Four of our clients, providing essential human services and education programs, learned two lessons immediately: 1) think quickly and act swiftly in terms of program delivery and fundraising, and 2) engage MW&A to identify new foundation funding partners and key staff positions.

First Star is a national program partnering with universities and child welfare agencies to make a long-term investment in foster youth. First Star refused to retrench during the pandemic and instead doubled-down on creative program development.

The pandemic shined a brighter spotlight on the issues their foster youth scholars face--racial injustice, tech inequity, and learning loss. First Star responded by establishing the virtual National STEAM Academy, which seeks to increase teenage foster youth engagement in STEAM careers through a series of interactive "Tech Talks" led by STEAM professionals. First Star's objective is to drive more foster youth toward exciting STEAM careers with increased earning potential, helping to break the cycle of poverty that plagues foster youth.

After two previous and highly successful foundation outreach and grant development contracts, First Star is again working with MW&A to identify foundation support for this project across the county.

Caterina's Club was already admired for being the first nonprofit to feed nightly meals to homeless "motel children" in Southern California. Pre-pandemic, their Feeding the Kids program served up to 5,000 children each night at 90 sites.

A week into the pandemic's initial "shelter in place order" made it clear that Feeding the Kids must now become Feeding the Families. Caterina's Club quickly responded, purchasing two new vans, expanding deliveries and partnerships, and creating safe protocols for drive-through meal and grocery pick-ups. Over nine months, they served close to 2 million meals to 200,000 people struggling due to this year's economic fall-out.

Caterina's Club's signature one-day Pastathon event sponsored by KFI AM became a two-week on-air campaign. The extended event raised $750,000 (almost double the amount raised in 2019) and received over 48,000 pounds of community-donated pasta.

In addition to the success of the Pastathon, MW&A secured record-breaking foundation funding for Caterina's Club in 2020, doubling the amount granted in 2019.

Fresh Youth Initiatives (FYI) works with low-income immigrant and first-generation youth in the Washington Heights neighborhood situated between Harlem and the Bronx.

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The pandemic created what FYI called "COVID clarity" -- an urgent reaffirmation to fulfill their mission and the realization that poverty in their community had never been so starkly apparent.

COVID-19 changed FYI. It reinforced existing commitments such as the need to address the community's low literacy rates and depressed academic performance and heightened their understanding that they needed to work much more closely with entire families to address multiple needs.

Early on in the pandemic, virtual learning took its toll with FYI's students exhibiting further educational delays and emotional distress. FYI's new Academic Coach model where students receive one-to-one support from FYI staff has led to a recent surge in student achievement. Students who previously said they "didn't like" school are now logging in early to their FYI Zoom lessons.

The pandemic brought their families' challenges to the forefront. FYI responded with new services and the creation of a Family Outreach Team that delivers emergency food and provides counseling and social services.

FYI had to pivot its fundraising strategy during COVID as well. The challenge was to raise money to pay for their new programs while making up for lost special event revenue. With nonprofits across the city (and the country) making similar pandemic appeals, they honed their messaging to educate potential donors about the dire struggles that their specific community faced. FYI had success, attracting 250 new individual and corporate donors through direct appeals made by board members and through social media requests.

Part of FYI's COVID clarity also included an internal understanding that it was necessary to identify new potential foundation funders. MW&A secured invitations from 17 new foundations for FYI and assisted in the development of new grant proposal language that highlighted their augmented services.

Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) As an international human rights organization, LiNK was brought face-to-face with constant uncertainty this year. Would they be able to continue their work on-the-ground helping North Korean refugees in their escape and beginning new lives in freedom? Could they raise enough funds to ensure their work could continue post-pandemic? One of the biggest pivots they made was the decision to move their successful LA and NYC annual in-person galas to an online format while maintaining their ambitious goal of raising $1 million.

LiNK's supporters jumped at the opportunity to host small "house parties" or "virtual tables" and created fundraising pages with elements of friendly fundraising competition between the east coast and west coast teams. People tuned in and joined the gala activities from around the world--from Singapore to Australia, Brazil, and the UK. Thanks to an incredibly hard-working and creative team, along with the immense hustle and support of their board and gala committee, they were able to pull off a successful event raising over $1 million from 1,080 donors, 75% of whom were new donors.

Growth remains on the menu at LiNK--MW&A has launched the search and recruitment for LiNK's new Chief Growth Officer charged with fortifying their fundraising and marketing efforts.

MW&A obtained the following grants for clients through Foundation outreach and grant proposal development.

Click below for a complete history of the grants we have secured for our clients since 1994.

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