Partners and Projects

We value our work with partners, collaborators, and clients and view it as an investment in the long-term success of each organization.  There is power in bringing organizations together to amplify impact, particularly across sectors to develop novel solutions.

FuelEd Schools develops emotionally intelligent educators who create relationship-driven schools. Since 2012, FuelEd has served over 21,000 educators and has emerged as a leader at the intersection of education and mental health.  Agile Fundraising began work with FuelEd in 2023 at a key inflection point when it sought to expand from a regional organization to a national organization requiring a new fundraising platform.

Agile Fundraising produced:

• A Strategic Fundraising Plan that diversified revenue sources, complimented the earned revenue strategy and provided for necessary capacity building and innovation funding. 

• A Fundraising Work Plan for 2023/24 to guide all fundraising work

• A vetted prospect pipeline of over 50 new national education funders. 

• New cultivation efforts with the ED with national and regional foundations. 

• Submission of key grants and letters of interest such as New School Venture Fund, Barr Foundation, and Yield Giving.

  Hiring the first Director of Development, preparing job description, screening candidates, generating interview protocols, and supporting the interview process. 

• Participated in training and onboarding process. 

• Wrote annual Impact Report

• Strategic advisory and ongoing support for grant writing, LOIs, reports.
  
  
  

Center for Whole-Child Education

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University

In 2023, Turnaround for Children, a premier nonprofit education organization joined forces with ASU to become the Center for Whole Child Education to realize their long-term vision, with opportunities for greater impact, scalability, and sustainability. Agile Fundraising collaborated with the Executive Director and Leadership Team during the strategic visioning process in early 2024 to articulate new goals, scope of work, and positioning in the ASU School of Education platform.  Additionally vetted a pipeline of over 50 national education funders that are aligned with the work, and did a landscape scan on the funding for education innovation.

Intelitek/CoderZ

The Intelitek STEM and Career Technical Education Foundation was founded in 2018 to increase diversity and access to high-quality science technology engineering and mathematics, particularly for students from communities of color, Latinx students, students with disabilities, and girls. Through its foundation, Intelitek intends to make its award-winning CoderZ Robotics and STEM platform more widely available to low-income schools that may not have the resources to build their STEM programs. 

Agile Fundraising and Strategy Consulting was engaged to develop a corporate sponsorship program to underwrite dissemination of CoderZ to title 1 schools.  Building on the success of its Amazon Future Engineers sponsorship, we contacted over 50 major corporations through their CSR divisions or business units and have generated interest in the CoderZ sponsorship opportunity.

“Lisa did an excellent job in advising us and spearheading our emerging corporate sponsorship program. She was able to tap into her network to connect us to STEM innovation leaders and funders. Working closely with me and my team, Lisa presented our work to over 50 potential corporate sponsors. Her knowledge, connectivity, and persistence generated many opportunities for us to showcase our STEM and Robotics work.” Ido Yerushalmi, CEO

iThrive Games Foundation is an innovative education organization that designs role-playing simulations, game-based curricula, and game design studios.to support teens to thrive. The organization has embarked on its next phase of growth to increase the impact and dissemination of its educational technology products, curricula, and professional development.

Art Resources Collaborative for Kids

ARCK is a forward-thinking, innovative nonprofit dedicated to educating marginalized communities since 2012. By focusing on empathy, imagination, creative and critical thinking, confidence, and expression, ARCK’s programs cultivate positive character, so that students are prepared to lead social innovation. Agile Fundraising worked with ARCK in 2022 -2023 to develop a fundraising strategy and work plan, develop new foundation and corporate prospects, build a case for support, develop initial grant proposal content. Coached the Executive Director in cultivation and solicitation strategies.

The Scandinavian Living and Cultural Center (“SLC”), is a nonprofit assisted living center located in Newton, Massachusetts, with an inspired approach to elder care. SLC is a pioneer in applying the Scandinavian concept of community-centered living to our model of senior care that embraces community and multigenerational involvement in our architectural design. Community-centered living breaks down the walls of separation that threaten to isolate our residents from their neighbors and friends.

