National Community Development Services

Every NCDS team member is dedicated to earning positive feedback from clients. The following testimonials are excerpts from letters we have received from clients.

"Once again, the Richmond Region has benefited from the excellent fundraising counsel and campaign work of NCDS. The success of our campaign will provide a $15 million war chest four our regional economic development over the coming five years versus the $14 million goal. NCDS was instrumental in working with the Greater Richmond Chamber and Greater Richmond Partnership in contemplating changes to our strategy that will make us more effective and competitive as we head to the future. As usual, your advance funding feasibility analysis also proved to be on the money."

Jim Dunn, President & CEO
Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, Richmond, VA

"Thank you to the entire NCDS team; we exceeded our $5.8 million goal by over $1 million. As a result our board has elected to extend the program of work to six years – over the originally intended five years – giving our investors an even greater return on their investment and generating significant good will for Priority One. Speaking of return on investment, I can’t say enough good things about your economist, Juli Golemi, and the many impact analyses she prepared for our program. The combination of the ROI rationale and Russ Leach's (NCDS' Project Director) professionalism resulted in a winning formula for our campaign – as evidenced by the substantial increases in support from our previous investors, as well as the acquisition of many new investors."

Mark Seckman, President, Priority One Economic Development Program,
Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, Cedar Rapids, IA

"On behalf of the officers and directors of the Tri-Cities Economic Development Alliance, I want to thank you and your staff for the great job NCDS did in helping restructure the Alliance, and for successful management of the fundraising campaign that fully funded our five-year action plan. The NCDS process and format delivered exactly what you said it would do when you met with Alliance members over eighteen months ago. The NCDS process engaged top regional private and public sector leaders and attracted financial support from large and small companies and communities throughout the region."

J. Brian Ferguson, Chairman, Tri-Cities TN / VA Economic Development Alliance,
Chairman & CEO, Eastman Chemical Company, Kingsport, TN

"I want to commend you, your management team and on-site campaign director for the fine job NCDS did to engage local corporations and foundations in the exciting, system changing work of Philadelphia Safe and Sound…Successfully raising substantial funds fro a small non-profit organization without a constituency, whose work was relatively unknown to private sector corporations and foundations is an outstanding achievement, an achievement that Philadelphia Safe and Sound and NCDS should be proud of."

John Street, Esquire, Mayor
City of Philiadelphia

"As the person responsible for economic development, and for spending the money you guys were raising, your reputation for delivering the goal helped reassure me throughout the campaign – especially in light of disappointing news or other obstacles. I can say now that your reputation is well deserved, as you “did what it took,” including sending in reinforcements for Bob near the end of the campaign, when we needed to make as many asks as possible. One would think that raising money for business development purposes in a community such as the Dallas Metroplex would be easy. Because of a lack of urgency and a perception that economic growth and development will happen here with or without programs like Momentum Dallas, it’s actually quite hard. You told us all this, and accurately predicted that the $10 million we wanted was not realistic, given these circumstances. You then went out and raised $7.5 million, a full 50% increase over what we had raised in a previous campaign."

Bill Sproull, President and CEO, Richardson Texas Chamber of Commerce
(Former VP Economic Development, Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce)

"UNOS turned to NCDS when another development firm had failed to help us initiate a successful capital campaign in Richmond, Virginia. NCDS performed the necessary market analysis to establish a reasonable goal of $2.4 million from this market and a total national goal of $6.6 million. With NCDS’ guidance and assistance we recently surpassed the Richmond goal, and we are well on our way to achieving the national target as well."

Walter Graham, Executive Director
United Network for Organ Sharing, Richmond, VA

"Jay Werth (NCDS’ Project Director) and others from NCDS were clear about what to expect throughout the process, and they met all expectations, including helping us exceed our goal. I highly recommend Jay and NCDS."

Rob Stephenson, Chairman, Yankton Area Progressive Growth Board
Executive VP & Chief Lending Officer, First Dakota National Bank, Yankton, SD

"NCDS' management of our first proactive economic development initiative, Tell the World! in 2002 and the success of the recent campaign to fund our second four-year growth initiative, Chattanooga CAN DO has positioned Chattanooga as a leading choice for major manufacturing facilities. I would be happy to be used as a reference for the professional NCDS team approach and attest to the competence of your on-site and management personnel."

Tom Edd Wilson, President and CEO
Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga, TN

"The NCDS campaign format proved to be flexible enough to adopt to the difficulties posed by limited volunteer participation in the campaign, and to the fact that our organization had no membership base or constituency from which to draw upon. I would characterize the fundraising campaign as being extremely successful and would recommend NCDS and Bob Saacke to other organizations seeking professional fundraising counsel."

