PJH & Associates

What PJH & Associates does

PJH & Associates is a privately held, founder-led fundraising consultancy headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1986 by Pat Hurley. The firm specializes in event-based fundraising consulting for nonprofit organizations, producing corporate galas, dinners, luncheons, breakfasts, grand openings, and high-profile receptions including Presidential-level events. Its service catalog spans seven integrated capabilities: fundraising strategy and ongoing counsel, list development and relationship mapping, project management and implementation, communication planning, board solicitation training, logistical support, and event registration, augmented by a virtual event management offering. The firm has publicly stated that its work has helped clients raise more than $1,000,000,000 cumulatively over nearly four decades, with marquee clients including the Archdiocese of Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Chicago History Museum, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, World Business Chicago, and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.

The firm operates on a professional services fee model, charging for event-based fundraising campaigns and retained consulting engagements rather than licensing software or products. Its go-to-market is relationship-driven: top-of-funnel growth comes from referrals generated through deep ties to Chicago's business and civic leaders, and channel mix is direct client engagement with no intermediaries. The firm does not employ technology as a core delivery mechanism; value is delivered by an in-house team of senior account executives, fundraising strategists, and logistics staff who run end-to-end event execution on behalf of nonprofit clients. Geographic scope is regional (Chicago and the broader Midwest), with no disclosed expansion beyond that footprint and no technology platform architecture underlying the offering.

Name

PJH & Associates

Legal name

PJH & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://pjhchicago.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PJH & Associates is a Chicago-based, founder-led fundraising consultancy founded in 1986 that provides event-based fundraising consulting, strategy, board training, and virtual event management to nonprofit organizations in the Chicago and Midwest market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Fundraising Consulting Services: PJH provides comprehensive fundraising consulting services to non-profit organizations, including strategy development, event planning and execution, relationship mapping, board training, and logistical support. Revenue is generated through professional service fees for event-based fundraising campaigns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

PJH & Associates is a Chicago-based fundraising consulting firm that has specialized in event-based fundraising for nonprofit organizations since 1986. The firm delivers strategic donor relationship mapping, board member solicitation training, and execution of large-scale fundraising events such as galas. According to company-reported figures, PJH & Associates has helped its nonprofit clients raise over $1 billion cumulatively.

Product overview

PJH & Associates is a premier fundraising consulting company that offers an integrated suite of services for nonprofit organizations. Rather than a software platform, the company's offering consists entirely of professional consulting services organized around seven core capabilities: fundraising strategy and ongoing counsel, list development and relationship mapping, project management and implementation, communication planning, board solicitation training, logistical support, and event registration. The firm specializes in event-based fundraising, producing galas, corporate dinners, luncheons, and other high-profile events. Over nearly 40 years, the firm has raised more than $1 billion for client organizations. The services are delivered by an expert team of fundraising professionals who provide hands-on strategy, execution, and relationship management rather than software tools or technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Event-Based Fundraising Consulting End-to-end consulting and execution support for nonprofit fundraising events such as galas and benefit dinners, delivered to nonprofit organizations seeking to maximize event-driven revenue.
• Donor Relationship Mapping Strategic service that helps nonprofit organizations identify, segment, and cultivate donor relationships to improve fundraising outcomes.
• Board Solicitation Training Training service that prepares nonprofit board members to effectively solicit donations from their networks, increasing the organization's fundraising capacity.

Named customers15 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Burness: Communications and consulting firm serving nonprofits and foundations on messaging, advocacy, and fundraising campaigns — broader incumbent with adjacent fundraising-related services relative to PJH's event-centric advisory practice.
• Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL): Large-scale nonprofit engagement services firm spanning fundraising, enrollment management, and donor engagement — operates at significantly greater scale and with broader service breadth than PJH, serving as a broader incumbent in the same space.

Direct peers

• Orr Group: Nonprofit fundraising consulting firm offering campaign planning, major-gift strategy, and interim fundraising leadership — closely aligned with PJH's strategic advisory and campaign execution services for nonprofits.
• Pursuant: Full-service fundraising and donor engagement agency providing strategic fundraising counsel and donor engagement programs to nonprofits — overlapping with PJH on fundraising strategy and donor cultivation support.
• The Alford Group: Nonprofit fundraising and executive search consulting firm serving a similar nonprofit client base with fundraising strategy, campaign counsel, and development resource support — a like-sized services peer to PJH.
• Bentz Whaley Flessner (BWF): Nonprofit fundraising consulting firm providing campaign counsel, feasibility studies, and major-gift strategy — directly comparable in service mix, client type, and event/advisory model to PJH's nonprofit fundraising practice.
• Graham-Pelton Consulting: Fundraising and campaign consulting firm serving nonprofits, foundations, and higher education — overlapping closely with PJH on campaign strategy, donor engagement counsel, and event-based fundraising support.
• Alexander Haas: Fundraising consulting firm serving higher education, healthcare, arts, and cultural nonprofits with campaign and event-driven fundraising services — directly comparable to PJH's nonprofit and cultural-institution client mix.
• Grizzard: Nonprofit fundraising and direct-response consultancy providing strategic fundraising counsel and ongoing campaign support — a directly comparable services peer to PJH in nonprofit fundraising advisory.

Emerging players

• Event 360: Event management firm specializing in nonprofit fundraising events, including peer-to-peer charity runs and walk programs — directly comparable to PJH on the event-execution side of nonprofit fundraising, with a slightly different format focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PJH & Associates