By Tiffany Gallegos-Whitley
From Strategic Plan:
Prosper Waco is a trusted broker for funding channels, shared funding, grant writing and braided funding. Prosper Waco also functions as a trusted broker that can harbor and guide other organizations and incubated efforts. Prosper Waco as a collective impact backbone is not a direct funder for the community, but it can be a generator of new revenue and collaborative funding efforts.
2022-2024 Strategic Actions
Increase the strength of the Advancement Committee and mobilize sustainable funding plans for the organization.
Use the best resources and multiple funders for all sectors; seek to expand resources in each sector.
Diversify revenue sources and supporters for Prosper Waco and for community priorities.
Tiffany:
A successful example of this approach is how Prosper Waco mobilized funding for the UpSkill Waco initiative. UpSkill Waco was developed in collaboration with community partners and has brought new, outside funding sources to the community. This has allowed UpSkill Waco partners to provide full scholarships to individuals seeking reskilling and upskilling training opportunities. At the same time, Prosper Waco worked to leverage the strengths and resources of partners in order to target funding towards capacity-building and new efforts.
As a result, Prosper Waco was able to leverage TSTC funding to offset tuition costs for their Mechatronics course, allowing us to reallocate another funding stream towards $15/hour stipends to support students through the course. Additionally, working with the City of Waco to provide rental assistance to UpSkill Waco students in MCC’s Medical Office Administration course allowed Prosper Waco to target more funding towards scholarships. Overall, these efforts were key to securing funding for UpSkill Waco, as funders increasingly call for commitment to collaborative projects that utilize braided and shared funding.
To download and read the full Prosper Waco Strategic Plan follow the link.
Tiffany Gallegos-Whitley is director of workforce initiatives with Prosper Waco.