Case Study: The Aliveness Way

Like the organization itself, fundraising at the Aliveness Project creates space for everyone. 

As someone in recovery and living with HIV, Dylan Boyer’s move to Minnesota from Chicago in 2018 found him searching for both practical support and a safe, tight-knit community. He found both at the Aliveness Project. “When I walked through the doors,” says Dylan, “I just knew I was in a special place.” 

Aliveness quickly became a hub where Dylan could fill his prescriptions and access an on-site food shelf, among other services and resources. “It really made a huge difference in my life. The folks here really took care of me.” 
 
As he continued to build community with both staff and participants, Dylan became more involved with the work. “Being in recovery, part of my goal is to be of service.” Volunteering for Dining out for Life and other Aliveness activities, “What I really appreciated was just how grassroots the organization was.”  
 
Dylan’s own grassroots journey took him from participant to volunteer…to full-time staff member. Since 2022, he’s been the Aliveness Project’s director of development. “I'm very grateful and it's a privilege to be able to do this work that feels so aligned with my values and who I am as a person.” 

That spirit has driven how Dylan and the Aliveness team approach development and fundraising. "I want everybody to see themselves in the mission," says Dylan. "Even if you have $2 to donate today, you are just as valued and welcomed and received as somebody who's able to give $20,000."  
 
In development, nonprofits often talk about being "donor-centric" or "community-centered." Dylan’s team has landed somewhere a little different. "I don't know, it's just Aliveness-centered," he says. Again channeling the organization’s grassroots spirit, they are not bending their fundraising strategy to fit a template, but building their model around what and who Aliveness actually is. This includes donors, volunteers, and staff.  
 
“One of the things I’m proud of,” reflects Dylan, “is our development team, which is made up of people who are representative of the Aliveness community. We have a lot of folks of color, more than half of the team. 80% are LGBTQ, two are trans-identified. And I think that makes our development team structure really responsive.”  
 
This theme of authentic engagement shows up in how Dylan and his team approach fundraisers. Instead of a black-tie gala, Aliveness’s signature events are built around openness. The Red Undie Run, which started as a fun awareness building event, and has grown into a fundraiser that brings in $60,000 a year. Dining Out for Life engages more than 100 restaurant partners who donate a percentage of sales. "Whether you're a college kid or a senior in retirement, these spaces should be open to everybody," he says. 
 
That same mindset around engagement extends to how Aliveness works with partners like AmplifyDMC, which began supporting the organization’s individual giving efforts in 2023. Dylan says working with Amplify came at a pivotal moment in his career as he was gaining his footing as director of development. With his executive director stretched across countless priorities, Dylan says having AmplifyDMC as a thought partner "really has been a game changer in the way that we approach our development strategy."  

As the collaboration’s project manager, Janette Law didn't come in as an outsider. She quickly immersed herself in the Aliveness way by sitting in on staff meetings, building relationships with the entire development team, and showing up at events.  
 
“I found that to be really important,” Dylan reflects. “I just appreciated her saying, yep, I’m going to be part of this team. She sees what I see, and we're able to strategize from there. And that my team can connect with her just like I do, that again is the Aliveness way of barrier-free access.”  
 
The partnership has especially sharpened strategy behind individual giving, with AmplifyDMC’s support spanning annual development planning, a new approach to tracking donor data in Salesforce, and building a major donor giving program from the ground up. A staff member who writes the Aliveness appeal letters is a great storyteller, says Dylan, and Janette’s expertise has helped the organization adapt those inspiring stories for different donor segments: modified language, distinct calls to action, but the same authentic core.  
 
"Now I’m constantly thinking about audiences and how we communicate with them,” he says, “and that’s how we’re going to do appeals forever now.” 
 
Heading into year-end giving as we publish this post, AmplifyDMC is preparing to support Aliveness’s holiday appeal, drawing on the trust we’ve built over time. As Dylan puts it, we’ve collaborated “in an authentic way of being vulnerable, showing up, sharing losses, sharing wins.” In the Aliveness Project way, there is space for everyone, and the Ampsters are proud and grateful that space includes us.