Strong organizations don’t happen by accident. We help you build the policies, board practices, and volunteer or staffing frameworks that let your team work well now, and as you grow.
Whether you’re launching your first campaign, starting a capital campaign or just learning about new ways to bring in funds, we meet you where you are. We help raise more money, retain donors, find new sources of funding and develop the messaging that move people and funders to give.
You started this organization because you care. We help you build it so it will thrive. Using our experience and proven frameworks, we help you think past the day-to-day.
We understand the funding landscape, the advocacy culture, volunteer/staff dynamics, and the particular challenges of organizations built on passion because we work in them every day! We’re in it with you and can speak from personal experience of what works and what may not.
Groundwork Labs is built for organizations under $1M. We don’t bring strategies for large organizations and scale them down. We build approaches that actually fit your team, your day to day realities, and your budget.
Our many years in the sector has allowed us to build a trusted network of subject matter experts, in facilitation, HR, grant writing, communications, graphic design and more so you get the right support for your specific needs.
Two experts. One shared obsession with helping animal welfare organizations thrive.
Kathy brings 15 years of experience as a founder and executive director at Paws for Hope Animal Foundation, as well as many years working within the nonprofit and animal welfare sector.
She has navigated the full arc of organizational leadership: building teams, developing governance structures, managing through funding gaps, and steering an organization from scrappy startup to sustainable and thriving operation.
That firsthand experience shapes everything she brings to consulting work at Groundwork Labs.
Sara Hoshooley is the founder of Charity Shift, a fundraising consulting practice that works with small nonprofits across Canada and internationally.
As a former small charity executive director, Sara understands the unique challenges and opportunities that leaders of small organizations face.
She specializes in donor communications, fundraising strategy, case for support development, and grant prospect research.
Sara has helped animal welfare organizations from first-time campaigns and setting up fundraising systems to 6 figure annual campaigns and capital projects.
She is a frequent speaker and workshop facilitator for small fundraising teams, and brings a direct, no-jargon, supportive approach to the work.
