Our Values

That Elevate is not just the name of our company.

To elevate is to raise and in the most basic sense, we are fundraisers, forged in the world of development: being responsive, delivering results, and making it work.  But more than just raising money, we are driven by a meaningful definition of “to elevate”—that is, to improve and lift up. We want our clients to be better because they work with us: better at raising money, better at delivering programs and achieving real impact, and better at helping their communities. And, we want our staff to be better because they work here– better nonprofit professionals, better managers, better colleagues.

In authenticity and acceptance.

We value our team’s diversity and personalities—quiet and quirky or boisterous and bold. Perfection might be easier to sell in the short term – but only real people, with real life experience, can be actual partners to our clients. We want to find exceptional people and create a place where they can be themselves. We also want our clients to be real with us about who they are, what their challenges are, and the help they need. Our goal is to meet our clients where they are now and help them succeed.

In getting better. At everything. All the time.

We are open and committed to improvement—as individuals and as a company. We are a bright and motivated staff and we have to focus on the process of learning, training, and pushing ourselves to be exceptional.  We also expect this from our clients.

In doing hard work. And lots of it.

Grant writing involves a lot of individual work, problem solving, and coordination. It is labor intensive and we respect the efforts of our colleagues and clients.

At the same time, we do not incentivize busy work or distractions from our most important priorities.

That we’re all in this together.

Our teams are interwoven with each other and with our clients. This makes us all better, more knowledgeable, more effective. We strive to be helpful—to our teams, to our colleagues, and to our clients. We recognize that we depend on each other to do great work.

That progress is possible. And that nonprofits make the world better.

We’re part of the fight for social justice, equality, and improving the quality of life for all people in all communities. We believe that progress is possible for the world, our company, our clients, and ourselves. We focus on learning from mistakes and improving as we go. We believe that nonprofits make the world better in partnership with businesses, individuals, churches, and government. The nonprofit sector is amazing, and full of smart, committed, passionate people who will make real change.