Working Scholars® Fund uplifts communities by breaking down barriers for working adults to obtain a no-cost, debt free bachelor’s degree.

GOAL

Working Scholars® Fund was in the midst of a substantial fundraising drive with the ambitious goal of ensuring all students in their cohort would graduate with a bachelor’s degree debt free – the majority of which were the first in their families to attend college.

They turned to Black Fox Philanthropy to rapidly identify new funders, advance strategic relationships, and enhance their communications in order to sustain their organization for the long-term and deliver on their commitment to graduates.

OUTCOMES

Within six months of working with Black Fox Philanthropy, Working Scholars® Fund achieved their goal of raising multiple six figures of funding. Significant momentum was gained through an incredible $150K grant that Black Fox Philanthropy identified and advanced with a closely aligned funder.

Working Scholars® Fund not only succeeded in terms of solidifying long-term funding security, but most importantly they delivered on their promise to cover the cost of higher education for working adults in their program. They also freed up the time they needed to launch and grow a significant program, which was awarded a Corporate Social Responsibility Most Innovative Program by Fast Company.

By partnering with Black Fox Philanthropy, Working Scholars® Fund laid the groundwork for successful long-term funding for years to come by learning how to communicate their work in a way that lands across a targeted pipeline of funders interested in their work. As a result, they are set-up to sustain their vital mission of enabling so many to realize their dreams of achieving a bachelor’s degree.

TeachUNITED is an organization built for and by educators. Driven by a fundamental belief that every child deserves access to an equitable, quality education; TeachUNITED elevates local teachers in rural, underserved areas where the need is most acute.

Black Fox Philanthropy Services: Fundraising Accelerator

GOAL

TeachUNITED came to Black Fox Philanthropy to diversify their revenue streams quickly. Having been reliant on a small number of individual donors since their founding, they needed support developing and executing a robust fundraising strategy for both foundations and major gifts. They knew they needed to cultivate relationships with new and existing funders to ensure sustainable income over the long-run, yet their staff and resources were at capacity.

Together our goal was to lay the groundwork for greater success in attracting sustainable funding from diverse revenue sources, including the launch of a significant major gifts program that would provide unrestricted multi-year funds.

RESULTS

Black Fox Philanthropy identified and developed a substantive pipeline of new funder relationships, as well as supported the TeachUNITED team in moving existing relationships in TeachUNITED’s pipeline forward through our Research and Advancement Outreach services. We supported TeachUNITED in formalizing and professionalizing their major gifts program with compelling communications and strategic relationships.

As a result, TeachUNITED was awarded an immediate $25,000 grant, and the initial research led to an additional $330,000 in grant funding as TeachUNITED continued to cultivate relationships with funders that BFP uncovered. Strategic relationships cultivated with Black Fox Philanthropy led to a pivotal funder that resulted in an additional $300,000. Taken together, our engagement led to more than $650,000 in funding over time.

Not only did TeachUNITED win its biggest grant in the organization’s history and have their largest earned revenue year to date, additional capacity from Black Fox Philanthropy meant the senior leadership team could concentrate their efforts on personal funder relationships and face to face meetings. This translates to more time dedicated to their mission of every child having access to a quality, equitable education.

WeRobotics is a social impact organization that brings together local experts, communities and activists to offer practical alternatives to systems dominated by foreign-led and top-down interventions. By shifting power with local experts and organizations, WeRobotics is co-creating an inclusive and sustainable network of local leaders to build an effective model that others can adopt to accelerate locally-led efforts in response to pressing challenges.

As part of Black Fox Philanthropy’s Fundraising Accelerator engagement, our team of expert communications professionals developed a Fundraising Toolkit for WeRobotics: a suite of persuasive and effective messaging and materials designed to simultaneously tackle different angles of an organization’s work, mission, and goals, as well as forge a connection with funders by speaking to both the heart and the mind.

WeRobotics now has a wealth of messaging that the team actively employs for all fundraising outreach, as well as utilizes for other public communications beyond a fundraising scope, including their website, social media channels, and speaking engagements. The communications process allowed the WeRobotics team to improve efficiency and coherence of messaging overall. According to WeRobotics’ Co-Founder: ‘The outcome of Black Fox Philanthropy’s work exceeded our expectations on many levels, and can already see many additional applications in addition to fundraising for the messaging. A big thanks to the team for their fabulous and highly relevant work.”

