Services

After discussing your needs, we can help you to:

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• Evaluate the knowledge and skills of your admissions team and develop professional development plans to fill any gaps

• Enhance or develop an admissions strategic plan

• Determine admissions goals

• Enhance or develop plans to recruit prospective students who are members of historically underrepresented groups

• Enhance or develop admissions-related checklists, policies and procedures

• Enhance or develop admissions-related presentations

• Improve admissions-related customer service

If you have a lot of responsibility and need a trusted, discreet thought partner, you’re in the right place.

LCA provides professional coaching that is practical, strategic and action-oriented. This executive-level coaching is designed to help you make decisions, communicate with confidence and lead with clarity.

You’ll leave coaching with:

• Clear next steps 

• Stronger executive presence and influence

• Better messaging for high-stakes conversations

• A plan you can implement immediately

• Support that is honest, respectful and confidential

We work best with clients who are:

• CEOs and leaders who need a sounding board and strategic support 

• Advancement, communications, marketing and fundraising leaders who oversee high-visibility work 

• High-performing professional women navigating leadership challenges, burnout, conflict and/or uncertainty

• Entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders building credibility, structure and momentum

Coaching is customized to your goals, but common areas include:

• Career and professional brand

• Communication, marketing and public relations

• Fundraising, boards and advancement strategies

• Leadership and influence

• Public speaking and visibility

Confidentiality is non-negotiable. We coach with discretion and professionalism. 

We understand the pressure leaders face, because we’ve lived it. We bring experience, discretion, loyalty, critical-thinking skills, high standards and real support. 

LCA excels at developing thorough and thoughtful campaigns. After discussing your needs, we help you determine your target audiences and the best ways to reach those groups. Then we develop a detailed plan of action that outlines the tasks associated with the campaign, including specific deadlines and attainable goals. The finished plans take clients from A to Z and are easy to implement.

Our communication, marketing and public relations services include:

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• Campaign development and implementation

• Logo design

• Media relations

• Multimedia presentation development

• Publication design and development

• Social media marketing

• Website design and development

• Writing, editing and proofreading

Filling Operational Gaps and Putting Donors First

Community college foundations often spend too much time on administrative tasks and not enough time building donor relationships. We help foundations identify and fill operational gaps, strengthen policies and procedures, train staff and build donor-first systems that last.

Our services include:

Gap Analysis and Audit

• Review policies, procedures and systems

• Review position descriptions

• Identify compliance, efficiency and donor-engagement gaps

System Development and Integration

• Create and update policies, procedures and manuals

• Enhance and/or build systems that prevent future breakdowns

Training and Capacity Building

• Provide staff training and leadership workshops

• Deliver practical tools and resources for sustainability

Donor-Centered Shift

• Reduce administrative tasks

• Increase cultivation, stewardship and relationship-building activities
  

Coaching Community College Leaders

Community college leadership is uniquely complex: limited resources, ambitious missions, evolving community needs and relentless expectations. LCA’s coaching experience is built for community college presidents, foundation executives, advancement leaders and emerging leaders - so they can lead with clarity, strengthen teams and accelerate results. 

Our coaching services help community college leaders to:

• Sharpen strategic focus and executive presence

• Reduce time on low-value administrative tasks and increase time on stakeholder impact

• Align their teams and boards around measurable priorities

• Professionalize fundraising, marketing and communications systems

• Develop healthy, inclusive and resilient cultures that retain high-performers 

Our services include:

• Biweekly 60-minute virtual coaching sessions 

• “Quick consults” between sessions for urgent issues 

• Customized plans with key performance indicators 

• Toolkits and templates 

• Skill labs
  

Facilitating Team and Board Retreats

Community college teams and foundation boards juggle big missions, limited resources and urgent expectations. LCA can design and facilitate high-energy retreats that create clarity, strengthen trust and convert ideas into action plans you can execute immediately.

Our services include:

• Pre-Work and Discovery: Brief stakeholder interviews and online surveys

• Customized Retreat Design and Agenda: No cookie-cutter agendas

• Professional Facilitation: Visual scribing and decision capture

• Retreat Brief: Goals, ground rules and pre-reads

• Post-Retreat Deliverables: Summary report, action plan and follow-up accountability check-ins

Raising Money for Community College Foundations

Community college foundations are expected to deliver big results with limited time, limited staff and competing priorities. LCA helps you build fundraising momentum and raise more money by clarifying priorities, strengthening donor communications, activating your board and implementing practical systems that keep fundraising organized and measurable.

