Resource-driven institutional development

Your resource potential is greater than your structure can realize.

Trilha looks at the whole organization through the lens of potential: what resources the ecosystem offers, and which capacities determine how much of them becomes revenue, partnerships and sustained impact.

First lookup free and with no sign-up · comparable organizations and funding signals in seconds.
Prefer to start from the inside? Take the Institutional Assessment (20–30 min)
Trilha, by Thiago AndréStrategy & Institutional DevelopmentMeet the team →
15+ yearsin fundraising, donors and institutional development
Einstein · UNHCR · Greenpeaceand Rede Santa Catarina, in philanthropy and fundraising
Fundraising with a systems viewgovernance, operations, CRM and data
The approach

A fundraising problem is rarely only about fundraising.

The pressure shows up in revenue. The cause usually lies elsewhere in the organization. Trilha starts with the pain leadership feels and investigates the system that produces it.

Revenue is concentrated in a few funders, and the leadership team knows the risk that carries.
The board supports the cause, but doesn't open doors or take on resource mobilization targets.
The impact is real, but it hasn't yet become a case for support that convinces funders.
Opportunities show up, but don't turn into proposals, projects and reporting at the pace needed.
Fundraising depends on one or two people, and on their calendars.
CRM and data exist, but they don't reveal behavior or forecasts, and they don't produce insights for decision-making.
External potentialBeta

What the ecosystem offers

Comparable organizations and early funding signals, based on the CNPJ and public data. It's the fastest way to start; the international analysis is coming soon.

Trilha Benchmark · CNPJ lookup →
Internal capacityTrilha Method

What the structure can convert

A structured assessment across eight dimensions, from governance to data, that compares the organization's current capacity with what its goal requires.

Built on more than 15 years of fundraising and institutional development practice. Results by dimension, ready for the leadership team and the board.

Take the Institutional Assessment · 20–30 min →
The gap

Where to invest first

The gap between potential and capacity becomes an objective conversation with the leadership team and the board: risk, priority and sequence.

See how Trilha works →
Method · eight dimensions

One question runs through them all: how does this increase or limit your resource potential?

Organizations don't sustain impact with good projects alone. They do so when they build the capacities, and the connections between capacities, that their strategy requires.

D1

Direction & Governance

Does the board open doors? Is resource mobilization a priority it owns, or one it delegates?

D2

Impact & Evidence

Does the impact evidence become a case for support that convinces funders?

D3

Portfolio & Potential

Which areas are fundable, by whom and at what order of magnitude?

D4

Financial Sustainability

What is the revenue mix, concentration and predictability?

D5

Stakeholders & Relationships

Is there a relationship pipeline, or only personal contacts?

D6

People & Organization

Does fundraising depend on one person? Is there a development structure?

D7

Operating Model & Execution

Does the organization turn opportunities into proposals, projects and reporting?

D8

Data & Technology

Does the CRM show donor and partner retention, journey and value?

Explore Potential × Capacity
Current capacity × required capacity
illustrative example
Current score
Target score for the goal (hypothesis)
What a systems reading can reveal

The lowest score isn't always the biggest problem.

In this example, the pressure shows up in revenue. The reading shows the largest gap is in portfolio, people and operations: that's where potential slips away.

Impact & Evidence: consolidated base

The impact is recognizable and documented. It's raw material ready for a stronger case for support.

Portfolio & Potential: priority development

Few areas are organized as fundable opportunities for different types of funders.

People & Organization: reliance on a few people

Fundraising and key relationships depend on a few people and don't keep pace with the organization's ambition.

Operating Model & Execution: conversion bottleneck

Opportunities exist, but the bridge between priority, proposal, project and delivery limits the value realized.

The priority isn't to “balance the wheel.” It's to build the coherence the goal requires.
Principle 01Capacity is contextual

There's no universal ideal level. Capacity has to make sense for the organization's stage, strategy and context.

Principle 02Ambition changes the requirement

A structure that is enough today may not sustain the next stage, or the resource potential available.

Principle 03The system matters

Capacities rarely work in isolation. The value lies in how they fit together.

How Trilha works

Five services, from the first map to ongoing support.

Each stage delivers something concrete before asking for the next. Ongoing support grows out of the diagnostic, not out of an upfront promise.

  1. 01Free

    Potential Scan

    CNPJ lookup, benchmark against comparable organizations and the Institutional Assessment. It produces the first hypothesis about where potential is slipping away.

    Deliverable: context, peers, funding signals and a current × required map.
    Start with the CNPJ →
  2. 02Fixed scope

    Potential & Capacity Diagnostic

    Interviews with leaders, analysis of revenue and the supporter base, an in-depth benchmark and a debrief for the leadership team and the board.

    Deliverable: a potential thesis, prioritized gaps and recommended decisions.
    Talk about the diagnostic →
  3. 03Plan

    Institutional Development Plan

    Priorities, investments and sequencing across dimensions, guided by the resource potential identified.