Tostan is an African-based organization with programs rooted in human rights and driven by local communities. Tostan empowers communities to develop and achieve their vision for the future, and inspire large-scale social movements leading to dignity for all.

GOAL

Tostan wanted to leverage the inspiring film  ‘Walk On My Own,’ which highlights their community engagement programs, to position themselves as a systems change leader across the sector.

The inspiring BYKids film ‘Walk On My Own’ profiles the transformation and cultural shift of Ndèye Fatou’s village in Senegal after its participation in a Tostan community empowerment program. Tostan needed the expertise of dedicated media outreach professionals to create buzz around the film, produce a reception and screening, and attract the attendance and support of key public influencers, funders, and journalists.  Black Fox Philanthropy deployed a robust three month media outreach service to develop a public relations, social media, and event planning strategy in order to drive excitement, viewership and awareness.

Black Fox Philanthropy organized two high-engagement events for Tostan. This included a compelling screening, panel discussion and VIP reception with activists and luminaries at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England. Additionally, we planned a private funder and stakeholder dinner party preceding the inspiring public premiere in New York City. Over 200 people attended the screening, followed by an energized panel discussion moderated by human rights activist Naima Dido. These events raised significant awareness about the inspiring film among influencers, including third-party allies, journalists and delegates of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Skoll World Forum.

Our PR and social media plan generated over one million highly strategic impressions about Tostan and the ‘Walk on My Own’ film. Tostan’s social media presence grew by over 4,300 followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The comprehensive social media promotion and advertising plan resulted in nearly 3,700 new website visits to Tostan’s website.

Tostan’s impactful partnership with Black Fox Philanthropy successfully highlighted their incredible dedication to scaling community wellbeing and human rights to funders, thought leaders, allies, and activists across the sector; engaged new funders and deepened relationships with existing funders, and reached their entire year’s social media goals within the first four months of the year through their engagement with us.

Digital Democracy is committed to building open-source technology tools and providing training in technology to marginalized communities. They primarily partner with indigenous organizations in the Amazon rainforest defending their land and livelihoods against extractive industries.

GOAL

Digital Democracy came to Black Fox Philanthropy to find emergency funding, as well as secure multi-year grants to ensure they could be supporting local communities with technology long into the future.

Digital Democracy needed to rapidly identify new funders, and enhance their communications in order to sustain their organization and lay the groundwork for successful long-term funding. Our Fundraising Accelerator service was the comprehensive formula Digital Democracy needed to weather the storm. This service includes dedicated funder prospecting, advancement outreach, and grant writing, coupled with the development of a communications toolkit to build a strong and engaging case for support.

After six months of working with Black Fox Philanthropy, Digital Democracy’s financial situation had been transformed. They not only achieved guaranteed funding for the rest of the year, but came out even stronger for sustainable funding long-term. Digital Democracy secured a significant six figure grant, gained financial security, and built incredible momentum to continue their vital mission of partnering with marginalized communities defending their rights.

Glasswing’s mission is to address the root causes and consequences of violence and poverty through education and health programs that empower youth and communities, and strengthen public systems.

GOAL

Glasswing came to Black Fox Philanthropy with the objective of identifying more philanthropic funders that were closely aligned with their mission, as well as improving their own internal team’s advancement skills and approach.

Before coming to Black Fox, Glasswing had significant experience in project development and obtaining funding from bilateral agencies, corporate donors and a few key foundations.. However, they wanted to build more relationships with private foundations, and the knowledge and expertise required to approach new funders, deepen their relationships, and ultimately continue to diversify their funding.

This is where Black Fox’s team of resourceful advancement specialists came in. Since the start of this partnership, Black Fox has researched and introduced Glasswing to dozens of potential funders, creating long-term connections and progressing through to application stages with several newly identified foundations.  With Black Fox support, Glasswing secured a grant with a closely aligned funder, with whom they expect to establish a long-term partnership.

In addition, Glasswing significantly strengthened their advancement expertise throughout the engagement. Their Black Fox specialists truly became an extension of their own team through continuous coaching, supporting them through large grant submissions, and connecting them to key influencers. The team now feel there is a strong foundation from which to continue their advancement efforts, and feel well-equipped to continue to lay the groundwork for successful funding in the future.