Be Brave

Be it a zoo, a college or even the U.S. State Department, Bob Carter has a perspective few others have when it comes to a core task for any executive: getting people to part with money.

Carter's insight comes from a 40-year career in fundraising consulting. He's been at the helm of one of the industry's biggest firms, and he's also worked on his own. And since 2010 he's been behind another entity, Sarasota-Based Bob Carter Cos., that has brought a new model to an established industry. The concept is to build a network of consultants who form an alliance of fundraising experts in markets nationwide and in Mexico.

“We aren't a solicitation company,” Carter says. “We aren't the ones who ask for the money.”

The firm, instead, is the one that helps the people who do ask for money, usually on campaigns that aim to raise at least $5 million, do a better job. Bob Carter Cos. consultants do that through a scientific-driven evaluation and feasibility study that looks at an organization's board, CEO and financial wherewithal of the potential donors. Current and past clients include World Vision in Seattle; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota; the Maryland Food Bank in Baltimore; Big Sur Land Trust in California; an education foundation in Doha, Qatar; and Berkeley Prep School in Tampa.

“This is a very niche-y market,” says Carter. “There are a lot of single-shingle fundraising consultants but in terms of a business that puts it all together like us, there are few who do that.”

The model works. The firm, with a headquarters in an office building at the edge of the shops and restaurants on St. Armands Circle, has grown from three clients in 2010 to 47 last year. The firm surpassed $2 million in sales in 2013, says Carter, and he expects up to $3 million in 2014 sales. The company has 16 fundraising consultants.

At least three consultants from different backgrounds and disciplines work on every project the firm accepts. Each consultant, Carter says, has more than 10 years' experience. The general theme for choosing clients is to work with entities that embrace technology advancements in fundraising, including mobile giving.

Carter adds that he seeks to tackle projects others won't touch. The U.S. State Department is one example. That project, authorized by then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, studied options for how the agency could best raise money to repair and preserve art at U.S. embassies across the globe. “We really try to be fearless,” he says. “We will give almost anything a whirl.”

Carter got into the fundraising industry in the 1970s, when he founded the development office at the Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. He later was president of Pittsburgh-based Ketchum, a fundraising industry power that had $34 million in sales and 130 employees at one point under Carter. He founded Bob Carter Cos. soon after he and his family relocated to the region.

One core challenge the firm faces, given the scope of its projects and clients, is regulation compliance. The firm has to register in every state it does business in due to strict industry oversight. Another challenge Carter faces long-term is to grow at the right pace. While that's a common theme for many businesses, at Bob Carter Cos. it has a deeper meaning given the causes the firm is asked to get behind. That goes from children in need in the Middle East to preserving art in Knoxville, Tenn.

That's why Carter cautions his consultants not to overreach. “You have to watch your heart in this business or you can sell yourself out of business,” says Carter. “You have to have the ability to say that's not for us.”

Follow Mark Gordon on Twitter @markigordon