Testimonials

“As a newly arrived Executive Director for an expansive nonprofit, I was faced with a myriad of competing opportunities requiring careful consideration and board-vetting. We sought an expansive strategic planning process with stakeholder engagement to focus our energies with strong board buy-in. Jonathan designed an effective process, and executed flawlessly. The board was unanimously impressed, and has donated substantially increased giving to support our final plan. Our future looks brighter, thanks to Jonathan’s work.”

– Nick Hardigg, Executive Director, Audubon Society of Portland


“Jonathan Poisner has been an incredible resource for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. He has done numerous board workshops helping to invigorate and inspire our board to fundraise. He also reviewed and provided guidance helping the Board’s Development Committee prepare a strategic plan as we went into our new fiscal year. He helped me develop a FY2021 development work plan which has been extremely helpful as I plan and carry out my responsibilities as the Director of Development. His strategy, attention to detail, and excitement for fundraising has been invaluable to our organization, and to me as the Director of Development for a mid-sized national organization.”

– Courtney Lewis, Development Director, National Wildlife Refuge Association


“The smartest thing we did in starting the Elakha Alliance, a non-profit organization working to return sea otters to the Oregon coast, was to hire Jonathan Poisner.  He guided development of our strategic plan and has since worked with us to build out the organizational infrastructure needed to implement the plan.  His efficient working style, experience, and insights into the world of environmental non-profits has enabled us to make far more progress than we dreamed possible.”

Bob Bailey, Board Chair, the Elakha Alliance


“Jonathan provided such steady guidance both in planning and facilitating our board retreat and for me, a new Executive Director of a public health policy non-profit.  Jonathan was friendly, yet kept us on time, showed an uncanny ability to analyze and synthesize new details/topics in the moment without a skip, perhaps due his vast experience working on policy.  My board was extremely happy with the retreat – which, due to COVID, happened virtually. Jonathan helped us move from in-person to online in a seamless way. And it’s possible we were more productive as a result!”

– Lillie Jones-Manvel, Executive Director, Upstream Public Health
 

“As a brand new Executive Director, having Jonathan guide Forward Montana Foundation’s strategic planning process was extremely helpful for starting things off on the right foot and providing me with a vision and a framework for the next few years. I truly can’t speak more highly about our experience working with Jonathan to craft this plan.  The Strategic Plan Jonathan helped us develop has been enormously helpful. We’ve been using it to support grant proposals and in conversations with donors. We talk about it at each board meeting. It’s also proven valuable in helping us respond to opportunities and say “no” where appropriate.”

Rachel Huff-Dora, Executive Director, Forward Montana 


“After an initial success, BEST struggled to find its purpose. We hired Jonathan to help us develop a strategic plan and focus our efforts. Now just nine months after he completed his work, we have a clear sense of identity and plan of action, are attracting new support, are doubling our budget, and are looking to hire staff to help us succeed.”

Rob Zako, Executive Director, Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST)


“Jonathan was terrifically helpful in our strategic planning process.  He was very efficient and knowledgeable about the planning process, a great facilitator for meetings of our sometimes unruly group, supportive of our mission, and always timely and on point.  Thanks in large part to Jonathan’s creative and diligent assistance, we ended up with a well-written, well-thought-out plan that, despite the pandemic, we’ve been able to start implementing.”

Linda Carloni, Board President, Golden Gate Audubon Society


‘Recode chose to work with Jonathan because it was immediately apparent he was skilled, experienced, and doesn’t waste a moment of time. I was thoroughly satisfied. The fundraising materials and training sessions he delivered were very helpful and propelled our organization into effective action. Jonathan is also very personable and went above and beyond the scope of work to support us in our goals.”

Melora Golden, Executive Director, Recode


“Jonathan was a spectacular trainer for our network’s development and executive staff. Our network’s staff is talented, a little headstrong, and has wildly diverse experience levels – some have been doing development work for over a decade, some only for a few months. Jonathan’s training left all our staff with new, highly practical skills, and an excitement to get back to work. We’re all pretty big Poisner fans now.”

Henry Kraemer, Organizing Director, the Bus Federation


“My organizations spends money very judiciously, so it was a big deal for us to contract with Jonathan.  After a short amount of time, we quickly realized that working with Jonathan to develop our political plan will save us money in the long run.  Now we have a road map on how to build meaningful relationships with key lawmakers.”

– Peter Schrappen, Government Affairs Director, Northwest Marine Trades Association


“Poisner is a consummate professional with a soul.”

–  James Monteith, Board President, Wallowa Land Trust


“Our board and staff needed to get our arms around our various revenue streams, set stretch goals, identify training needs and conduct proper planning, and the sooner the better. Jonathan’s unique combination of listening skills, probing questions, commitment to following the data, and gift for quickly grasping our message and our potential, produced a superior plan and training in just a few months.”

–  Jason Marsden, Executive Director, Matthew Shepard Foundation


“Jonathan facilitated a strategic planning process for our organization over a six month period. He exceeded our expectations, producing a comprehensive and well-thought-out strategic plan. He worked with us to determine the best way to effectively engage our entire organization. I’ve never worked with such an organized, competent, and helpful facilitator.”

-Angela Schreffer, Executive Director, Denver Regional Mobility and Access Council


“Jonathan guided our passionate, yet inexperienced board of directors through a successful strategic planning process. Thanks to his skill, knowledge, and patience, we now have an invaluable blueprint for growth laid out in a direct way. Jonathan helped turn ideas and dreams into a solid strategic plan.”

-Lynn Fitch, Board Member, Fences for Fido


“Our board members — including several who have served on many other boards — said the strategic plan produced by Jonathan was one of the best they have seen in terms of readability, a realistic approach, and a clear blueprint to take a small non-profit to the next level.”

-David Weinberg, Executive Director, Texas League of Conservation Voters


“Working with Jonathan on our strategic plan was a great choice.  Jonathan facilitated the process smoothly and gave us new ideas that will help us in real-world situations.”

Ben Gregory, Deputy Director, Colorado Conservation Voters


“At our staff retreat, Jonathan provided the perfect balance of facilitation and advice. He understands the real-life dilemmas that nonprofit staff face.”

-Sandy Buffet, Executive Director, Conservation Voters of New Mexico


“Our organization needed more than just general fundraising advice. Jonathan was able to assess our current situation and make specific recommendations on how we can grow our program successfully.”

-Lisa Guthrie, Executive Director, Virginia League of Conservation Voters


“We hired Jonathan to help our coalition protect high quality conservation areas in our state forests. I found his advice and concepts for our plan very useful, and the coalition is using the communications plan moving forward.  He is easy to work with, a great communicator, and draws on many years of experience.”

Tom Wolf, Oregon Council Trout Unlimited


“I was very impressed with Jonathan’s ability to move conversations along, adapt to issues that came up and to generally move us very quickly and relatively painlessly through a strategic planning process.  We have ended up with a document that is readable and useful for guiding our work and growth over the next few years.”

Cindy Pieropan, Board Member, Denver Regional Mobility & Access Council


“Our Board wasn’t totally sure they could raise money. After a series of training sessions with Jonathan, they found that, not only could they could do it, but that it actually was a positive experience.”

Anna Goldrich, Executive Director, Sauvie Island Center

 

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