Helena Von Otto

I am a nonprofit fundraising strategist specializing in major gifts, capital campaigns, and long-term fundraising growth. I work with nonprofit leaders who want fundraising to be intentional, disciplined, and sustainable—not reactive or personality-driven.

My work focuses on building fundraising as a system: aligning leadership, strengthening donor strategy, and putting the right infrastructure in place so organizations can grow with confidence. I support nonprofits at different stages, from those initiating fundraising for the first time to organizations preparing for major gifts and capital campaigns.

My Story

My Approach

I came to fundraising through experience, not theory. I’ve worked inside nonprofit organizations that had been serving their communities for decades before they ever raised a dollar through philanthropy. In those environments, the problem was rarely a lack of generosity. What was missing were the systems, leadership alignment, and organizational readiness required for fundraising to work.

That experience shaped how I approach my work today. Fundraising is not a single tactic or a department. It is a function of how an organization shows up in the world. When leadership is clear, governance is engaged, and culture understands its role, fundraising becomes a stabilizing force rather than a recurring crisis. When those elements are absent, no technique, no matter how sophisticated, can compensate for them.

My role is to help organizations bridge that gap. I work with nonprofits to build fundraising that fits who they are, where they are, and what they are actually capable of sustaining. Sometimes that means launching new fundraising efforts. Other times, it means slowing things down, clarifying ownership, and creating the conditions that make fundraising possible in the first place.

What Fundraising Looks Like in Practice

Fundraising is not one-size-fits-all. Depending on an organization’s size, capacity, and goals, the work may include a combination of approaches:

Relationship-based fundraising, including major and mid-level donor engagement
Executive and board networking, helping leaders understand how to represent the organization with confidence
Donor cultivation tours, site visits, and small group conversations that build understanding and trust
Fundraising events, designed as engagement opportunities rather than one-time revenue fixes
Community-based outreach, including informational sessions and low-pressure entry points for new supporters
Free workshops and briefings, offered to educate stakeholders, partners, and prospective donors about the organization’s work and direction
Internal fundraising readiness work, clarifying roles, expectations, and boundaries so staff are not placed in uncomfortable or unrealistic positions

These techniques are never deployed in isolation. They are chosen based on organizational readiness, leadership involvement, and long-term sustainability, not urgency alone.

How I Work

I partner closely with executive leadership, boards, and development staff to ensure fundraising is shared work, not outsourced responsibility. I believe fundraising succeeds when everyone understands their role, even if that role is simply to notice interest and refer it appropriately.

I am particularly attuned to environments where fundraising professionals are expected to act as buffers between organizational reality and donor expectations. My work emphasizes clarity, honesty, and ethical engagement, both internally and externally, so trust is built rather than borrowed.

The goal is not just to raise money, but to build fundraising that works now and continues to work after my engagement ends.