Agile Fundraising is developing a fundraising strategy and campaign structure to expand its philanthropic support and position the organization for growth. Working with the Executive Director and fundraising team to establish a strong case for support, engage the board, and pursue capital investment.

Visiting Nurse and Community Care, Inc.

Visiting Nurse and Community Care (VNCC), is one of the few remaining independent home health organizations in Massachusetts. it serves 30 communities in Greater Boston and surrounds, providing home health, nursing, and hospice services. VNCC sought to expand its fundraising efforts strategically to support its community nursing, education, and subsidized care services. Agile Fundraising and Strategy Consulting provided guidance and support to establish a fundraising program including annual appeal, events, and foundation grant-seeking. Provided capacity building as well as direct support for grant seeking. Secured significant grants from the Boston Foundation and the Cummings Foundation.

Facing History and Ourselves

Facing History is a premier educational organization that uses the lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. It has a strong individual donor base and is seeking to extend its institutional support from foundations, corporations, federal and state funding sources.

As part of its strategic effort to increase its federal grant-seeking efforts, Agile Fundraising and Strategy Consulting conducted an evaluation of several of its initial federal grant efforts and made recommendations for strengthening proposals for resubmission. In addition, developed a comprehensive road map for operationalizing federally funded research and development.

Stanford Schwab Learning Center

The Schwab Learning Center at Stanford University is the premier Center supporting students with learning differences to be successful in their education and throughout their lifespan.  In 2017, newly appointed Center Director, Dr. Nicole Ofiesh, Ph.D. set an ambitious agenda to be the foremost center of its kind in postsecondary settings and to disrupt existing practices in the field of higher education and workforce development to address the greater neurodiversity among postsecondary students.  The Center takes a holistic approach to support students with learning differences and represents a paradigm shift driven by advances in the fields of Dyslexia, ADHD, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and the neuroscience of learning.

Agile Fundraising and Strategy Consulting worked with Executive Director on startup and funding strategies to expand the program.  Collaborated on the development of the Center’s initial documents, presentations, graphics, and progress report to the Schwab Foundation.  Developed a research-based proposal for the Neurospace Profile Learning System, an innovative system that provides young adults with learning differences an assessment of their strengths in relation to their domain of study or planned work and recommends strategies, tools, and resources to bolster them going forward.

Massachusetts Life Sciences Center

Challenge: The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), a quasi-state agency is working toward the launch of a new seed fund to support life sciences entrepreneurs in the Gateway Cities outside of Greater Boston.  Gateway Cities are mid-sized, economically distressed urban centers where economic development efforts are addressing the effects of displaced industries.  There is great potential to create economies driven by the life sciences in these cities, ripe with major research universities, medical centers, and incubators. Yet there is a gap in early stage funding for life sciences in this region.

Project: Provided strategy development and grant writing services to complete a federal application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies Seed Fund Grant Program.  Early-stage companies have great potential to become sustainable contributors to the life sciences globally while enhancing local economic development. In Phase I, the Fund will focus on Lowell (Merrimack Valley); Worcester (Central); Springfield, and Pittsfield (West), expanding in Phase II to other Gateway Cities. Seed funding from the MLSC, matched by angel investors, will strengthen companies in their early stages of growth, developing their initial proof-of-concept in preparation for follow on venture capital investment.  In addition, the Fund will focus on women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs from minority communities.

“Lisa Poller, of Agile Fundraising Strategy and Consulting, was the perfect addition in our endeavor to apply to a Federal Grant opportunity, in just a matter of 4 weeks. Our organization is full of nuances and had never before applied for a federal grant. Not only did Lisa understand our concept from the start, she had the background and expertise to seamlessly carry our ideas to action. Our time, in-person and online, allowed us to incubate, rework, challenge, and refine our assumptions to create a polished proposal prior to the deadline. Lisa’s ability to follow conversations among the group, review the data gathered, and provide feedback based on our assumptions was critical to our effective communication to execute a polished proposal. We hold Lisa in high regard for carrying us through the conceptualization and execution of this opportunity, in addition to the grant writing process.”

