Merlin Solutions

“When you’re working to strengthen the infrastructure of your development operation without losing sight of your strategic planning goals, Michelle ensures that you don’t lose sight of the forest through the trees. You may hire her to focus on a particular task, but she’ll also consider other critical aspects of the organization and provide you with a more comprehensive perspective. She’ll help you stay proactive and moving forward. She is a partner in the process of getting you where you want and need to be.”

Mary Jo Lamparski
Chief Advancement Officer, Chicago Shakespeare Theater

“In my former position, I originally hired Michelle to train our board to call on donors. As it turned out, she also served as a valuable ongoing resource for difficult cases and interesting challenges with our fundraising work. Her approach is very direct and action-oriented, and her knowledge base is remarkably broad and deep. With Michelle’s help, we doubled our individual giving figures within a year.”

Jim Kales
CEO, Aspire

“Michelle has a lot of the attributes I value — she’s disciplined, has a clear methodology, and educates herself constantly. Most consultants and firms work best when clients know what their goals are; if they’re not sure about their goals, the firms can’t help them. But Michelle listens well and can help you define exactly what you need. She is a superb partner.”

Karen Foley
Executive Director, Scholarship Chicago

“When our CEO challenged us to dramatically increase our private giving, I hired Michelle. She hit the ground running by analyzing the current giving situation and making a plan to ramp up gifts. She helped us with crisis planning and trained our board to make asks. She was a great sounding board and a reality check. She cared about us and jumped in with both feet. It was almost like she was a member of our staff.”

Janet Beals
Chief Development Officer, Gads Hill Center

“Lots of Michelle’s clients are NFPs, but she can help the corporate sector too. She sees the value of partnering the two sectors, and she finds innovative ways to make those connections, to bridge the two groups. She has tremendous energy, a thorough understanding of her field, and plenty of innovative ideas.”

Sharon Bush
Program Officer, Fry Foundation

Contact us now for a complimentary 45-minute coaching session to find out how coaching can help you meet your goals. Call Michelle Sherbun at 708.638.1974 or michelle@merlinsolutions.net.