How We Work Together
Boutique advisory
for donors who want giving to count.
Three ways in, depending on how far along you already are. Every engagement is scoped to your situation, and every price below is a real starting figure rather than a placeholder. We keep our engagements limited, so each client receives the focus and care they deserve.
For Donors and Families
You have built wealth. Now build the framework that makes giving strategic.
A focused starting point before committing to a longer program.
Clarity Session
A focused half-day session that produces a written giving framework document. The right starting point for donors who want to think out loud, hear honest reflection from people who have worked inside the sector, and leave with a clear sense of where to go next.
What is included
- ✦A focused half-day session with a senior advisor
- ✦A written giving framework summary
- ✦Honest reflection on where to focus next
- ✦A clear recommendation for whether the Founder Funder Program fits
Deliverable
A written giving framework summary capturing what we explored together: values, cause area direction, vehicle considerations, and a recommended next step. Delivered within a week of the session.
Engagement
$7,500
One half-day session, scheduled around you. The fee is credited in full toward the Founder Funder Program if you begin within 90 days.
We send a custom proposal after a brief strategy call scoped to your goals and situation.
The complete architecture of a giving practice, built and documented.
Founder Funder Program
You end with a documented giving framework, a vehicle recommendation memo, vetting dossiers on the organizations you are considering, a constructed portfolio, and the governance instruments to run it. We build those over six working sessions across six weeks. The sessions are how the work gets done. The instruments are what you keep.
What is included
- ✦A written giving framework: your values, cause areas, and what you will not fund
- ✦A giving vehicle recommendation memo, comparing DAF, foundation, LLC, and fiscal sponsorship against your situation
- ✦Vetting dossiers on candidate organizations, run through the Glaisman Fundability Assessment
- ✦A constructed grant portfolio with allocation logic and a renewal schedule
- ✦Governance instruments: decision rights, review cadence, and succession
- ✦Six working sessions across six weeks, each with a written record
Deliverable
Full philanthropic framework: documented values and cause area strategy, giving vehicle recommendation and implementation roadmap, grant selection and vetting criteria built on the Glaisman Fundability Assessment, portfolio structure, and governance setup. Delivered across six sessions with written summaries at each stage.
The core engagement
Engagement
From $45,000
Six weeks, every instrument above included. If the framework does not give you a clearer basis for your giving than you had before we started, we keep working at no additional cost until it does.
We send a custom proposal after a brief strategy call scoped to your goals and situation.
Ongoing guidance once the framework is in place.
Annual Stewardship Retainer
Monthly retained advisory for donors who have completed the Founder Funder Program, or who already run a giving program and want senior-level support to stay proactive, informed, and strategic. We monitor your portfolio, surface relevant sector intelligence, and stay available for direct questions as they arise.
What is included
- ✦Proactive portfolio monitoring and check-ins
- ✦Sector intelligence relevant to your giving areas
- ✦Ongoing grant evaluation and vetting support
- ✦Quarterly review and forward planning sessions
- ✦Direct access for questions and emerging decisions
Deliverable
Monthly engagement with defined touchpoints, proactive portfolio monitoring, sector intelligence relevant to your cause areas, direct access between sessions for emerging questions, and quarterly reviews of portfolio performance and forward priorities.
Engagement
From $60,000 a year
Billed monthly at $5,000, six month minimum. Private foundations are quoted separately, since an institution buys this differently than an individual does. Thirty days notice to end it, no exit fee.
We send a custom proposal after a brief strategy call scoped to your goals and situation.
If you run a nonprofit
You want our sister company.
Glaisman advises the funding side. Organizations that need a website they actually own, an accessibility or AI-readiness audit, or operating software built for small teams are better served by Joe Co.
Flat published prices, fixed timelines, and free self-serve tools you can run on your own site right now.
Joe Co.
Free accessibility, security, and AI-readiness scans
Website relaunch you own outright, from $1,800
Landing pages, brand work, and AI assistants at flat prices
Nonprofit operating software, built for small teams
Common questions
Who does Glaisman work with?
Donors, families, and foundations who want a real giving framework, with values, vehicle, strategy, and vetting settled before the money moves. We take on a small number of engagements each year so every client receives genuine attention.
What is the Founder Funder Program?
A six-session engagement for donors who want to build their complete giving architecture. Values clarification, vehicle selection, grant strategy, vetting methodology, portfolio construction, and governance setup, delivered over six weeks with written deliverables at every stage.
Why are your prices published as a starting figure?
Because the work is scoped to the client, and a single fixed number would be dishonest for some and inflated for others. The published figure is a real floor, not a teaser. It tells you whether we are in the right range before either of us spends a call finding out. Almost nobody in this field publishes anything, which is precisely why we do.
I already have a DAF or foundation. Do I still need the Program?
Possibly not the full Program. Many donors with existing vehicles still lack a coherent strategy, a vetting approach, or a portfolio structure. The Annual Stewardship Retainer may be the right fit, or a Clarity Session will help you decide.
What is the Glaisman Fundability Assessment?
Our methodology for evaluating whether a nonprofit can actually absorb and deploy a gift well. It looks at development infrastructure, financial health, governance, and delivery capacity, grounded in how organizations operate from the inside rather than how they present themselves in a proposal.
Why does the retainer cost more for a foundation than for an individual?
It does not cost more for the same thing. A private foundation carries board reporting, compliance timelines, and multiple decision makers, so the work is genuinely larger. Individuals are billed at $5,000 per month. Foundations are scoped and quoted on their own terms.
Are you a registered investment advisor?
No. We advise on philanthropic strategy, giving vehicles, and nonprofit selection. We do not manage assets, sell financial products, or provide investment or tax advice. We work alongside your existing wealth, legal, and tax advisors rather than replacing them.
We are a nonprofit. Can you help us?
Not through Glaisman. Our sister company Joe Co. builds websites, accessibility and AI-readiness tooling, and operating software for nonprofits and small businesses, at flat published prices. That is the right door for organizations rather than funders.
How many engagements does Glaisman take on at once?
A deliberately small number. This is the point rather than a limitation. Every client gets real attention instead of a templated deliverable.
Not sure where to start?
A free 30-minute strategy call is the fastest way to figure out what you actually need and whether Glaisman is the right fit.
Book a Free Strategy CallLooking for help running a nonprofit rather than funding one? Start here instead.