Stories of Impact – Propel Philanthropy

Over the past five years, my fund has invested almost exclusively in capacity support to social impact infrastructure organizations. I can say that the outcomes have far exceeded my expectations, suggesting that small grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 can achieve extensive levels of impact.

Regardless of these outcomes, which is somewhat subjective, the stories below do not paint a complete picture – one that discusses not only the successes but challenges as well. Those interested are welcome to view a page just published written to provide funders with a more rounded perspective.

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Our Four Best Stories with High Correlation Probability

1. One forward-thinking funder galvanized others to join him in providing The END Fund with funding to hire development and communication staff. Within two years, the organization went from $57 million to $104 million in revenue. Learn more here.

2. A $100,000 grant enabled an organization serving the uber-wealthy to create a revenue-generation model. They have earned 1.4 million to date with continued annual revenue expected to follow. Learn more here.

3. A $70,000 grant enabled TechSoup (TS) to hire an assistant to a lead development person. Without this grant, TS would not have completed its $11.5 million capital campaign by a hard deadline. Today, these funds support different operations, including serving over a hundred thousand organizations in 236 countries. Learn more here.

4. One thoughtful funder asked a nonprofit what they needed. Based on their discussions, he provided grants under 30,000 Euros over three years. This gave the organization enough breathing room to develop a strategic plan and time to build relationships with additional funders. This resulted in commitments of 566,000 Euros. Learn more here.

Additional ROI Stories Involving Modest Grants

Spending $19,000 to hire a temporary grant writer led to $250,000 in grants. Learn more here.
Through matching grants, SHOFCO secured $60,000 to undergo a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation process. Afterward, Mastercard let the staff know they were impressed with their M&E work and subsequently awarded them a grant exceeding $1 million. Learn more here.
Nonprofit leaders could easily spend 40-60% of their time doing what could be done with others. This story conveys the enormous impact one organization achieved when its CEO was able to free up time. Learn morehere.
Networks can achieve exceptional impact. MoveOn.org is one of the earliest examples. Fito is a global network of networks helping its constituents get the support they need. With the help of two funders, Fito is making impressive steps as a network that helps many other networks succeed. Learn more here.
A foundation that never considered providing funding for a development person did and the cost was covered within the first year. Learn more here.

A Story About Providing Long-term Operational Support

For many years, WINGS has served similarly to an operation department of a business. Over the last several years, the organization has grown at a very fast rate and firmed up its position to lead the social sector. However, without the Mott Foundation’s ongoing long-term support much of this progress would not have been possible Read this story here.

SIIO leaders share their successes and frustrations

Karen Ansara, Founder at NEID Global, provides an evocative account of the progress she has witnessed in her work. You will find her account here.

A funder’s journey from Rachael’s Network describes her efforts toward achieving collective impact. Learn more here.