The Challenge
Southwest Leadership Academy, a youth education nonprofit serving under-resourced communities in Philadelphia, had secured a conditional $2 million matching grant from the Philadelphia Foundation, one of the region's most prestigious funders. The catch: the grant required them to raise an equal amount in matching funds within a fixed window, or forfeit the award entirely. Their internal team had no institutional grant writing capacity, no funder relationship infrastructure, and no experience managing a capital campaign at this scale. The clock was running.
Our Strategic Approach
Elysian Trust entered as a strategic partner to engineer the full capital campaign framework. We began with a rapid Funding Readiness Assessment to map existing donor relationships, identify grant-eligible programming, and establish a credible institutional narrative for external funders. From there, we developed a layered funding strategy that combined foundation grants, corporate partnerships, and program-specific awards. We identified OutRide as a secondary funder for their active programming and secured an additional $10,000 award while the larger capital campaign was still in motion. Throughout the process, we managed funder communications, compliance timelines, and submission coordination to protect the Philadelphia Foundation match deadline.
Impact & Results
The matching condition was met. Southwest Leadership Academy secured the full $2 million Philadelphia Foundation grant alongside additional supplemental funding, unlocking a capital position that would not have been achievable through their internal capacity alone. The engagement also left the organization with a working funder pipeline, documented grant history, and the operational frameworks required to sustain and build on that momentum.