Northstar Advisory Partners will partner with Meridian Foods to deliver the FY26 Marketing & Fundraising Campaign, covering strategy, creative, production, paid media and measurement across a six-month engagement from Jun 29 to Nov 15, 2026.
Pre-sales / Scoping Agent
A scoping call becomes a priced, staffed SOW.
Turns a scoping conversation into a staffed plan, a rate-loaded budget, and a statement of work you can send.
Pre-Sales›Workspace
Template MFC Marketing & Fundraising Campaign FY26 Draft ✓ Saved
▾ Discovery & Strategy
| Activity | Wks | Hrs/wk | Bill | Cost | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stakeholder interviews & discovery | 2 | 20 | $240 | $140 | 42% |
| Fundraising strategy & messaging | 3 | 30 | $240 | $140 | 42% |
| Project management & kickoff | 3 | 10 | $185 | $105 | 43% |
▾ Creative Development & Production
| Activity | Wks | Hrs/wk | Bill | Cost | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creative concepting & messaging | 4 | 25 | $285 | $160 | 44% |
| Copywriting & content creation | 6 | 30 | $200 | $118 | 41% |
| Video production (short-form) | 6 | 20 | $210 | $126 | 40% |
▸ Campaign Execution & Optimization
JunJulAugSepOctNov
Discovery & Strategy
Stakeholder interviews & discovery
Fundraising strategy & messaging
Project management & kickoff
Creative Development & Production
Creative concepting & messaging
Copywriting & content creation
Design & art direction
Video production (short-form)
Campaign Execution & Optimization
Paid media setup & management
Email program: build & send
Landing page builds & CRO
Analytics & reporting
- Define fundraising objectives and KPIs aligned to Meridian’s FY26 goals.
- Develop messaging frameworks and creative concepts to drive donor acquisition.
- Execute multi-channel campaigns with a measurable optimization cadence.
Three workstreams across five roles. Each activity in the scope table carries its own bill and cost rate, and the pricing section is generated from those rates — change a rate and this document changes with it.
Rate-card value$525,700 2,290 hours across 5 roles
Delivery cost$298,780 Loaded cost at role rates
Locked contract value$900,000 $374,300 above rate card
Gross margin on contract67% $601,220
| Role | Hours | Bill | Cost | Cost total | Rate GP | Share of cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner | 120 | $450 | $210 | $25,200 | 53% | |
| Director | 340 | $285 | $160 | $54,400 | 44% | |
| Senior consultant | 620 | $240 | $140 | $86,800 | 42% | |
| Consultant | 810 | $200 | $118 | $95,580 | 41% | |
| Analyst | 400 | $160 | $92 | $36,800 | 43% | |
| Total | 2,290 | $298,780 |
Octayne — the mix carries the margin, not the rate. Moving 120 hours of reporting from Consultant to Analyst holds the deliverable and adds 1.4 points. Contingency is set at 10% and is not spent in this model.
Workstreams3
Total hours2,290
Duration20 weeks
Cost$298,780
Margin67% $601,220
Contract value 🔒$900,000
The problem
Why this goes wrong today.
- 01 The price is set before the plan exists
A number is committed in the proposal, and the resourcing that would justify it is worked out afterwards.
- 02 A blended rate hides the mix
Two engagements at the same rate can differ by fifteen points of margin, entirely on who does the work.
- 03 The estimate never meets the actuals
Nothing checks what was assumed against what happened, so the next estimate repeats the same error.
How it works
What it actually does.
- 01 Start from the conversation Describe the engagement the way you would to a colleague. No form, no template to fill in first.
- 02 Staff it Roles, seniority mix and hours per week, drawn from how your firm actually staffed comparable work.
- 03 Load the economics Rate cards, vendor lines, contingency and an all-in margin that updates as the shape of the deal changes.
- 04 Produce the artifacts A statement of work, a budget ready to hand to delivery, and a plan the planner can book against on day one.
Conversation to commitment
A scoping transcript on the left; a staffing grid, rate-loaded budget and all-in margin building row by row on the right as the conversation goes on.
Scoping session · Meridian Transformation
Scoping call“Two senior consultants for about sixteen weeks, one analyst part-time, and we’ll need the data vendor for the migration piece.”
RoleWkRateTotal
Senior Consultant ×2 16 $385 $246,400
Analyst · 0.5 16 $215 $34,400
Vendor — data migration — — $28,000
All-in margin 0.0%
The statement of work, the budget and the planner bookings all come out of this
one model — so what you signed and what you staffed agree.
Inputs and outputs
What it reads, and what it does.
What it reads Everything it is given access to.
- Your rate cards and role definitions
- Historical staffing and margin on comparable engagements
- Pipeline and opportunity records
- SOW templates and contract terms
What it derives The signals it builds from that.
- Role mix and hours per week
- Rate-loaded cost and contingency
- All-in margin
What it does with it The action each signal triggers.
- Generates the statement of work
- Hands the budget to delivery
- Stands up Jira, SharePoint and QuickBooks
- Flags every assumption it made
What reaches a human
A shape that prices below your target margin, and every assumption it had to make about scope. It will not quietly resolve an ambiguity in a document you are about to send a client.
Next step
See it run against one of your live engagements.
Bring an engagement that worried you. We will show you where the margin went, and the week Octayne would have told you.