ABOUT
Our Enterprising Approach
Donor Boom, a San Francisco Bay Area-based strategic fundraising consulting firm, partners with nonprofit clients to unleash their growth potential. Using a data-driven analytical approach and strategic savvy,
Donor Boom helps its clients lead with a strong revenue-generating plan that prioritizes and focuses its resources. We'll even help you launch it.
The end result? Donor Boom ignites donor generosity that drives sustainable, long-term growth.
Meet the Team
With an enterprising spirit, Donor Boom's team partners with nonprofits who are changing their communities for the better but feel under-resourced in development.
We build your roadmap for growth and then get you underway!
Sari McConnell
Founder, Principal Consultant
Founder Sari McConnell, CFRE, MBA, brings over 25 years of diverse nonprofit and for-profit experience, with a long track record of getting great results. After Hallmark Cards, Clorox, Leapfrog, and Conformer Products (co-founder), Sari pivoted her energy towards mission-driven organizations leading two nonprofit organizations to unprecedented revenue growth and ultimately founding Donor Boom in 2021. She is a graduate of Northwestern University (BA) and the Kellogg School of Management (MBA) and a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), the only accredited certification in the nonprofit field.
Apryl Alston
Grant Writing Expert
Apryl Alston is a skilled grant writer with a strong track record of winning them on behalf of her nonprofit clients. Her thorough approach -- a combination of seasoned research methods, client positioning, and relationship management -- increases the odds that a nonprofit can count on grant revenue growth. A Hampton University graduate, Apryl has worked in the nonprofit field since 2015 and has four years' experience as an English Adjunct Professor and Business Communications Instructor as well. She truly enjoys using her writing skills to help others who are in need.
Kit Fitzgerald
Campaign Content Developer
Kit Fitzgerald is a life-long writer who is passionate about crafting compelling stories that bring a nonprofit’s mission to life and ignites donor generosity. After years of working with nonprofits, PR agencies, and media companies, this University of Iowa graduate has mastered how to help clients connect with their audiences in a clear and persuasive voice to help them more deeply engage their donors and strengthen their donor outreach efforts. Above all, Kit is excited to channel her skills into serving Donor Boom’s clients and their missions.
Mariah Goncharoff
Donor Data Analyst
Mariah Goncharoff is a nonprofit development professional with over seven years of experience helping nonprofits achieve their fundraising goals. An Evergreen State grad, Mariah has supported organizations large and small on strategy development, donor engagement, data analytics, board building and more. She gets a big charge out of bringing a client's growth story to life through data analysis and creating that 'light bulb' moment for Donor Boom clients.
Madell Hipolito is a skilled service-oriented professional who excels in streamlining the client experience, resolving problems, and driving overall operational improvement. She joined Donor Boom after graduating from San Francisco State to further her strong interest in helping others, tackling new challenges and opportunities, and completing projects efficiently.
Madell Hipolito
Operations Specialist
Testimonials
With expert and responsive guidance, Donor Boom helped us grow our fall annual fund campaign by 25% this past year. Sari’s strategic thinking blended with practical tactics helped our team not only grow revenue but created increased board and stakeholder engagement. We now know exactly where to focus our energy to get the strongest fundraising results. Sari is a star performer and I am delighted to recommend her.
-- Elisabeth Setten, Executive Director, Art Works Downtown
Sari McConnell, Founder of DonorBoom, consulted with Caminar to conduct an in-depth analysis of our individual donor fundraising opportunities and strengths. This helped us gain a better understanding of where to allocate our staff resources in order to build more meaningful relationships with our longtime supporters as well as where we need to focus to secure and retain newer donors. The analysis revealed powerful, detailed data that enabled us to make informed decisions about which activities would generate the growth we need to realize over the next few years. DonorBoom provided exemplary, timely results and we look forward to continuing our partnership.
-- Mary Dunbar, CFRE, Chief Development Officer, Caminar
With the help of Donor Boom's focused strategic advice, we are taking our annual campaign and event sponsorship programs to the next level. We now have a whole new way of thinking about how to get the most substantial results from our efforts.
-- Bobby Keller, Executive Director, Port Washington Community Chest
Donor Boom is building our fundraising strategy from scratch, grounding it in data and identifying growth opportunities we didn't know we had. Donor Boom not only brought expertise to our organization, but brought a process and discipline to our fundraising plan.
--Margi Power and Kaarin Hardy, Leadership Council San Mateo County
Sari can find growth everywhere. She strategically re-imagined our annual event into a compelling virtual event, helping to double our revenue by making our donors feel truly invested in our mission.
-- Kathy Spillar, Executive Director, Feminist Majority Foundation
Sari gives her clients her full focus. She brought an expert lens to all aspects of her fundraising analysis and strategy. Donor Boom's recommendations were astute, thoughtful and most importantly - realistic. Sari's excellent presentation to our board was focused, compelling, and motivating. Now armed with the necessary map, tools and motivation, we are excited to embark on a fundraising path that will support our ambitious goals for growth.
-- Danika Dellor, Executive Director, WANDA Silicon Valley
Our endowment campaign has so much momentum and focus thanks to Donor Boom's plan. It's based in confidence-inspiring analytics and prioritizes where to invest our limited resources, and most importantly our time.
-- Angela Dubovsky, Executive Director, Burlingame Community for Education Foundation Endowment
Sari was such a pleasure to work with! She helped us develop a fundraising plan that considered our historical data, realistic goals, and a diversified approach suitable for our size and capacity. We now feel confident in our fundraising goals and well equipped with tools to implement the plan. There was no 'one size fits all' with Sari and we appreciated her approach to ensure our fundraising plan was relevant and attainable for our specific needs.
-- Isa LaPorte, CEO, and Sooni Gillett, Co-Founder & COO, ConnectED
Sari is an excellent leader, and exceeded all fundraising growth expectations. She gets great results!
-- Dr. Maggie MacIsaac, Retired Superintendent, Burlingame School District
I connected with Donor Boom just six months after I founded my non-profit. I had no background in non-profits so the entire space was intimidating. Sari quickly guided me in what was needed to engage funders and provided a solid framework. She miraculously refined our various communications to a single page to tell a compelling story, allowing us to attract a high caliber of donor. She crafted an overall strategy and outreach approach that our board supported. Sari asks great questions, is not afraid to push back on a proposed approach and acts as a true partner. I highly recommend Sari and the Donor Boom team.
-- Pam Baker, Founder, Women's Coaching Alliance
"People who give are rewarded, not monetarily, but because their involvement represents an expression beyond themselves."
Hank Rosso