Monica Anc, Manager of Industry Programs

Magical Bridge Foundation

The Magical Bridge Foundation is an award-winning creator of inclusive public playgrounds that create opportunities of people of all ages and abilities to play together.  The first Magical Bridge Playground opened in Palo Alto, California in 2015 and was mindfully designed to be socially inclusive for children and adults of varying abilities, including those with physical and cognitive disabilities, autism, hearing and visual impairments, and even the aging population.  Four other Magical Bridge playgrounds are underway in California and will be opening over the next two years.

 As Magical Bridge prepares to scale its approach nationwide, it commissioned a set of research-based papers to document its approach.  Working in conjunction with Nicole Ofiesh, Ph.D. of Stanford University authored a whitepaper “A Playground for the Entire Community:  The Design of the Magical Bridge Playground” to support the various municipal agencies, foundations, corporations, and schools as they raise the necessary support and funding to bring inclusive playgrounds to their community.  The white paper covers the research on accessible, inclusive playgrounds and play, iterative design, and universal design principles and how they are enacted in the playground design, survey research, and lessons learned. In addition, created a Marketing Brief and a Field Leadership and Scaling Brief to support the effort.

SELECTED PRIOR RELATIONSHIPS

Foundation/Corporate

• Aon Corporation

• Apple Corporation

• Barr Foundation

• Boston Foundation

• Cabot Family Foundation

• Carnegie Corporation of New York

• Cox (Jessie B.) Charitable Trust

• Davis (Arthur Vining) Foundations

• Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation

• Educause

• Edvesters

• Fidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation

• Gates (Bill and Melinda) Foundation

• Google

• Hewlett (William and Flora) Foundation

• IBM Corporation

• Intel Education Solutions

• Janes Trust

• LD Access Foundation

• Lucas Education (George) Foundation

• MacArthur Foundation

• Microsoft

• Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation

• Nellie Mae Education Foundation

• New Profit

• New York Community Trust

• Next Generation Learning Challenge

• Noyce Foundation

• Oak Foundation

• Peabody Foundation

• Pinkerton Foundation

• Poses Family Foundation

• Schwab (Charles and Helen) Foundation

• Schwab Foundation for Learning

• Spencer Foundation

• Tower (Peter and Elizabeth C.) Foundation

• Tremaine (Emily Hall) Foundation

• W. T. Grant Foundation

Federal Agencies

• National Institutes of Health, NICHD

• National Science Foundation Crosscutting Initiatives

• National Science Foundation Directorate of Education and Human Resources

• U. S. Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences

• U. S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education

• U. S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs

• U. S. Department of Labor, Education and Training Administration

• U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Non-Profit Organizations

• Boston Children’s Museum

• Boston Museum of Science

• Creative Commons

• National Association of State Directors of Special Education

• National Center for Learning Disabilities

• New Teacher Center

• New York Hall of Science

• Lawrence Hall of Science

• WGBH

• YouthBuild USA

Universities and Research Institutes

• American Institutes of Research (AIR)

• Boston College Lynch School of Education

• Carnegie Mellon University

• Concord Consortium

• Education Development Corporation (EDC)

• Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Lesley College

• MIT

• MIT Media Lab

• Purdue University

• Stanford Research Institute (SRI)

• Stanford University

• Tufts University

• University of California Berkeley

• University of California Irvine

• University of Kansas

• University of Massachusetts Amherst

• University of Massachusetts Boston

• Vanderbilt School of Education

• WestEd

Educational Publishers/Developers

• Amplify

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

• PBS Kids

• Pearson Education

• Scholastic

• Sesame Learning

Management Consulting Firms

• Bridgespan

• Deloitte Monitor