Third Sector Consulting

Find More Funders
Win More Grants
Raise More Money

Founder & Principal

Laura Rhodes, CFRE
Nonprofit Consultant | Speaker & Trainer
"HI, I'M LAURA! And I want to help you find more funders, win more grants and raise more money for your nonprofit. Are you ready?"

Laura Rhodes is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and fundraising trainer who has 20+ years of experience working with – and for – nonprofits.

Laura started her nonprofit career in development and communications. She later served as an interim executive director. As a volunteer, Laura has been a board member, board chair, marketing committee chair and resource development committee chair. And prior to starting her consulting business, Laura was a regional program officer with the American Express Foundation, which awarded $30 million to nonprofits each year.

Having been both a grantmaker and a fundraiser, Laura uses her unique perspective to help nonprofits find more funders, win more grants and raise more money for their cause.

Laura has helped nonprofits raise millions of dollars from grants, events, direct mail and workplace giving campaigns. She also provides prospect research and grant writing support for organizations that want to write their own grants.

She is a popular nonprofit conference speaker and leads workshops and trainings for nonprofit staff and boards across the U.S.

Certifications & Professional Affiliations

 

What nonprofits say about Laura...

I can't say enough about all the positive outcomes that Laura has brought to our organization. She's written amazing grants that have been critical to expanding our organization. She's helped me strengthen my  writing and improve my communication and contact with individual donors. She's also just truly a joy to talk to and work with.

Kelsie Severson, Director of Development, Mountain Home Montana

Laura is simply the gold standard! If you're fortunate enough to work with her, your nonprofit will be better off. And if you are the liaison with her, you will be rewarded personally as well. A stellar human being and an expert at her craft, bar none!

Mary Bryan, Co-Founder / Director of Donor Relations, Child Bridge

Working with Laura during our capital campaign was transformational. She knew how to get strong messaging across and secured a 7-figure grant that put us in the final stretch of our campaign! 10 out of 10 recommendation! 

Steph Goble, Executive Director, Mountain Home Montana

Laura's work to help us identify foundations that may fund our work filled an important gap for us. She is professional, and her work is thorough and well researched. I have already recommended her to several other nonprofits, which speaks to my high opinion of her work and of her.

Penelope Pierce, Executive Director, Gallatin Valley Land Trust

Featured Blog Post

"Let's Talk Nonprofit" is a blog by Third Sector Consulting that addresses common questions that nonprofits have. Ready? Great! Let's Talk Nonprofit.

Is Your Writing Too Long, Too Short, or Just Right
Twitter recently increased the number of characters per tweet from 140 to 280. Just because you can say more, should you? The same question holds true for grants. If you're writing an online application and the response allows 300 words, do you need to use all 300 words? If it's a paper application, and you're allowed 5 pages, do you need to fill every page? And what about your donor appeals? What's the right length of the fundraising materials you write for your nonprofit? (read more)