Approach

To address the world’s biggest challenges, we need bold solutions that endure. That’s why everything we do is rooted in rigor, research, and our own first-hand experiences as practitioners.

We work with individuals, families, and foundations to develop tailored plans that meet their specific needs.

We champion clients and communities, co-creating solutions so that, together, we can maximize our impact.
We’d love to learn more about how we can help—let’s continue the conversation.

Our Areas of Focus

Because we’re focused on customized solutions and collaborative impact, the depth and range of what we do goes beyond a list of services. Instead, here’s a window into some of the ways we support clients.

Advising

Whether you are just starting to think about your giving, navigating generational change, developing a new strategy, or years into your journey, we help clients move from vision to reality, providing strategy, thought partnership, and execution capacity along the way. Sharing our clients’ goals, we partner to find creative ways to achieve your mission. We have a track record of producing customized, high-quality analyses, strategic plans, grant portfolios, and learning experiences that meet the needs of our clients. We bring expertise in education, workforce development, advocacy, and more, along with experience creating new nonprofits and in program implementation.

What our clients say:

“We started working with Building Impact at an interesting moment in our philanthropic journey — we were passionate about what we wanted to accomplish, but knew it would be a challenge to go from ideas to action. The BI team has rolled up its sleeves, working closely and effectively with our family and advisors, helping us turn that passion and energy into concrete results. With their depth of knowledge, experience and expertise guiding us, we are keenly aware of their value added, and together we are in the process of actualizing something deeply meaningful.”

— Victoria Zoellner, Sycamore Hill Foundation

High-Impact Grantmaking

For donors looking to transform their ideas into concrete programs with measurable results, we are here to help you move money quickly and capably to where it's needed most. We harness our experience as practitioners to create the change you hope to see; whether it’s launching a microgrant opportunity across hundreds of grantees or implementing a large-scale systems change effort with a handful of grantees, we help you design, launch, implement, and evaluate the initiative from start to finish. Our tailored approach makes us ideal thought partners and collaborators to build groundbreaking solutions with you.

What our clients say:

“We worked with Building Impact Partners to help us design and implement our Heckscher Foundation Workforce Challenge, a revolutionary initiative which offered funding to New York colleges or community-based organizations to develop partnerships with employers to provide jobs for underserved youth in New York. They designed and managed everything from the communication strategies to the organizational structure and implemented every aspect of the project with insight and brilliance that transformed our vision into a resounding success.”

— Peter Sloane, Heckscher Foundation for Children

Read more about High-Impact Grantmaking on our blog here.

Field-Building

Whether you're a donor, a philanthropy advisor, or a social entrepreneur, all of us have a role to play in helping make the most of philanthropy in a world where so many urgent needs abound. Our field-building work provides resources and community connections to support your learning and growth through in-person training programs, online learning, convenings, and content curated for your specific role and goals.