Services

Grantwriting

You receive both strategy and tools when you engage Captacion to improve your ability to compete effectively for grants. The Captacion approach has been successfully tested and resulted in grants of up to $1,000,000 from corporations, foundations, and government entities.

The City of Mesa in Arizona (Mesa, Arizona)

George wrote and edited the successful Mesa Arts Center grant proposal for Creativity Connects: National Demonstration Projects. It secured one of only six national grants funded by the Mellon Foundation to investigate and replicate the ways in which the arts can connect with other sectors.
(September 2016: $72,450, Creative Aging: Lifelong Movement and Visual Arts Learning Opportunities for Older Adults)


Annual and Special Campaigns

In designing and implementing sustainable Annual and Special Campaigns – like major gifts, endowment, and capital, draws on Captacion’s past successes to form your customized cultivation, solicitation, acknowledgement, and stewardship strategies.

Ballet Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)

George guided Ballet Arizona’s volunteer and staff in completing The Next Step capital campaign. This $13M capital campaign combined corporate, foundation, government and individual contributions to provide the funds for a new purpose-built 55,000 square foot dance center (2014: $1M grant, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust). He conceived the New Works Fund, which raised creative capital for original choreography and new productions for the Company (2015: $500,000; a one-year, 1:1 matching individual and corporate challenge campaign)


Gift Planning

As a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, the gift planning expertise of Captacion founder George Nunes has been certified by the American College of Financial Services. Start conversations today about lifetime and legacy gifts with those who care about you.

The Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, Washington)

NThe Seattle Art Museum implemented George’s gift planning strategies, which led to the establishment of The Fuller Society. This rebranded donor recognition program honors the SAM’s first planned giving donor – Founding SAM Director Dr. Richard E. Fuller. During his tenure at SAM, George stewarded the planned gift from the Joseph and Elaine Monsen Family to the Asian Art Museum of a 12th Century Japanese masterwork, the Amida Buddha. He also guided the settlement of the Estate of Robert M. Shields, which funded the acquisition of Ai Weiwei’s 2010 work, Colored Vases.


Development Assessments and Feasibility Studies

Plan for a more successful, stable financial future by undertaking a Captacion Development Assessment or a Feasibility Study. They give you comprehensive understanding of your past and current fundraising activities and your readiness to undertake specific fundraising campaigns.

The Mesoamerican Reef Fund

The Mesoamerican Reef Fund contracted George to help it conceive and plan a multi-year, 7-figure individual major gifts campaign. Working closely with MAR Fund’s executive director and board of directors, George completed an institutional needs assessment, developed overall strategy, and created a target donor profile, gift chart, and campaign timeline


Prospect Research

The first step toward successful fundraising is identifying the corporations, foundations, government entities, and individuals that fund what you do. Captacion’s prospect research provides the information you need to decide which of them are your best bets.

Working with national fundraising consultants, Marts & Lundy, George implemented prospect research for Ballet Arizona. The process yielded 300 high net worth prospective donors for the organization, which were winnowed down from a list of 3,000 names. Volunteer and Staff fundraisers collaborated to develop cultivation plans that yielded new and increased donations. George also identified, qualified, and profiled 40 high net worth prospective individual donors in the United States, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras for the Mesoamerican Reef Fund.


Training

Enhance the effectiveness and success of those who raise funds for you with Captacion fundraising training. Captacion’s interactive workshops for staff and volunteers demystifies the development process in a way that is fun as well as informative.

Captacion clients undergoing fundraising training benefit from George’s 30 years of working with and learning from the nation’s leading foundations, government agencies, and academic institutions. He currently teaches students from around the world in the Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy developed by National Arts Strategies and the University of Pennsylvania.