cultural strategy, resource development, organizational planning, and capacity building.
With scalable, customizable services, Sarah is equally dedicated to practical planning and thinking outside the box. She delights in turning problems on their heads and finding the opportunities amidst the challenges. With insight, vision, and pragmatism, Sarah supports powerful transformation that generates new capacity for growth.
I am endlessly curious to find the connections between great ideas and the resources to bring them to life. I believe that listening is any leader’s most powerful tool. Listening awakens curiosity. Curiosity awakens possibilities.
Photo credit: Sean T. McGill PhotographyHOW WE WORK
Long Holland Strategies came into being in 2021, to help nonprofits tap into emergency funding and stabilize their resources amidst major pandemic disruptions. With a portfolio that encompasses fundraising strategy, organizational change management, advisory services, and a variety of writing projects, these core questions motivate the work:
How do we articulate vision when the landscape is rapidly evolving?
What skills are needed to cultivate agility that unlocks opportunity?
What drives and defines success?
Long Holland Strategies helps you hone your vision, crystallize your plans, and tell stories that sing.
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Fundraising plans succeed in the context of effective organizational strategy - an essential tool as we navigate an ever-evolving environment. I help clients develop strategic plans, logic models, and other tools to help them articulate and communicate how they execute their missions, change the lives of the people they serve, and create broader impact in their communities.
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The stories we tell unlock opportunities. The words we use matter. I help clients tell compelling stories and illuminate their impact in long- and short-form writing, including grant proposals, donor briefs, campaign case statements, individual donor appeals, funder reports, web copy, social media posts, and more. Every organization has a unique and powerful impact. I help you shine a light on yours.
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Raising more money is not just about writing good proposals. It’s also about finding new funding opportunities, understanding alignment with donors’ priorities, and developing relationships. For grants, capital campaigns, and major gifts planning, I help clients organize existing leads, discover new leads through in-depth prospect research, build relationship cultivation strategies, and craft step-by-step action plans to achieve fundraising success.
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Nonprofit leaders work hard, and fundraising is hard work. Sometimes you need a thought partner and a sounding board. I coach nonprofit leaders and teams, provide fundraising staffing assessments, offer trainings for staff, board, and other key groups, and collaborate to help organizations understand their strengths, build their capacity, and generate momentum to accomplish their goals.
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I am deeply curious about the power of the arts to shape civic engagement and human connection. I serve as a member of the Evanston Arts Council in Evanston, IL and am in dialogue with local, regional, and national arts leaders and advocates about how we can empower artists and build resources to leverage the arts to strengthen our communities.
Clients and Collaborators
