wonders and wins achieved for our clients in 2021
Purpose Possible has the ability to support nonprofits across a range of budget sizes, but our sweet spot is in working with small to mid-sized nonprofits who may be standing up a new organization, moving to the next level of growth, or who are going through a period of transition in their organizational structure. Our team brings decades of experience working in small shops, so we know what it means to roll up our sleeves and get in the trenches with our clients to raise the funds needed to make their programs come to life and stay afloat.
Organizations we
worked with in 2021
Global Growers
GGN engaged Purpose Possible, with collaboration from Schroeder Resources, to manage their $1.5M campaign to purchase a 23 acre flagship farm in Rockdale County. This campaign is transformational to the organization and will catapult GGN into its next chapter.
Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)
MODA started out as a grant writing client but our scope expanded in 2021 into a full development department. Despite having to close to visitors for fourteen months due to COVID-19, MODA’s 2021 end-of-year campaign was a success. Rather than go about business as usual, our team worked with MODA's Executive Director to break the large goal into a series of smaller fundraising challenges that leveraged matching gifts and targeted specific donor segments the museum wanted to grow, such as interior designers. Each challenge was met before its deadline, resulting in just over $68,000, or 136% of the overall fundraising goal.
John Lewis
In July of 2021, Purpose Possible was hired to help the John Lewis Task Force raise $400,000 (with a $500,000 stretch goal) toward a monument in tribute to Congressman John Lewis. The stretch goal was met and exceeded by 40% and the monument, to be constructed in front of the Historic DeKalb County Courthouse, is slated to break ground in 2022.
Purpose Possible works with Corporate Social Responsibility teams to create and track impact across their companies in the communities they serve - whether through developing new philanthropic programs, supporting annual evaluations, or managing a grant database.
Forward Project
Mailchimp and Purpose Possible co-designed Forward Project––a $750,000 grant program that helps a cohort of traditionally overlooked social enterprises accelerate their community impact work in metro-Atlanta over the next three years. This year’s winners - College AIM, The Counter Narrative Project, and Head Heart & Soul Project - will each receive $200,000 in unrestricted grants to be paid out over the next three years as well as $25,000 in customized consulting services from Purpose Possible. Twelve additional finalist organizations will also receive grants ranging from $5,000-$11,000.
Purpose Possible will work with each awardee to build capacity in fundraising, business development, hiring, communications, and more. In addition to crafting bespoke service offerings alongside each of the awardees, the firm is also contributing $25,000 in pro bono services to one of the 12 finalists - Southern Fried Queer Pride.
This contribution continues the firm's commitment to providing pro bono services for Black-led arts organizations in Atlanta. In 2020, Purpose Possible provided gratis grant writing services to Soul Food Cypher, T. Lang Dance, and Atlanta Black Theatre Festival – each of whom was awarded their very first Metro Atlanta Arts Fund Grant.
This work is especially exciting to our team, as it allows us to shape the physical landscape of our city and metropolitan area. Community engagement and placemaking or placekeeping helps to align the wishes and desires of residents and local business owners with the proposed developments in their neighborhoods. Weaving local artists and creatives into that process from the outset yields a more vibrant and fulfilling community for everyone.
Central Atlanta Progress
Atlanta Legacy Makers is an initiative led by Central Atlanta Progress in partnership with the City of Atlanta and managed by Purpose Possible. This project is a public commemoration of two Atlanta mayors, Ivan Allen Jr. and Maynard Jackson. Through this effort, we embrace the legacy that Atlantans—now and next—are charged to carry forward.
Gwinnett Place Mall
Redevelopment Project
Gwinnett Place is an important part of our community.
Its future will look different from its past, and we want to make sure that the redeveloped mall site will serve an even larger, more diverse community of residents, workers, and visitors. Our task is not just to imagine the Gwinnett Place To Be, but to chart the actions needed to make it happen.
Ready to share your ideas about the Gwinnett Place To Be? Come this way!
Midtown Arts Walk
Developing the plan for the Midtown Arts Walk was a real treat, in that both of our Founding Partners got their starts in Atlanta arts nonprofits. We can’t wait to see this project come to life now that construction has begun!
Over the past two years, every organization has seen tremendous change - whether making small transitions to accommodate programs in a pandemic or wildly shifting the way they do business from the ground up. These changes mean that our clients were looking both at the immediate day-to-day, but also what these adjustments may mean and look like for the next several years. We worked with our clients to imagine their futures and plan for sustainability in times of great uncertainty.
“Purpose Possible was indispensable in our search, which landed the perfect ED. From having a deep knowledge of the hiring pool to providing valuable insights into every step of the process and basically keeping us on track, we couldn’t have done it without them.”
— LIZ LAPIDUS
Our clients do amazing work. We help them to effectively tell those stories in a variety of ways including strategy, annual reports, customized newsletters, and ongoing social media.
ACCOUNTS MANAGED:
Co-Founder Susannah Darrow was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the city’s top 40 professionals under 40!
Co-Founder Laura Moody was named a Fellow of the Georgia Women’s Policy Institute for 2020-2021. She is part of a cohort pushing for legislation to protect the addresses of victims of violence.
Purpose Possible was featured in Shoutout Atlanta for their work in the city, and also shared tips for folks visiting Atlanta for the first time.
We grew our team in 2021 and converted several former contractors to full-time employees - a move that allowed us to deepen our talent pool and strengthen our interpersonal relationships. (Even while working from home!) Here are some things we learned about one another.
Whew!
Books our Staff Read
If there’s one thing we learned over the past year, it’s that we can’t predict what the future holds. But, we’re looking forward enthusiastically to the future as we open a new office in Grant Park!
