Denver Kids Grant Research and Writing Case Study
Challenge Accepted
Denver Kids (DK), a long-standing Denver nonprofit, was experiencing growing demand for its services while noticing shifts in priorities among core funders. Leadership recognized an opportunity to take a more strategic and proactive approach to grants, one that could deepen existing relationships while opening doors to new institutional partners.
Specifically, DK wanted to refresh long-standing narratives so proposals better reflected how their work continues to evolve within today’s funding landscape. As internal capacity became increasingly stretched, they also sought to expand grant-writing support without overextending leadership. In addition, DK aimed to re-engage lapsed and legacy funders with updated positioning and stronger alignment.
DK partnered with Strat Labs to refresh grant strategy and storytelling across proposals, revisit under-leveraged opportunities, and strengthen the overall grants infrastructure in preparation for a future in-house hire.
Solution Proposed
Strat Labs partnered closely with DK’s leadership and development team to support both immediate grant cycles and longer-term strategy. We stepped in as an extension of the team, managing drafting and coordination across multiple grants and letters of inquiry. This allowed their Development team lead to remain focused on strategy, funder relationships, and internal leadership while increasing the number of opportunities pursued within a single cycle.
Building on DK’s existing strengths, we led a strategic narrative refresh to strengthen the through-line between community need, program model, and measurable outcomes. Through a collaborative strategy session, we clarified how DK wanted to position its work for funders and refined the core messaging used across proposals. We updated boilerplate language and ensured each submission was tailored to align clearly with funder priorities.
Strat Labs also reviewed DK’s grant history and evaluated past opportunities against current funding guidelines. For select funders, we reassessed alignment and developed refreshed positioning that reflected DK’s present-day impact and growth.
Problem Solved
Through this partnership, Strat Labs helped Denver Kids secure $424,500 in funding in less than one year. We also successfully re-engaged a previously lapsed institutional funder, resulting in a new $20,000 award after several years without support.
Beyond the funding secured during this cycle, DK now operates with updated, funder-aligned grant narratives, a stronger pipeline of prospective opportunities, and improved grant-writing infrastructure to support continued growth and a future in-house grant hire.