Client Results

Smiling children with The SOURCE Foundation name

The SOURCE Foundation | Morgantown, West Virginia
Fundraising strategy and grant writing, July 2025 to present

“When Shelley started with us, The SOURCE had never won a foundation grant. Her first proposal was funded. She saw where we could grow, put our story in front of funders who had never heard of us, and was behind the strategy and connections that turned Northeast Natural Energy’s golf tournament into more than $324,000 for our kids. She opened doors I didn’t know existed. She knows how funders think and she gets things moving. She’s someone I recommend without hesitation.”
Kevin Cain, President, The SOURCE Foundation

The SOURCE sends weekend meals home with almost 600 children in six Monongalia County schools and runs before- and after-school care, summer camp and mentoring. Kevin and Lesley Cain founded it in 2010. This year, The SOURCE will be expanding to a seventh elementary school. When we began working together in July 2025, it had no philanthropic grant revenue.

  • Wrote The SOURCE’s case for support and its first foundation proposal, funded at $35,000.

  • Provided strategy and facilitated leadership connections and communications for Northeast Natural Energy’s first Charity Golf Classic, which named The SOURCE its beneficiary. The event netted over $324,000.

  • Opened four new foundation, bank and corporate relationships.

  • Arranged Kevin Cain’s appearance on Jim Hoyer’s At the Leadership Table through a personal connection, and wrote the proposal that secured it.

Read the Dominion Post story
Watch Kevin on At The Leadership Table
Ciencias BCS website showing a child at a science activity

Ciencias BCS | La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Pro bono advisory, October 2025 to present

“Working with Shelley has been transformative for Ciencias BCS and for me as an executive director. Fundraising can be overwhelming when you’re leading a small organization, but her guidance has helped us identify opportunities, approach larger funders with confidence, and pursue grants we might not have considered otherwise. Her strategic advice has opened important doors and strengthened our fundraising capacity. Beyond her expertise, having someone like Shelley in our corner has made an enormous difference.”
Deneb Saldierna, Executive Director, Ciencias BCS

Founded in 2018, Ciencias BCS runs two programs: Vínculos Naturales, which brings environmental and science education to elementary students, and a marine research project studying shark cleaning stations. The organization has a small staff and a growing list of partners on both sides of the border.

  • Researched and screened U.S., Mexican and international funders, helping Ciencias BCS decide where to apply and where its limited staff time was better spent.

  • Identified the JiJi Foundation as a prospect. JiJi did not fund, but that conversation led to an introduction to the Alumbra Innovations Foundation, where a proposal is now in final review.

  • Advised Deneb Saldierna, Ciencias BCS’s executive director, on her application to the 2026 Ocean Leaders Fellowship. She was selected from more than 2,100 applicants in 163 countries, and is the only fellow from Mexico.

  • Advised on proposal positioning and budget structure, including how to present indirect costs to funders.