    Deliverable: a decision roadmap, resource mobilization targets and tracking indicators.
  4. 04Implementation

    Build-out and implementation

    Fundraising function, individual giving, major donors, corporate partnerships, CRM and journeys, board engagement for resource mobilization.

    Deliverable: structures, processes and tools working in day-to-day operations.
  5. 05Ongoing

    Leadership advisory

    Ongoing support to the leadership team on decisions about risk, revenue concentration, predictability and priorities.

    For: organizations that have completed the diagnostic.
For

Organizations feeling revenue pressure that already have impact to show.

Main focus

Civil society organizations with an annual budget from BRL 2 million (about USD 400,000), at a stage of building or growing.

Also

Corporate institutes and foundations that need to organize their portfolio, partnerships and social investment.

Specific projects

Large organizations with in-house teams, on fronts such as CRM, individual giving or board engagement.

Institutional Assessment

Where does your organization's structure limit fundraising?

In 20 to 30 minutes, the organization compares the capacity it has today with the capacity its own goal requires, across the eight dimensions, and identifies where resource potential is slipping away.

It's a first reading, not a full diagnostic. The result organizes concrete hypotheses to prioritize decisions and arrives ready to share with the leadership team and the board.

20–30 min · results on screen and by email
What you get

A first map to guide the right conversation.

✓
current capacity × capacity required by the goal, across the 8 dimensions
✓
the largest gap to the goal, treated as a hypothesis
✓
the institutional pattern that shows up most in the answers
✓
where resource potential may be slipping away
✓
a permanent link and an email to share with the leadership team and the board
The result is preliminary and should be read in light of the organization's context.
Portrait of Thiago André
About us

Built by people who live fundraising from the inside.

Trilha was founded by Thiago André, who brings more than 15 years in fundraising, donors, CRM, data and board engagement at organizations such as Einstein, Rede Santa Catarina, UNHCR and Greenpeace.

Meet Trilha, the Manifesto and the Trilha Network →
EinsteinRede Santa CatarinaUNHCRGreenpeaceAtadosThink OlgaThink EvaWorld Animal Protection
Frequently asked questions

Fundraising and institutional development, answered directly.

What does Trilha do?

Trilha is a Brazilian consultancy in resource-driven institutional development for civil society organizations (CSOs and nonprofits), institutes and foundations. It compares the resource potential around an organization with its internal capacity to realize it, across governance, portfolio, people, operations and data, and helps leadership decide where to invest first.

How can a nonprofit or CSO increase its fundraising?

A fundraising problem is rarely only about fundraising. Revenue concentrated in a few funders, a board that doesn't mobilize resources, impact that hasn't yet become a case for support, and fundraising that depends on one or two people are all signs of limits in institutional capacity. Trilha starts by mapping the available resource potential and then the capacities that need strengthening to realize it.

How can I find out my organization's fundraising potential?

Through the Trilha Benchmark, free of charge: starting from the CNPJ (Brazilian CSOs), it compares the organization with similar organizations and shows early funding signals based on public data. The first lookup requires no sign-up. For a deeper analysis, the Institutional Assessment compares current capacity with the capacity the goal requires.

Run the benchmark by CNPJ →

What is the Institutional Assessment?

It's a free 20–30 minute assessment that compares the organization's current capacity with the capacity its goal requires, across the eight dimensions of the Trilha Method, through a resource lens. The result appears on screen and arrives by email, ready for the leadership team and the board. It's a first reading, not a full diagnostic.

Take the Institutional Assessment →

What are the eight dimensions of the Trilha Method?

Direction & Governance; Impact & Evidence; Portfolio & Potential; Financial Sustainability; Stakeholders & Relationships; People & Organization; Operating Model & Execution; and Data & Technology.

What services does Trilha offer?

Five, from lightest to deepest: Potential Scan (free); Potential & Capacity Diagnostic (fixed scope); Institutional Development Plan; build-out and implementation (fundraising function, individual giving, major donors, corporate partnerships, CRM and board engagement); and ongoing leadership advisory.

Which organizations does Trilha work with?

Mainly civil society organizations with an annual budget from BRL 2 million (about USD 400,000), at a stage of building or growing. Also corporate institutes and foundations that need to organize their portfolio, partnerships and social investment, and large organizations on specific projects such as CRM, individual giving or board engagement.

Who is behind Trilha?

Trilha was founded by Thiago André, who brings more than 15 years of experience in fundraising, donor development, stewardship, CRM, data and board engagement at national and international organizations such as Einstein and Rede Santa Catarina.

Contact

Start with the right question.

Three paths, from lightest to most direct: check the CNPJ, take the Institutional Assessment or start a conversation.

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Direct contact

Briefly tell us what you'd like to talk about.