The Challenge
CORRAL Riding Academy uses equine-assisted therapy to serve at-risk teenage girls, a mission with deep community impact but limited institutional visibility in traditional funding circles. Despite a compelling program model and a strong track record of participant outcomes, CORRAL had a narrow funder base that had not meaningfully expanded in years. Growing that base required more than grant writing, it required a strategic repositioning of how CORRAL presented its work to the philanthropic community and a systematic approach to identifying and cultivating new institutional relationships.
Our Strategic Approach
Elysian Trust began by conducting a full audit of CORRAL's existing funder relationships and program documentation to identify the strongest narrative threads for external audiences. We developed a multi-tier outreach strategy targeting foundations focused on youth development, mental health, alternative education, and gender equity, sectors where CORRAL's equine therapy model had clear relevance but limited prior exposure. We built individualized pitches for each funder category, coordinated submission timelines, and managed follow-up communications throughout the cycle.
Impact & Results
CORRAL secured over $250,000 from more than 15 new funding relationships, funders the organization had never previously engaged. The engagement did not just produce immediate revenue; it fundamentally expanded CORRAL's institutional footprint in the philanthropic community and established a replicable pipeline they could continue to build on independently.