Teaching Lab had real momentum. Our job was to point that momentum at the right funders and show leadership what a development function should look like.
Teaching Lab is a national nonprofit focused on teacher professional learning. In spring 2020, the organization was growing, and fundraising still sat largely with its CEO. Leadership wanted to know which foundations to pursue and what it would take to build a fundraising operation that did not depend on one person.
There was no ranked list of national and regional foundations matched to Teaching Lab’s work.
No in-house fundraiser was in place to share the asks, the writing, or the follow-up.
Outreach templates, a giving calendar, and relationship tracking were not yet in place for a larger program.
Researched national and state/regional foundations and profiled each on mission alignment, typical gift range, assets, and recent giving.
Ranked 36 new prospects into three tiers by fit with educator development, and validated 10 funders already in Teaching Lab’s database.
Delivered a written strategy covering who to hire, how to prioritize funders, and which systems to build first.
Teaching Lab’s CEO received both deliverables in under two weeks. Leadership left with a clear sequence: hire, prioritize, then build the systems to sustain growth.
A focused funder pipeline and a clear blueprint for building Teaching Lab’s development function.
Stronger Consulting partners with mission-driven organizations to turn complex challenges into clear, practical action, from strategy through implementation.
