Robert Serow

RLS Consulting, LLC

19 Woodland Dr., Woodbridge, CT 06525 | (203) 215-8569 | bob@RLSConsult.net
Works in: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont

Last updated:
Friday, Apr 01, 2022

Within the arc of governance and fundraising, I provide nonprofits with the full range of services, including but not limited to: strategic planning, board leadership building, board retreats, SWOT analysis, organizational capacity building, internal audits, development of case for support, executive and high level volunteer coaching, launching of annual fund, launching of planned giving initiatives. In addition, I counsel clients in all phases of capital campaign, including: conducting feasibility assessments, planning, private execution and public execution.

Areas of Expertise:

Board assessment, structure, training, performance

Market research, Communications / marketing planning and strategy, Digital communications, Direct mail, Donor communications, Event planning

Evaluation training, Organizational evaluation, Program evaluation

Capital campaigns / feasibility, Endowments, Fundraising / fund development planning, Individual giving / major gifts, Planned giving

Past Clients:

  • Organization: Shore Line Trolley Museum
    Name: Wayne Sandford
    Description of services provided: capital campaign planning and execution, planned giving, governance, board retreats, general fundraising counsel
    Year services provided: 5
    Contact Info: (203) 804-8364 | wsandford@att.net
  • Organization: Teachers College at Columbia University
    Name: Mark Kalish
    Description of services provided: Interim executive leadership for major gifts
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | mark@kalishandassociates.com
  • Organization: Cheshire Academy
    Name: Barbara Davis
    Description of services provided: capital campaign planning and assessment, planned giving strategies and execution, general fundraising counsel
    Year services provided: 2
    Contact Info: (203) 439-7228 | barbara.davis@cheshireacademy.org
  • Organization: John B. Pierce Laboratory at Yale Univ.
    Name: Jordan Shapiro
    Description of services provided: leadership and organizational assessment, case for support, executive coaching
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | jshapiro@jbpierce.org
  • Organization: Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
    Name: Jackie Downing
    Description of services provided: governance and fundraising counsel for estimated 70 New Haven area nonprofits
    Year services provided: 4
    Contact Info: (203) 777-7072 | jdowning@cfgnh.org
  • Organization: Project Access of New Haven
    Name: Darcey Cobbs-Lomax
    Description of services provided: case for support, governance, stewardship strategies
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 688-4680 | darcy.cobbs-lomax@ynnh.org
  • Organization: Center Stage Theatre
    Name: Fran Scarpa
    Description of services provided: governance, board retreat, strategic planning, fundraising and governance counsel, community outreach strategies
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 225-6079 | info@centerstageshelton.com
  • Organization: Citywide Youth Coalition
    Name: Rachel Heerema
    Description of services provided: leadership development, community outreach, case for support, general fundraising counsel
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | rachel@coachingeffectiveleaders.com
  • Organization: CT Foundation for Dental Outreach
    Name: Josephine Bicknell
    Description of services provided: strategic fundraising, governance, stewardship strategies, board retreat, fund development plan
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (860) 863-5940 | jbicknell@cfdo.org
  • Organization: Guilford Art Center
    Name: Maureen Belden
    Description of services provided: strategic, operations and fund development plan, board retreat, fundraising and governance counsel
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 453-5947 | mbelden@guilfordartcenter.org
  • Organization: DataHaven
    Name: Mark Abraham
    Description of services provided: fundraising, governance, board training, executive mentoring
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 500-7059 | mark@ctdatahaven.org
  • Organization: Boys & Girls Club, Lower Naugatuck Valley
    Name: Shaye Roscoe
    Description of services provided: board succession plan, governance, fundraising counsel for: annual, major gift and planned giving, executive coaching
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 924-7462 | shayeroscoe@outlook.com
  • Organization: Leila Day Nursery School
    Name: Gladys Deustch
    Description of services provided: assessment and planning for capital campaign
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | gladyshorowitz@comcast.net
  • Organization: Higher Heights YEP
    Name: Chaka Felder
    Description of services provided: fund development plan and implementation, board retreat, board recruitment strategies
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | cchaka@higherheightsyouth.com
  • Organization: Acts 4 Ministries
    Name: Sarah DiMeo
    Description of services provided: board recruitment strategies, governance committee recruitment and launch, case for support, executive coaching
    Year services provided: 2
    Contact Info: (203) 574-2287 | executivedirector@acts4.org
  • Organization: Clark Memorial Library of Bethany
    Name: Melissa Canham-Clyne
    Description of services provided: governance, board evaluation, board gap analysis, strategies for board recruitment, solicitation strategies, board succession planning, planned giving strategies
    Year services provided: 2
    Contact Info: (203) 393-2103 | mcanhamclyne@gmial.com
  • Organization: CT Mental Health Center Foundation
    Name: Kyle Pedersen
    Description of services provided: capital campaign assessment, planning and execution, board engagement in fundraising, case for support, governance
    Year services provided: 3
    Contact Info: (203) 974-7089 | kyle.pedersen@yale.edu
  • Organization: Songcatchers, Inc.
    Name: Angela Belsole
    Description of services provided: strategic, operations and succession plan
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | songcatcherschair@gmail.com
  • Organization: CT Center for Arts and Technology
    Name: Erik Clemons
    Description of services provided: board engagement in fundraising, board self assessment, strategies to strengthen annual fund, campaign preparation
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 823-9823
  • Organization: Hope After Loss
    Name: Ann Tramontana-Veno
    Description of services provided: executive succession strategies, board recruitment, gap analysis, fundraising and governance counsel
    Year services provided: 3
    Contact Info: (203) 782-4330 | annt@hopeafterloss.org
  • Organization: Schooner, Inc.
    Name: Kyle Pedersen
    Description of services provided: strategic plan, board retreat, merger strategies (New Haven Land Trust)
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | kyle.pedersen@yale.edu
  • Organization: Interfaith Volunteer Care Givers
    Name: Kate Walton
    Description of services provided: strategic plan, merger strategy, executive coaching
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 230-8994 | katejwalton@gmail.com
  • Organization: American Red Cross of CT
    Name: Krista Coletti
    Description of services provided: governance, board engagement in fundraising
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (860) 250-4159 | krista.coletti@redcross.org
  • Organization: Beulah Land Development
    Name: Althea Brooks
    Description of services provided: restructuring the Board of Directors; streamlining committees, governance
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: | Althea.m.richardson@gmail.com
  • Organization: New Haven Free Public Library
    Name: Martha Brogan
    Description of services provided: building an effective major gifts program; planned giving
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 946-8139 | mbrogan@nhfpl.org
  • Organization: New Haven Legal Assistance
    Name: Alexis Smith
    Description of services provided: board engagement in fundraising, building a sustaining annual fund, early preparation for campaign
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 946-4811
  • Organization: New Haven Reads
    Name: Kirsten Levinsohn
    Description of services provided: bylaw revisions, board roles, launching impactful governance committee, board recruitment strategies, planned giving
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 752-1923
  • Organization: Charter Oak Cultural Center
    Name: Donna Berman
    Description of services provided: campaign assessment, planning and execution, strategic plan, executive coaching, board mentoring
    Year services provided: 2
    Contact Info: (860) 310-2584 | donna.berman@charteroakcenter.org
  • Organization: New Haven Family Alliance
    Name: Barbara Tinney
    Description of services provided: governance, board engagement in major giving, board retreat, executive coaching
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 786-5970 | barbara.tinney@nhfamilyalliance.org
  • Organization: Wallingford Early Childhood Alliance for Resources and Education
    Name: Sunnie Scarpa
    Description of services provided: strategic plan
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 284-6434 | sscarpa@wallingfordlibrary.org
  • Organization: Lung Transplant Project of Columbia Medical Center
    Name: Alice Bemand
    Description of services provided: governance, fundraising counsel, executive coaching
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 880-9609 | alicebemand@hotmail.com
  • Organization: Junta for Progressive Action
    Name: Sandra Trevino
    Description of services provided: governance, executive coaching, strategic plan, board retreat
    Year services provided: 1
    Contact Info: (203) 787-0191 | sandra.trevino@juntainc.org