Naomi Post, Former President and CEO
Philadelphia Safe and Sound, Philadelphia, PA

"I have been involved with the Ardmore Chamber of Commerce for the past 30 years and have never seen better leadership on behalf of a community fundraising campaign. Jerry Hinson (NCDS’ Project Director) was very consistent in his gentle but persistent guidance with volunteers and yet accomplished essentially all of the original goals set out by the community. He did an outstanding job of including all of the community in his efforts. His thoroughness and skills are of the highest level."

William G. Owen, President
Ardmore City Schools Board of Education, Ardmore, OK

"Just last week, our Chamber officially completed our LEAD campaign and announced that a total of $9.25 million was raised to fund our community’s economic development program over the next five years. What made this announcement even more enjoyable was the fact that we significantly exceeded our $8 million goal! Your company was an absolute delight to work with. Your approach, your design, your support and guidance were always there and always worked. But more importantly, your staff was excellent. Thank you for providing the services as you said you would. You made my job quite a bit easier and helped raise the visibility and credibility of our organization in the community."

Mark V'Soske, President
Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, Toledo, OH

"I am excited to share with you how appreciative I am with your company. You have all contributed to the success of Forward Madison. It was an important step in the history of this community. It could not have happened with such grace, professionalism, and time if it wasn’t for your commitment to growing Madison. I want to thank the entire NCDS team for their dedication and determination to provide a successful and prosperous campaign to Madison, SD. I look forward to a very long and lasting relationship with NCDS."

Dwaine Chapel, Executive Director
Lake Area Improvement Corporation, Madison, SD

"The challenge of mounting an aggressive economic development effort in a city of 41,000 was the lack of adequate resources to be competitive. Having worked with your company in another city, I knew that NCDS had the answer. The value of your approach to determining feasibility of a campaign cannot be overstated. It enabled us to not only assess potential support, but also to test components of our five-year strategic plan. Results of your market research helped overcome the reluctance of a few to take on a major funding initiative, and also helped us refine our message. Our campaign resulted in pledges of $2.5 million, well above the $2.2. million goal. Just as importantly, the public and private sectors have come together in an unprecedented, unified effort to grow the economy. Your representatives were professional, patient, and reassuring throughout the process. Once again, NCDS scored a home run. Thanks!"

John Fowler, President & CEO
Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, Stillwater, OK

"On behalf of our Board of Directors, I would like to thank you and NCDS for making such a difference in our community. We could not have achieved this level of success without the assistance and guidance from NCDS. Our community will reap the benefits from these efforts for many years."

Steve Benefield, President
Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, Murfreesboro, TN

"You just completed your second successful campaign for Great Falls Development Authority and we wanted to say 'Thank you!' NCDS walks the talk. Your project director was experienced, could talk economic development and was very passionate about the campaign. Despite our previous poor investor relations, we still exceeded our $2.75 million goal by over $750,000. The first time we talked I told you I had a lot of faith in NCDS. Now that you have successfully completed this campaign, I can tell you in Great Falls, we believe in you. You got it done!"

Brett Doney, President
Great Falls Development Authority, Great Falls, MT

"In 1990, the founders of the EDC envisioned a structure with both the public and private sector fully engaged in the financing and direction of the organization. For a variety of reasons, these hopes were never fully realized. Building Tomorrow has helped our region achieve what we were unable to accomplish ourselves. Now, we have a well-funded, better-structured organization with key stakeholder involvement and a fine-tuned five-year plan, all of which sets the stage for our future success. We could not have moved so far in so short a time without the help of NCDS."

Devon Davidsmeyer, Board President
Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation, Jacksonville, IL

"I am extremely pleased with the work they did, and with the way in which they did it, particularly with the fact that the NCDS team used our time strategically and did most of the heavy lifting…just as they promised at the outset. I appreciate the work the NCDS team did for the Mt. Baker Council, and am happy to commend the firm to you."

Duane Rhodes, Scout Executive
Mt. Baker Council, Boy Scouts of America, Everett, WA

"No doubt you have already heard about the very successful fundraising campaign for economic development in Fort Smith, Arkansas. We were hoping to exceed our goal of $2.2 million but $4.1 million was beyond anyone’s expectations. As Vice-Chairman of the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce, I want to let you know how much the Chamber Executive Committee appreciates the tremendous job done by NCDS."

Brian Hastings, Vice-Chairman, Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce
Hiram Walker, Fort Smith, AR

"NCDS recently served as counsel for the Lawrence, Kansas Chamber of Commerce’s Excellence by Design initiative. This four year economic development campaign represents the largest and most ambitious economic development program in our community's history. The campaign has been a tremendous success and the NCDS team deserves much of the credit. NCDS brought to our community a team approach and deep commitment to its successful process. From start to finish, they were prepared, on task and highly motivated. The Board of Directors are extremely pleased, not only with the campaign results but also with the fact that the NCDS team used our time strategically and did most of the heavy lifting…just as they promised at the onset."

Kelvin Heck, Past Chair
Lawrence Kansas Chamber of Commerce