About Raise HECK

Raise HECK helps ensure you have the right technical solutions to deepen your impact on your mission.

We come with decades of experience working inside and in support of nonprofits, so we understand your complex issues and can meet them with the empathy and humor required to get things done.

We alleviate time spent on building consensus and strategic adoption.

We help you realize a higher ROI.

We demystify your technology so you don’t need to learn another skill to achieve your team’s objectives. 

About Our Founders

When you work with us, you work with both of us.

We launched Raise HECK in 2019 to support nonprofits and, more importantly, the people who work for them. We take the fear out of finding the right technology so that we all can make a deeper positive impact on the world’s most urgent issues.

Sally Heaven, co-founder, Raise HECK

Sally Heaven, co-founder

Sally didn’t just cut her teeth in protecting the world from bad guys – she jumped right into the deep end from the start, spending 7 years as a field director for the Human Rights Campaign after college. She remembers MCing rallies in front of hundreds of people as being core to her ability to tell the truth and speak, even when she’s nervous. After HRC, Sally spent 13 years as an account manager at Blackbaud, where she oversaw the needs of some of the largest nonprofit brands in the world, including The Nature Conservancy and AARP. Sally’s ability to connect deeply and understand her clients’ concerns won her the responsibility of managing multi-million dollar contracts. Sally not only understands how to advocate for others – she plays that role daily. She’s not afraid of tough conversations, and she brings her ability to see the humor in life to every interaction. Outside of work, Sally enjoys life in Maryland with her wife and three kids.

Charlotte Kresse, co-founder, Raise HECK

Charlotte Kresse, co-founder

Charlotte started her career in a small community nonprofit in Providence, RI. She then moved to Washington DC where she worked in a U.S. Senator’s front office, supporting digital communications for NARAL Pro-Choice America and six years at Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey in strategy roles that saw her grow the agency’s digital marketing team from the ground up. She  went on to spend six years building strategic partnerships at Blackbaud, where she learned to get to the heart of how best to match a client’s vision with their mission’s true needs. Charlotte sees the forest through the trees and understands how to cut through layers by asking the right questions that ensure the solutions you choose fit your business strategy. Having seen all sides of mission objectives – from advocacy to fundraising – Charlotte understands the intricacies of strategy and what really does make a difference in promoting social change. Charlotte lives in Rhode Island with her husband, two boys, and two dogs.

Testimonials

When we in Stewardship and Development at the UUA decided that we needed to move to a new CRM, we met with several potential consultants, but Raise HECK stood out to us because of their warm approach to choosing a CRM. Raise HECK’s honesty about the trials of migration and the eventual smooth landing gave us further hope that as we inched closer to a decision, there’s light at the end of the tunnel and we’ll be a stronger nonprofit for it. They encouraged independent research, answered any questions we had or provided resources on how to find the answers we needed. They provided a safe and productive space to work through the emotional side of choosing a new CRM with weekly check-ins and empowered us to make the best evidence-based decision for our organization. In short, we were in good, graceful, knowledgeable hands with Charlotte and Sally.
Cherai DiMeoDonor Database Manager, Unitarian Universalist Association
Our CRM was going to be sunsetted, and we needed to find something new fast. We wanted help to find a new solution that would be right for us. We hired Raise HECK to give us an objective assessment of our technology needs and how they matched up with our program and goals. They delivered a great assessment to us, and also gave us a deeper understanding of the industry. Bridgercare feels more well-equipped now to find a solution that will support our program and that will have staying power. Raise HECK has kept in touch with us to keep us in the loop when there’s news we need to know. We really love working with them!
Emily AllisonDevelopment Director, Bridgercare
As Greenwood Gardens has grown, we have recognized that our technology needs have evolved at the same time. Raise HECK was instrumental in identifying alternative solutions for us to consider that will best serve the changing needs of both our organization and our constituents. We are grateful for their expertise.
Jean O'DowdDirector of Finance and Administration, Greenwood Gardens
Vera Institute of Justice selected Raise HECK to help us in our search to replace all of our technology solutions: primarily digital, CRM, and grant management. We had never fully integrated our legacy tools, and as an organization we were ready for change. We had committed to finding the right solution, but weren’t sure how to start our search and evaluation process. Raise HECK has a deep understanding of nonprofit operational and fundraising needs and they led us through a thorough and efficient process to understand our needs, requirements and priorities. They then aligned the needs assessment with their top three recommended solutions for Vera. I’d highly recommend working with Sally and Charlotte. They were straightforward, responsive and a pleasure to work with.
Morgan BakermanDevelopment Operations Manager, Vera Institute of Justice
The International African American Museum (IAAM) worked with Raise HECK to support our migration to a new CRM. Sally and Charlotte were a tremendous partner throughout the process. They flagged items for us to consider and asked questions we simply wouldn’t have known to ask to ensure everything was set up properly to meet our needs. They have an in-depth knowledge of technology and how it supports an organization’s requirements. They also go above and beyond what is requested and give their all for the project and client. They are fun and a joy to work with, now not only are they colleagues but they are friends. I would recommend them to anyone who is contemplating making a change in technology.
Sarah RaffurtyMembership Manager, International African American Museum
When We All Vote initially hired Raise HECK to help us through a migration from BSD Tools to EveryAction. As with any technology change (not to mention in the middle of an election), we were struggling to adopt the new features and understand the data structures. Raise HECK had incredible knowledge about the solution and was diligent and detailed in their attention to our data and organizational needs. They had keen insight into how change management was impacting us and put in place an easy to follow plan to address it. They presented a clear and helpful training for our staff and were instrumental in getting us up and running on EveryAction in time for the 2020 election push. They are smart, funny, very responsive and great to work with…so much so that we worked together again on our electoral email efforts. Their support late in the cycle as we were nearing Election Day was invaluable to our work. Personally, I had complete confidence in their work and that took a huge amount of stress off of my plate just when I needed that extra space the most. I’d highly recommend working with Raise HECK!
Shannon WurthmanSr. Digital Advisor, When We All Vote
When we needed to layer in more political messaging to our members, the Raise HECK team had just the right approach. Sally and Charlotte combined good strategy, technical skill, and a pleasant can-do attitude to develop and execute a high-quality program that helped us turn our members into volunteers. Along the way, they worked well with our existing team, learned to speak in our voice, and maximized the return on our tools. We were fortunate to work with them on this critical project.
Jeremy PittmanDirector of Grassroots Engagement, EDF Action
The League of Women Voters needed to replace our digital marketing solution and we were looking for help assessing our needs and ultimately selecting a solution. Sally and Charlotte were true partners in this journey, and it was a great experience. They provided a clear and thorough process with the right amount of flexibility. We would highly recommend Raise HECK for a technology assessment and selection project.
Kevin RingkampDirector of Operations, League of Women Voters
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