Training & Workshops:

  • Name: Board Retreat
    Duration: Full and Half Day
    Fee: $3 per day
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 20
    Reference: Wayne Sandford, Shore Line Trolley Museum, 203 804 8364
  • Name: Art and Science of the Ask
    Duration: 1 hour to full day
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 50
    Reference: Ann Tramontana-Vena, Hope After Loss, 203. 782.4330
  • Name: SWOT Analysis
    Duration: 1 hour to full day
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Kyle Pedersen, Schooner, Inc. 203.824.0524
  • Name: Gap Analysis
    Duration: 1 - 5 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Barbara Tinney, New Haven Family Alliance, 203. 786.5970
  • Name: Effective Board Recruitment Strategies
    Duration: 1-7 houars
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Melissa Canham-Clyne, 203. 393. 2103
  • Name: Streamlining Organizational Bylaws
    Duration: 2-6 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Alice Beamand, Lung Transplant Project, 860.318.1468
  • Name: Impact Board Committee Structure
    Duration: 2-6
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Sunnie Scarpa, WECARE Board Chair, 203.284.6434
  • Name: Organizational Merger Strategies
    Duration: 2-8 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable:
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Justin Eliker, New Haven Land Trust, (203) 562-6655
  • Name: Executive and Board Success Strategies
    Duration: 2-8 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Sandra Trevino, Junta, 203.787.0191
  • Name: Low Cost, High Impact Planned Giving
    Duration: 1-7
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference: Shaye Roscoe, Boys and Girls Club, 203.924.7462
  • Name: Engaging the Board in Fundraising
    Duration: 3-7 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 2
    Maximum Audience Size: 50
    Reference:
  • Name: Role of the Board when Board hates to ask
    Duration: 2-5 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference:
  • Name: Role of the CEO in Soliciting a Major Gift
    Duration: 3-6 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 1
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference:
  • Name: Reading Body Language in a Major Gift Ask
    Duration: 2-5 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference:
  • Name: Strategies for an Upper Tier Annul Giving Society: Bridge to Major Gifts
    Duration: 2-5 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference:
  • Name: Pardon My Blooper: Everything that can go wrong in a major gift ask
    Duration: 2-6
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference:
  • Name: The Art of Stewardship
    Duration: 2-5 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 25
    Reference:
  • Name: Constructing a Process and Product for Strategic Plan that Works
    Duration: 3 hours -full day
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 5
    Maximum Audience Size: 50
    Reference:
  • Name: SWOT Analysis
    Duration: 3-6 hours
    Fee: $250 per hour
    Fees Negotiable: Yes
    Minimum Audience Size: 10
    Maximum Audience Size: 30
    Reference:

Please note that we do not endorse any consultant listed in this directory. We strongly advise you to check references before hiring a consultant.