About Cherri

Hi, I’m Cherri (like the fruit) Rodriguez—founder of fruitful! 

My husband, Adrian, and I were both born and raised in Northwest Arkansas and we’re grateful to be raising our two sons here!

I’m passionate about social justice and human rights issues and I’m an advocate for transparency, inclusion, and accountability in faith spaces.

I previously served as the Director of Development for Saving Grace NWA—a Northwest Arkansas nonprofit serving girls who’ve aged out of foster care.

When I first started my career in fundraising, I was overwhelmed by the pressure I felt to succeed and the fear of failure.

Not just failing at a job, but failing a whole group of brave young women who were counting on community support as they worked hard to change their lives! 

Maybe you can relate?

Thankfully, I was blessed with the most incredible mentor who took the pressure off by making fundraising simple and exciting—and over the next 3 years, I would have the privilege of learning from some of the best fundraisers in the industry.

Now, as a Fundraising Coach, I get to step into the role of mentor—guiding small nonprofit leaders who need a simple, effective way to raise funds for the important work they’re doing to make the world better! 

I’m absolutely floored that I get to do this work alongside some of the most passionate nonprofit leaders I’ve ever met. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be trusted by the organizations I serve.

Ready to do this thing together? Me too! Click the button below to send me a message!

Client Testimonials.

  • Cherri has been nothing but amazing and INCREDIBLY insightful when it comes to unique campaigns that have raised us thousands of dollars. She's always available for questions and it's clear she's a true pro!

-Tim Whitaker, The New Evangelicals

    ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Cherri has been nothing but amazing and INCREDIBLY insightful when it comes to unique campaigns that have raised us thousands of dollars. She's always available for questions and it's clear she's a true pro!

    —Tim Whitaker, The New Evangelicals

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Cherri helped my nonprofit, Transmuto, to formulate an effective fundraising strategy that propelled us toward financial viability.

    She brings a knowledge base that draws from a rich reservoir of experience. She's worked with small start-ups like ours to large, well-established nonprofits.

    Cherri is patient, gracious and supportive in her coaching style. She leverages the coaching sessions to maximize productivity and efficiency. All the while, she maintains a friendly and fun atmosphere.

    I strongly recommend Cherri and Fruitful Fundraising!

    —Jeff King, Transmuto

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Cherri has been a phenomenal resource for me and for our non-profit, HeartConnexion. She’s skilled, empathetic, and clear with resources, tools, and incredibly helpful feedback.

    Step 1) Hire her.

    Step 2) Do what she recommends…the way she recommends it.

    Step 3) Rinse/Repeat steps 1 and 2.

    —Brad Hill, Heartconnexion

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Cherri with Fruitful Fundraising Co. has completely rewritten the story of fundraising for me.

    Total honesty, I've been so paralyzed with overwhelm and confusion as I've been diving into the beast that is fundraising, clarifying our message, finding monthly donors, etc.

    It continued to be put on the back burner because it was just too much and I didn't know how to tangibly take bite size pieces so I could really learn and engage with our community better.

    Cherri has made all of it so tangible though. She continues to meet me where I'm at, break things down so it's easier to understand, and empower me in my strengths and hopes. All while having fun!

    I know Be Restored is better, stronger, and more engaged because of Cherri and her expertise and ability to teach with compassion, humor, and empowerment.

    —Courtney Harms, Be Restored

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Cherri is a wise and strategic philanthropy fundraising advisor. She helped us to gain clarity on strategy around our end of year campaign and gave us new tactical tools to execute.

    Cherri brought fresh thinking and creativity to what would have been a standard strategy. Her direction helped us take an ordinary giving campaign - reporting the data, and shifted the focus onto the individual human lives the work is impacting.

    The shift in strategy and tone helped our team to feel deeply proud of the work, and the results increased our year and giving.

    Cherri’s ideas, mentorship and willingness to help us with a broad range of work has been an incredible support.

    Spending just a few minutes with Cherri, it will become clear to you, that she would be a high value asset on any campaign.

    —Keith Conti, Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    We have had the AMAZING opportunity to work with Fruitful Fundraising for almost a year now. Cherri meets us where we are and begins there.

    We love the personal way Cherri provides assistance in one-on-one sessions which allows us to focus specifically on our own fundraising needs - this has been a game changer since most of what we have done in the past is in a group session with other non-profits.

    We don't have a budget to support a full time development director, so the investment in the coaching from Fruitful Fundraising has been instrumental in our growth this past year.

    DO NOT WAIT. Her schedule fills up quickly and YOU don't want to miss the amazing opportunity to work with Fruitful Fundraising!

    —Jenny Sorey, Hub of HOPE

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    Cherri was a huge jump start to our organization becoming financially healthy! Her fees are affordable and the return is easy to see.

    We were with Fruitful for a year, and the best part is that we now have a sustainable plan for community fundraising that we can activate over and over! Great investment for our org.

    Oh, and she's got to be one of the nicest people in NWA, hands down.

    —Kenny Williams, Pedal It Forward

  • ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

    We have been working with Fruitful Fundraising for the past year, and the experience has been fantastic.

    Cherri goes above and beyond to make sure we are equipped with everything we need as we get ready to expand our fundraising goals.

    Hands down one of the best investments we have made as a small nonprofit.

    —Adrean Stinnett, J127 Ministry