Another benefit of breaking Makoce’s work down into five key initiatives? It allowed us to pitch unique aspects of the work to funders most interested in and aligned with those areas. Not all funders can or want to fund a broad-based mission: only one slice of your work may fit their funding goals. At the same time, particularly early on, you’ll need to identify what part of your work needs to be funded first, in order to move your organization forward. That’s your first piece of your puzzle. Once you can move it into place, you can work on the next piece–until the full mission begins to emerge. 

We’re always encouraging funders to give larger gifts, with fewer strings attached. But the reality is–it’s unlikely to get a million dollar grant right out of the gate. We worked with Makoce to identify early fundraising goals that would kickstart the work and build a strong foundation on which to grow. Makoce’s founder Nick was able to put his energy in those initial goals, secure some early funding, and then move to other priorities. He layered one grant or gift on another to fuel his baseline objectives–starting initial operations, planning for staff development and bringing on new team members–that would help carry the work forward.

Building one block onto the next has led Makoce to where it is today: receiving multimillion dollar grants from funders who are deeply committed to the organization’s full vision. In just a few brief years, Makoce has grown from a team of one and a minimal budget to a team of more than 10 who are actively engaging the community–and combating some of the worst impacts of colonialism. 

That kind of growth doesn’t happen overnight. But walking through the process of “emerging”–unpacking your vision, identifying the strategies to support it, and developing the operational tools to get off the ground–is where systems change starts.