Facilitation & Strategic Planning for Foundations & Nonprofits
Foundations and nonprofits carry a particular weight: limited resources, a mission that matters deeply, and the constant question of whether the work is actually moving the needle. It’s not enough to fund good intentions. We design strategies and events that help mission-driven organizations genuinely engage their audience and build the partnerships that turn a mission into measurable momentum.
you might be here because:
- Your foundation funds good work, but it’s hard to see or tell the collective impact
- You’re launching something new and want it designed around the community it serves
- A program has run for years on the same format, even though engagement has faded
- You want the people you serve to be co-creators of the work, not just recipients of it
There’s a different way to advance a mission
Most foundation and nonprofit work is designed for the community, then delivered to it. We design it with the community from the beginning — because programs and strategies people help shape are the ones they actually show up for and help carry out.
- Your community as co-creators. Whether it’s a new program, a space, or a strategy, the people it’s meant to serve help shape it — so it fits real needs and earns real engagement.
- Impact you can see and tell. We help foundations and nonprofits not just do the work, but understand and articulate it, sharpening the value proposition and surfacing the story of impact across the whole mission.
The result isn’t just a busier program calendar or a tidier plan. It’s a mission that connects with the people it serves, the partners it needs, and the funders it depends on.
trusted across foundations & nonprofit leaders
Foundation & nonprofit work in action
case studies
DegenSTEAM
Helping DegenSTEAM Turn Community Conversations into Collective Action
Tell Me How
With a vision of “Once Again Driven by STEAM,” DegenSTEAM was building a community-driven approach to strengthening opportunities across Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Valley. Through four co-designed Innovation Rooms and Sense-Makers Gatherings, we helped create engaging experiences where regional leaders could share perspectives, identify priorities, and discover new possibilities for collaboration.
The result: stronger relationships, shared learning, and community insights that continue to inform DegenSTEAM’s evolving work.
The Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement
Turning a Local News-and-Information Ecosystem into Ideas the Community Will Champion
Tell Me How
The Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement had spent five months mapping the news-and-information ecosystem of their region — legacy news sources, emerging informal channels, and what community members actually want from local information. The hard part was what came next: turning that study into concrete ideas the community would rally behind. We designed and facilitated a 200-person Pro-Action Café — called the “Informed & Engaged” gathering — that reflected the findings back to community partners, shaped the data into a handful of tangible ideas, and recruited hosts to champion each one.
The result: the room left energized with a prioritized, community-backed slate of ideas to guide the Institute’s next year of grant investments.
Workforce 2030 Summit, Steinman Foundation
Designing Workforce Summits That Turned Talk Into $100,000 of Funded Projects
Tell Me How
Most workforce summits end in a binder of good intentions. The Steinman Foundation and Lancaster STEM Alliance wanted its Workforce 2030 Summit to end in collaborative action. We designed the day around four connection-first facilitation methods, so 250 leaders across education, government, industry, and nonprofits built relationships and co-created solutions instead of just discussing them.
The result: 15 collaborative projects proposed, with a share of $100,000 awarded to the strongest to build over the following year.
Stop funding good intentions.
Build a mission that connects.
Let’s talk about your strategy, program, or convening, and what it would take to turn your mission into momentum people can feel.