Development 101
A core belief of Ask the Turtle Development Consulting is that anyone can be an effective fundraiser. The Development 101 curriculum is specifically designed for leaders, board members, and staff who understand the need for a formal development function, but don’t know where to begin. Upon completing this training, you will know how to stop raising money reactively when something goes wrong and start proactively soliciting donors for your vision.
Most fundraising training starts with tactics. Development 101 starts with your mission and the people who fund it. Before your team ever practices an ask, they will write a case for support in plain language, name the values your organization will not compromise, and learn to treat every donor conversation as an invitation into the work.
This training recognizes the value of your institutional knowledge and teaches you how to leverage that strength to fund your mission.
How it works
Every lesson follows the same rhythm, and the portal holds it all together. Everything participants write is saved automatically and waits for them when they return.
-
Arrive Warmed Up
Each lesson opens with 20 to 30 minutes of pre-work in the portal, so the live session starts with thinking already on the page.
-
Do the work live together
A facilitated working session of 75 to 90 minutes. Your team drafts, practices, and gets feedback on their actual materials. No lecture marathons.
-
Build the habit
One small, reviewable commitment each week, captured in the portal and revisited at the next session. That is where the change sticks.
Every engagement includes facilitated live sessions, participant workbooks, ready-to-use gift forms and templates, and a private training portal for your team.
The full library
Development 101 is a minimum eight-session arc drawn from this growing library and customized for your team. We can determine the perfect mix for you and your team during our first conversation.
See it for yourself
The demo opens Lesson 1 end-to-end: the pre-work, the live session activities, and the follow-through. Click around. Type in it. It is the same portal your team would use.