A collaborative grant strategy that identified 112 mission-aligned funders to strengthen Groundswell’s values-based funding pipeline.
Written by: Betty Barnard, MNPO, GPC
In 2023, Groundswell approached us with an ambitious request. They were projecting a budget shortfall and they needed help identifying new funders. They had some unique circumstances that created a complex challenge: they had just transitioned from a founder to a new leader, their staff were unionizing, and they are a funding intermediary. Additionally, they are an organization with strong values rooted in the reproductive justice movement. They wouldn’t pursue just any funder — they had strict criteria that reflected their commitments to their people, grantees, movement community, and principles.
Groundswell came to Resurgens Impact Consulting for help for several reasons. We’d worked with one of their staff at a previous role, and our collaboration had been effective and impactful for her and her development team. She knew us well and trusted that we had an efficient, clear process that delivered results with a caring, supportive approach. And, at Resurgens, we share Groundswell’s values. Our staff have experience in the reproductive justice field, so we spoke the same language and were familiar with the ecosystem.
Working through their records on current and past grants, we calculated that we’d need to research and identify at least 60 prospects for the c3 to meet their budgetary goal of $6 million. Groundswell also posed a unique challenge because of the breadth of their work. Their primary programmatic areas are grantmaking for reproductive and birth justice, gender and trans justice, and at the intersections of climate and healing justice, in addition to rapid response. They not only make grants, they also build capacity for integrated voter engagement, leadership development, organizing skills development, compliance, and security.
Once we understood the context, our team at Resurgens Impact Consulting collected some key materials using our Grant Strategy Document Checklist. This included written overviews of Groundswell’s body of work, recent grant applications and reports, development policies, movement partners and collaborators, and of course, their list of current and past grant funders. Equipped with this data, we got to work using our proven process for developing grant strategies:
Review current grant funders and identify potential opportunities to increase asks, pitch general operating funds to increase flexibility, and pursue multi-year funding opportunities in lieu of one-time grants that create uncertainty and instability.
Review past grants for lapsed funders who could be reignited for new grant awards, providing up-to-date data on their goals, recent grantees, and key contacts who they can approach to start the conversation.
Do a reverse-search of who funds their partners and collaborators, downloading spreadsheets from the most recent 3-5 years of funding history.
Combine the data in the spreadsheets and de-duplicating the list, then sort it to easily pluck out potentially viable funders to research further.
Share the spreadsheet with the client to identify their top picks for further research based on their intel and relationships.
Conducting diligent research using a variety of tools to compile in-depth information on each funder.
Once we developed the initial lists, we sorted them by most to least viable. We held strategy check-ins to review the research, answer staff questions, and determine which funders to research further. The process ultimately yielded research on 112 institutional funders, 49 of which were highly likely and 40 that were likely fits for Groundswell’s unique mission and work.
At Resurgens Impact Consulting, we are diligent about our research process. We use a time-tested methodology to conduct research on grant funders efficiently, avoiding duplication and chasing rabbits down the wrong hole. Once we find funders that weren’t a good fit, we made a note about why so that the staff could explain it clearly to their leadership, and then moved on so that no time was wasted on bad fits. We customize our process to the client’s unique needs and context, with the understanding that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to grant funding.
We were honored to support Groundswell’s critical work. They play a vital role in the reproductive justice movement, and as a values-based company, we only work with organizations who share our principles.
