OUR CLIENTS
SEE WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH
TESTIMONIALS
Hear What Our Clients Have To Say About Our Services.
“By using Ascend NBS, we have received the services of a full development team for less than the salary of one full-time grant writer. Each grant proposal they have written has been of exceptional quality because they took the time to get to know our organization and what makes us unique. As such, they have been able to impactfully articulate our mission to a variety of funders from foundations, corporations, and government agencies.”
Letter of Support
Elizabeth Lutz
Executive Director
The Health Collaborative
“Arlene briefed our group of providers, sharing tips and best practices on grant writing and being prepared to apply for a grant. Her tips were easy to digest for a fundraiser at any level and practical to implement at any non-profit. So thankful for her time spent with us..”
Lyndsey Hodkinson
Community of Practice
D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families
“When our Committee was assessing the feasibility a new bold, initiative, Ascend NBS provided us with the community insight and understanding that we needed. Thanks to Ascend NBS we were able to pull together key community members to formulate our plan and were able to obtain lessons learned from organizations that were leading efforts of similar scope as our ideal. Thanks Ascend NBS.”
Bobby Blount
Chair, San Antonio Area African Community Fund
“As Executive Director of Social Venture Partners San Antonio, we have been very fortunate to have Arlene work with us to support the nonprofit community across South Texas. She leads our training sessions for nonprofit leaders on grant writing and grant strategy. Her high level thinking and experience has proven to be invaluable to those fortunate enough to learn from Arlene.”
Becky Dinnin
Executive Director,
Social Venture Partners San Antonio
“As an Executive Director of a new nonprofit organization in San Antonio, Arlene was a wealth of knowledge, and happy to make connections throughout the community. Moreover, her encouragement was a lifeline to get our fundraising strategy on the right track.”
Jasmine Dean
Executive Director, Celebrate Dyslexia
“Ascend Nonprofit and Business Solutions (NBS) is ABBA FATHER’S gift to The Inspiration Center. Our organization has benefited greatly from the expertise of the Founder and CEO, Arlene Siller, PhD. As a small nonprofit without a Developmental Director, we know that Ascend NBS will be our go to for all of our grant needs. We also believe that they are a tremendous resource for community nonprofits. Thank you Ascend NBS for what you have done and we will accomplish together. We are a match made in Heaven!”
Rev. Rosalind Harris
Executive
Director/Founder
The Inspiration Center
“Arlene and her team at Ascend NBS have a wealth of experience. They are a go to resource for my business when seeking expertise in the grant space. From research to reporting and everything in-between Ascend NBS can help get you where you need to go.”
M. Leslie Palmer
Nonprofit Consultant |
Founding Principal, M.Leslie Palmer Consulting
SOUTH SUDANESE FOUNDATION
C H A L L E N G E: A brand new organization, receiving 501c3 status in 2019, Ascend NBS started working with SSF in 2020. SSF, seen as the heart of an immigrant community, is not just a place to find assistance but is a home for people who have been displaced and find themselves living on the margins. With a small budget and little revenue, they couldn’t pay their Executive Director and had an all-volunteer staff. They had a high demand for services in their New American community but not enough funding to get it done. They attempted grants on their own but were unsuccessful.
A P P R O A C H: Ascend NBS assessed the organization’s readiness. Through this assessment, we identified the critical information, documents, budget, and strategy needed for quality grant submissions that had a greater potential for funding. Ascend NBS worked with the organization to design a strategy and specific task to improve its infrastructure. During the next six months, while Ascend NBS identified potential funders for the organization and developed and fine-tuned the narrative sections for grant applications, SSF worked on their financials, organization strategy, goals and objectives, and budgets.
R E S U L T S: After one year, SSF’s revenue from grants increased by 87%, and after year two, revenue from grants increased by 200%. SSF is now regularly approached for partnerships with state and local governments, nonprofits, churches and ministries, schools, and employers to help serve New Americans in Fargo-Moorhead.
CAPITAL IDEA HOUSTON
C H A L L E N G E: Capital IDEA Houston, established in 2009, is the only comprehensive workforce development program in the Houston area. They sponsor select, high-demand careers that pay a living wage with benefits and the opportunity for advancement for people of color. They hadn’t been able to increase their budget and expand services in the last couple of years due to a lack of funding for capacity building. They had a skeleton staff committed to the mission but overworked and underpaid. Their funding lacked diversity, and their board was concerned about the heavy reliance on government funding. Their funding was mainly allocated for programming, leaving little opportunity for organizational growth.
A P P R O A C H: Ascend NBS conducted new research prospecting for general operations dollars, built general operations into every grant to cover administrative expenses and salaries, and designed a strategy for growth based on input from everyone within the organization.
R E S U L T S: With our assistance, Capital IDEA was able to increase its general operations funding, hire seven new employees, and secure software that increased data collection and reporting. Additionally, this has led to streamlined processes and operations with standard operating procedures, utilizing interns, volunteers, and contractors for smaller projects, increased investments in infrastructure, board training on fundraising, relationship building, and creating awareness of the organization within the city. All of these factors have led to increased partnerships. And most importantly, the staff are taking real, much-needed vacations to recharge.