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Five ways to bring your mission to light.

Candela offers five practice areas, each designed to meet organizations where they are. Engagements are available as project-based work, retainer arrangements, or fractional development director partnerships.

Bilingual — English & Spanish AI-integrated workflows across all areas
01

Build the Foundation

For organizations starting or rebuilding their development function.

The strongest fund development programs are built on clear systems, clean data, and intentional processes. This practice area helps organizations build the infrastructure that makes everything else possible.

  • Development office buildout from scratch
  • Development plans and budgeting
  • Moves management system design and implementation
  • Fund development performance dashboards and oversight systems
  • Database setup, migration, and management — Raiser's Edge NXT / Blackbaud specialist
  • Email marketing platform setup and management — Constant Contact specialist
  • Process design for development operations
  • Gift acknowledgment systems
  • Donor recognition program design
  • Staff training and coaching
  • Board development and engagement
02

Grow the Pipeline

For organizations ready to move donors up and bring new ones in.

Major gifts don’t happen by accident. They happen when the right relationship meets the right moment. This practice area builds and manages the pipeline that makes those moments possible.

  • Major gifts strategy and solicitation
  • Prospect research and wealth screening
  • Pipeline development and management
  • Donor cultivation and stewardship
  • Lapsed donor and LYBUNT reactivation
  • Discovery and qualification interviews
  • Feasibility study interviews
  • Stewardship program design
  • New donor onboarding sequences
03

Run the Campaign

For organizations launching a specific giving initiative.

Whether it is an annual fund, a family engagement initiative, or an alumni giving program, campaigns require strategy, timing, and execution. Candela brings all three.

  • Annual giving programs
  • Acquisition campaigns
  • Peer-to-peer and phonathon campaigns
  • Family and parent engagement programs
  • Alumni engagement and circles
  • Planned giving — QCD, DAF, IRA rollover strategies
  • Awareness and cultivation events
04

Integrated Fund Development and Communications

Communications that drive giving.

The most effective fund development doesn’t ask — it invites. This practice area helps organizations align their communications and development strategies so that every story builds a relationship and every relationship moves toward generosity.

  • Donor communications and appeals
  • Email marketing and newsletter strategy
  • Impact reporting
  • Storytelling and content development
  • Campaign messaging and branding
  • Communications and development calendar integration
  • Messaging alignment across all donor-facing channels
  • Grant writing and foundation relations
05

Philanthropic Advisory

For family foundations and high-net-worth individuals ready to give strategically.

Generosity is most powerful when it is intentional. This practice area helps families and foundations clarify their giving priorities, build the systems to execute on them, and connect their philanthropic values to a lasting legacy.

  • Philanthropic strategy and grantmaking focus development
  • Giving priorities and impact framework design
  • Grantmaking process and systems setup
  • Due diligence frameworks for nonprofit partners
  • Family governance and giving culture development
  • Connecting family values to strategic legacy giving
  • Facilitating multi-generational giving conversations

Across All Practice Areas

Consistent support, wherever you start.

  • Bilingual services available in English and Spanish
  • Fractional development director engagements available
  • Board development and staff training available as add-ons
  • Platform expertise: Raiser's Edge NXT / Blackbaud · Constant Contact
  • AI-integrated workflows available across all service areas
Gloria is currently pursuing her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) through The American College of Financial Services — the premier credential for advisors working with philanthropic families.
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