Development Solutions Organization

We partner with social impact organizations to solve challenges. Our volunteer-led consultancy teams talented and dedicated professionals and university students.

Functional Areas

We do strategy and implementation work focused on these core functional areas:

User Experience/Design

  • Website Design
  • Process Design
  • Design Thinking

Market Research

  • Best Practices
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Customer Segmentation

Strategy & Impact

  • Business Plan
  • Financial Feasibility
  • SWOT Analysis

Business Development

  • Fundraising Plan
  • Pitch Deck/Presentation
  • Marketing Plan

Our Impact at a Glance

Our Partner testimonials further demonstrate impact

Working with DSO was a great experience because it allowed us to get fresh perspectives on the work we are doing and reminded us what we could and should focus on most.
Lynsey Farrell, Program Manager, Ashoka Future Forward
DSO provides a rare and valuable opportunity for both non-for-profit agencies and university students to work together to increase the impact the agencies have on society. On behalf of the children we serve through A Touch of Understanding, we are grateful for the product we received outlining possible expansion models to help us reach more students with our disability-awareness programs, fostering the development social emotional intelligence, by building empathy and igniting respect for all individuals.
Leslie DeDora, Founder, A Touch of Understanding
We have had the opportunity to work intensively with Development Solutions Organization on a comprehensive marketing plan utilizing cutting edge ecommerce, social marketing, and SEO techniques, as well as optimizing our offline distribution, social media, and fundraising strategies. We never imagined it would be possible for us as a nonprofit to have access to the same high level of business consulting that big corporations benefit from. Our engagement with DSO has truly transformed our business and we expect to be able to hire many more survivors as a result.
Sarah Symons, Founder, Her Future Coalition
Working with DSO was a great pleasure and ultimately beneficial to the growth of our organization. Early on in the consulting engagement, DSO took time to get a deep understanding of operations and impact and provided an assessment of our value proposition and recommendations for improvement. From there, we worked together on an internal communications plan and talking points for volunteers to clearly communicate with the general public while representing the organization. As a result of the DSO’s recommendations, we increased traffic to our website and improved our ability to generate awareness and interest in our local community. All of this serves to enhance support of our development activities on the ground.
Justin Forzano, Founder, Cameroon Football Development Program (CFDP)
4 or 5 partner rating on work quality and impact
90
%
# of volunteer hrs to date
10,000
# of projects completed
50
value of pro-bono consulting
$
750,000
# of student and professional volunteers
300

Featured Initiatives

BMe

BMe

The DSO Team facilitated outreach to BMe’s core community through survey development, conducted research to support development of a digital media strategy, and contributed to a social media campaign focused on current and past Black women leaders.

POISE Foundation

POISE Foundation

A partnership between Development Solution Organization and the POISE Foundation team, this project focused on increasing the percentage of and amount given by individual donors using actionable targeted fundraising and marketing strategies. The end objective was to increase POISE’s donor reach using low-cost and low-effort resources.

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