Full Circle Consulting is fully committed to the mission and vision of your organization. You’ll get real-world solutions that equip your organization with the skills and tools it needs to clear the way for success.
“Betsy is fabulous. She is knowledgeable but not pedantic, engaging, inclusive and able to create an atmosphere of spaciousness while keeping to a tight schedule.”
Participant, New Hampshire Grants Institute
Sometimes it takes an outside, expert perspective: Someone who will ask the right questions that will lead to the right answers.
Expert consultants from Full Circle Consulting have years of experience in nonprofit settings and roles. Need better fundraising strategies? Need direction on a capital campaign? Need greater board involvement in fundraising? Whatever your organization needs, Full Circle Consulting will provide strategic guidance and real-world solutions.
Full Circle Consulting believes that nonprofits are integral to every community. Mission-driven and effective, nonprofits lead the way on issues impacting the environment, youth and families, arts, health, and education. Full Circle consultants can help you fulfill your organization’s true potential.
“When we embarked on a capital campaign, our volunteer-led land trust knew we needed skilled counsel, and that is what we found in Betsy. Our successful campaign exceeded our $1.8 million fundraising goal, preserved one of New Hampshire’s most iconic views, and created two board-designated funds to support a full-time Stewardship Director position and provide attractive lake access for visitors in perpetuity – a credit to Betsy’s strategic leadership, organizational skills, and consistent motivation of our volunteers.”
Alex Moot, Board President, Chocorua Lake Conservancy, Chocorua, NH
Betsy McNamara, CFRE, Founder and Principal of Full Circle Consulting, has raised tens of millions of dollars for non-profit organizations in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont since 1988. Her clients have ranged from small arts and land conservation organizations to large nonprofits dedicated to social services, community development, and healthcare. Ms. McNamara works with clients on projects as small as a single grant to as large as a multi-year, multi-million dollar capital campaign. Her services include campaign feasibility studies, training to board and staff, annual fund audits, grant writing, capital campaign management, and leveraging state tax credit opportunities. A regular presenter of NH Center for Nonprofit sponsored programs, her most recent projects include a capital campaign for Family Nurturing Center in Dorchester, MA, an Annual Fund Audit for New Hampshire Humanities in Concord, NH, and a feasibility study for the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, VT.
Ms. McNamara’s clients describe her as engaging, knowledgeable, approachable, and effective. She serves on the boards of the NH Community Loan Fund and Community Bridges and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the NH Center for Nonprofits, and BoardSource.
How I work
When a client calls me, sometimes they know exactly what they need, and sometimes it helps to have me tease it out by asking questions. It might be help with writing a specific grant or getting an annual appeal out the door. Or it may be more along the lines of “we feel we could be more effective at fundraising but don’t know where to start.” Call me and we’ll figure it out together.
About Me
I am often asked how I came to have a career in fundraising. Like so many in the Development profession, it was accidental. I discovered early in my nonprofit career that I am not good at working the front line of a social service organization. Faced with someone in crisis, about to lose their home, or fleeing violence – my desire was to bring them home with me and make them chicken soup. This is neither an effective nor sustainable strategy.
So, I found my place – in fundraising – connecting those that want to support the work with the work.
In the first half of my 30+ year career I held jobs organizing special events, directing annual funds, writing grants, and asking major donors for support. In 2004 I went out on my own to work part-time as a consultant so that I could better meet the needs of my young family, launching Full Circle Consulting three years later. Those youngsters are now grown, I have been back to full-time consulting for a long time, and my clients gain the benefit of my years working with nonprofits from all avenues of the nonprofit sector.
In my personal life I am watching both my sons as they begin adulting, trying to keep up with my filmmaker husband, vacuuming up the hair of our yellow lab and two long-haired cats (what were we thinking?), and volunteering for Community Bridges (our family is a recipient of their services) and the NH Community Loan Fund, two of the best-managed nonprofits in our state.
Individuals granted the CFRE credential have met a series of standards set by CFRE International which include tenure in the profession, education, and demonstrated fundraising achievement for not-for-profit organizations. They have also passed a rigorous written examination testing the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of a fundraising executive, and have agreed to uphold Accountability Standards and the Donor Bill of Rights.
CFRE International is an independent organization promoting confidence, ethics, and professionalism in fundraising. Governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and led by a small professional staff, CFRE International consistently meets the highest standards for certification excellence. The CFRE credential is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
“Betsy’s Annual Fund Assessment provided us with a clear and informed strategy as to how our organization can be both more efficient and effective in our annual fundraising efforts. The report was grounded in best practice, backed up by substantial research into peer organizations, and presented in such a way as to give us a roadmap of recommendations to follow.”
Anthony Poore, Executive Director, New Hampshire Humanities, Concord, NH
