RDI is proud to continue partnering with Kristin Kelley Monahan of Kelley Nonprofit Consulting through our Ready, Set, Grant! program. RDI delivers training material over five virtual sessions, preparing small, rural nonprofits in the Pacific Northwest to find and sustain funding. Participants also have the the opportunity to receive one-on-one coaching from Kelley NPC. Their support has helped organizations write and secure grants, as well as strengthen operations, programming, and impact measurement. Ready, Set, Grant! is thriving, with three trainings offered in 2022, including a new Spanish-language offering. We are honored to publish the following letter looking back on 2022 from Kristin Monahan, and we look forward to continuing this valuable partnership as our next virtual workshop series starts March 2. Space is limited; click here to save your spot today!
“It has been an honor and a joy to continue partnering with Rural Development Initiatives (RDI) through the Ready, Set, Grant! program. For the past six years, Kelley Nonprofit Consulting (KelleyNPC) has supported this co-developed program with one-on-one mentorship for participants. Although expanding organizations’ ability to grow and diversify their revenue is the ultimate goal, I deeply appreciate working with RDI as they understand the importance of investing in ‘fund readiness’ to set rurally-based organizations, and the communities they serve, up for long-term success. This is largely what we provide – technical assistance to not only write and secure grants – but for organization’s to strengthen their operations, financials, programming, impact measurement and other aspects of fund development – all of which have a dramatic impact on an organization’s ability to secure sustained funding from a diversity of sources.
And, with half of KelleyNPC’s statewide team based in rural communities in Oregon and Washington, this is work that is also personal to us – ultimately impacting communities in which we live and work.
The past Ready, Set, Grant! year has been a busy one! In addition to helping organizations secure private and public funding – ranging from a $500,000 federal grant supporting education to foundation grants supporting food systems, the arts, economic development and more – we also provided support for business sponsorship, development of strategic fund development plans, identification and vetting of potential funders, and financial management and reporting readiness in preparation for state and federal funds.
After sharing a Funding Assessment, a participant shared, “This is excellent, thank you so much! This really helps me to understand not only what is available and relevant to us, but the key information to look for when identifying potential funders. I think this will be a real asset to our organization.”
We also supported a variety of general readiness efforts ranging from helping organizations determine if they should become a nonprofit and, if so, walking them through the process, to supporting board development and engagement, to long-term project planning, and more. We also provided Spanish language mentorship, something we offer for all of Kelley NPC’s services now as well.
It has also been very rewarding to simply answer questions, offer reassurance, and cheer on our state’s many wonderful nonprofit and community based organizations as they continue to keep our communities strong and thriving.
Thank you to RDI, and especially to Jennifer and Heidi, for their continued partnership. All of us at Kelley Nonprofit Consulting are looking forward to a fantastic 2023 ahead! – Kristin Kelley Monahan, Kelley Nonprofit Consulting”
