Alisa ChesslerFundraising Strategy & Philanthropic Counsel
Menu

The 3D globe needs WebGL, which this browser has turned off. The words on this page are complete without it.

Illustration. Not a real trip, route or organization.

Tel Aviv • Palm Beach Strategic counsel for organizations ready to grow.

I work with mission-driven organizations in the United States and Israel, from emerging nonprofits to established institutions.

Schedule a Consultation Meet Alisa
Scroll
Meet Alisa

More than $100 million.

As a Chief Development Officer, Executive Director, and major gifts leader, she has helped Jewish and Israel-focused organizations raise more than $100 million.

U.S. fundraising trips

So every trip is worth the flight.

For Israeli organizations, I teach you how to plan and structure successful U.S. fundraising trips for yourselves: securing the right meetings, in the right cities, with the right people, so every trip is worth the flight.

Major gifts

Major gifts are won in person.

Major gifts are won in person. I help you identify your top prospects, build a cultivation strategy for each one, and prepare you and your leadership for the conversation that matters most: the ask.

Board culture

A practical guide to American board culture.

For Israeli organizations, I offer a practical guide to American board culture: how to run a board meeting, how often to communicate, and how to tell whether your board is truly engaged. An engaged board meets, communicates, and gives with purpose all year long.

American Friends

Launch or strengthen American Friends organizations.

A strong board is your most powerful fundraising asset. I help you recruit and vet the right leaders, build advisory boards and community councils, and launch or strengthen American Friends organizations.

For philanthropists

  • Guidance on giving to Israel, including how American Friends organizations work
Development strategy

Engaged local leadership who open the right doors.

Sometimes the answer is a dedicated team. Often it’s engaged local leadership who open the right doors, so the person with the most passion for your mission, you, is the one in the room.

Tel Aviv Palm Beach

Your next major gift begins with a plan.

Alisa is the partner who will help you build it.

Schedule a Consultation
More than $100 millionraised for Jewish and Israel-focused organizations
25 yearsleading business development in the U.S. healthcare industry
United States and Israelmission-driven organizations, from emerging nonprofits to established institutions
Meet Alisa

The art and the science of fundraising.

Alisa Chessler has mastered both the art and the science of fundraising. When the two come together, the results are remarkable.

Alisa Chessler

As a Chief Development Officer, Executive Director, and major gifts leader, she has helped Jewish and Israel-focused organizations raise more than $100 million. Before entering philanthropy, she spent 25 years leading business development in the U.S. healthcare industry, with companies including Roche Diagnostics, Medtronic, Allergan, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Her edge is knowing the donor: what motivates each prospect, whether your mission will resonate, and where your time will earn the greatest return. She will pinpoint what is holding your fundraising back, then build a plan your team can carry forward for years to come.

Your next major gift begins with a plan. Alisa is the partner who will help you build it.

Beyond the Work

Alisa is the proud mother of a former lone soldier, now an officer in the Israel Defense Forces. An award-winning artist, voracious reader, and former marathon runner, she serves on several nonprofit boards and loves creating elaborate Shabbat dinners from her own recipes. Even though she has lived on several continents, Alisa is a Southerner at heart and still considers Charleston home. Today she divides her time between Palm Beach and Tel Aviv.

Schedule a Consultation
Services

If it touches your fundraising, I can help.

My approach is simple: run your nonprofit with the discipline of a for-profit. Your donors are your investors. Every dollar you spend on fundraising should earn its return, and every system, message, and relationship should move you closer to your goals.

View all services
  1. 01Development Assessment and Strategy
  2. 02Fractional Development Leadership and Team Coaching
  3. 03Major Gifts and Face-to-Face Fundraising
  4. 04Prospect Research and Donor Profiles
  5. 05Planned Giving and Legacy Gifts
  6. 06Grant Strategy
  7. 07Board Development and Governance
  8. 08Case for Support and Donor Messaging
  9. 09CRM and Donor Data Optimization
  10. 10Donor Stewardship and Reporting
  11. 11Campaign Planning
How we work together

Every engagement, built around your needs.

Every organization is different, so every engagement is built around your needs:

01

Strategic assessment

A guided review of your fundraising operation, with clear recommendations and next steps.

02

Ongoing partnership

Regular counsel, team coaching, and accountability, as your fractional development leader.

03

Targeted projects

Guidance on building your board, evaluating your CRM, or planning a campaign; donor profiles from our research specialist; or training to plan your U.S. fundraising trips.

04

Workshops and training

Board retreats, fundraising training for staff and lay leaders, and preparation for the ask.

My recommendations are practical and measurable. They’re designed for your team to carry forward with confidence.

If it touches your fundraising, I can help.

Schedule a Consultation
For philanthropists

Does your giving still reflect you?

Many philanthropists have supported the same organizations for years, sometimes for decades. Each of those gifts began with real conviction: a cause that moved you, a mission you believed in.

Organizations change. Leadership turns over, priorities shift, and missions drift. Over time, an organization you once championed may stand for something different from the values that inspired your first gift.

You deserve to know that every dollar you give still stands for what you believe.

The Giving Portfolio Review

A one-time, confidential evaluation of your philanthropy, designed to confirm that your giving still reflects who you are.

How It Works

  1. A simple questionnaire. Check the boxes that describe you: your values, your social and economic outlook, and the causes closest to your heart, from medicine and education to Israel and the Jewish community. It takes minutes to complete.
  2. A review of your giving. I examine each organization you support: its current mission, leadership, programs, public positions, and use of funds.
  3. A clear picture. You receive my findings: where your giving aligns with your values, where it has drifted, and where your generosity can make an even greater difference.

The decisions are always yours. My role is to give you the clarity to make them with confidence.

Beyond the Review

For philanthropists who want ongoing guidance, I also offer:

  • Due diligence on an organization before a major gift
  • Guidance on giving to Israel, including how American Friends organizations work
  • Legacy and planned giving, with my planned giving expert, alongside your financial and legal advisors

A Trusted Advisor at Your Side

Every conversation is confidential, and my advice is independent. My only goal is to help you give wisely and see the difference your generosity makes.

Schedule a Consultation
Tel Aviv • Palm Beach

Strategic counsel for organizations ready to grow.

I work with mission-driven organizations in the United States and Israel, from emerging nonprofits to established institutions.