Equity in Education Coalition

The Equity in Education Coalition (EEC) is Washington’s only civil rights organization that is focused on building a revolution in education so that a child’s race and zip code are not the predicating factors in defining their success.

When EEC contacted Ostara, the organization was expanding its development operations to include contributed income and earned revenue. The organization needed help articulating its strategic advantage and business model in order to craft communications and strategy for fundraising. To help EEC, Ostara placed a consulting team to help improve their development communications and fundraising strategy in grants.

To start, Ostara facilitated sessions with Executive Director Sharonne Navas and other key staff members to create EEC’s Theory of Change and Case for Support. This helped create organizational consensus and narrative to fuel fundraising efforts.

Prior to working with Ostara, EEC had experienced success with a few large grants and long-term funders. However, EEC had not completed a comprehensive research project and the organization needed support organizing, prioritizing, and strategizing about grant funders. To help them in this area, Bailey Disher completed in-depth research on existing and new prospects, provided recommendations about how to prioritize prospects and engage funders thoughtfully, and organized an 18-month grant timeline with key steps for grant cultivation, execution, and stewardship.

As a result of our multi-leveled work, EEC staff was equipped with tangible tools to build a grants program, more clarity in telling the organization’s story, and a greater feeling of support in their work.