Our services include:

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Fundraising Diagnostic and Strategy

• Fundraising assessment (what’s working, what’s not and why)

• Goal-setting, key metrics and an executable fundraising roadmap

Campaign Planning and Implementation

• Annual fundraising plan or campaign plan (with timelines, targets and accountability)

• Donor outreach strategy, solicitation planning and progress tracking

Major Gifts and Donor Pipeline Development

• Prospect identification and cultivation strategy

• Donor moves management tools and stewardship planning

Annual Giving and Appeals

• Appeal calendar and themes

• Content support and donor-friendly messaging improvements

Board Fundraising Activation

• Clear fundraising expectations and role clarity

• Board training, tools and ways to engage donors

Stewardship and Donor Experience

• Stewardship plan, recognition strategy and donor reporting improvements

• Scholarship and donor impact storytelling support

Scholarship Fundraising and Fund Stewardship Support

• Scholarship fundraising strategies

• Practical improvements to help protect and honor donor intent

Systems and Operations that Support Fundraising

• Policy and procedure recommendations that reduce administrative burden

• Database improvement recommendations to support tracking and follow-up

Interim Leadership for Community Colleges

When a leader resigns or goes on leave or when a vacancy creates operational risk, community colleges cannot afford to lose momentum. LCA provides interim executive support to stabilize operations, lead teams with confidence, protect relationships and keep essential work moving forward – while you recruit and onboard permanent leadership.

Our services include:

Interim Advancement and Foundation Executive Leadership

• Leadership coverage to maintain fundraising momentum and donor confidence

• Team management and priority-setting 

Interim Communications, Marketing and PR Leadership

• Leadership for high-stakes communications, messaging alignment and workflow stabilization

• Support during rapid change, sensitive issues or transitions

Interim Admissions and Enrollment Support

• Strategy support, team coordination and customer service improvements

• Recruitment workflow and communications support

Transition Stabilization and Risk Reduction

• Rapid assessment of what’s urgent versus what can wait

• Plans, roles and accountability

Stakeholder Communications During Transition

• Talking points, leadership messages and internal communications support

• Board and leadership alignment to reduce the impact of confusion and rumor mills

Search and Handoff Support

• Support during executive searches 

• Clean handoff and onboarding plan for the incoming leader

Special Projects 

• Management of special projects when the team lacks time or capacity

• Systems, policies and procedures improvements that keep the operation healthy

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Dr. Linnie Carter brings deep community college leadership experience across advancement, foundations, fundraising and communications. She emphasizes and practices discretion, reliability and high performance. 

LCA is aware that there is a shortage of high-performing human resources professionals. That is why we work with clients to take an HR function off your plate – employee communications. We have many years of experience effectively communicating with employees about a variety of topics, including:

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• Benefits

• Budget challenges

• Crises

• Furloughs

• Layoffs

• New hires

• Policy changes

• Racial discrimination

Name it, and we can handle the employee communications for you.

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Our employee communications services include:

• Developing email messages

• Developing talking points

• Planning virtual meetings

• Writing news releases

• Writing speeches

LCA uses a proven formula to provide cover letters and résumés that follow industry-standard style guidelines and are free of typos and grammatical errors. In addition, LCA develops and implements processes to recruit executives and will create a customized process for your organization.

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Our executive services include:

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• Coaching services

• Cover letter and résumé writing

• Executive search services

• Interim executive management services

• Re-branding of individuals seeking executive-level positions

LCA conducts research to determine why individuals and organizations contribute or do not contribute, provides recommendations on how to better communicate with prospective donors and implements proven strategies that will help organizations become more donor-centered. Also, LCA excels at developing thorough and thoughtful campaign plans to achieve fundraising goals. LCA works closely and confidentially with clients to develop and implement plans of action to reinvigorate board members, help them to better enjoy their volunteerism and recruit new board members.

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Our fundraising services include:

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• Donor and alumni analyses

• Fundraising campaign development and implementation

• Nonprofit board growth and development

LCA specializes in developing and improving organizational structures. After determining how we can address clients’ needs, we meet with selected stakeholders and develop logical, service-oriented organizational structures that will maximize the talents of organizations’ employees. LCA excels at developing plans of action that meet department and organizational goals. We prioritize the projects that need to be handled, complete the projects while working closely with the appropriate internal and external stakeholders and deliver an excellent product by established deadlines and within approved budgets.

Our planning services include:

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Organizational Improvement

• Assess the leadership and effectiveness of units and develop a written report of recommendations

• Conduct an assessment of stakeholders’ strengths, weaknesses, talents and skills

• Develop a new organizational structure for an organization

• Serve as an advisor to a CEO

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Structural Development

• Communication audits

• Communication and style guides

• Donor database procedures manuals

• Fundraising plans

• Grant management processes

• Graphic design request processes

• Policy manuals

• Print filing systems

• Electronic filing systems

• Planned giving programs

• Communication, marketing, public relations and public awareness plans

• Visual identity standards

Dr. Linnie Carter delivers dynamic keynotes and workshops on leadership, fundraising, PR, philanthropy and equity in higher education and beyond. Please visit our Speaker page to learn more and book Dr. Linnie Carter.

LCA coordinates, plans and implements memorable in-person and virtual events, speaking engagements and event sponsorships. In addition, LCA develops relationships with competent, reliable and high-performance vendors to ensure clients’ goals are achieved and needs are met.