If records live in whoever's inbox last touched them, if nobody could say with confidence what's actually been committed versus what's on hand, and if the person running it has no background in organizing this kind of thing: that's exactly who this is built for. We bring the structure, so the mission doesn't quietly drift.
None of this means anyone did anything wrong. It means nobody ever built the plumbing, because running a foundation well isn't the same skill as forming one.
Grant and payment history spread across old spreadsheets, some incomplete, some lost, and everyone's a little afraid to touch them.
Ask what's actually still owed against what's actually on hand, and you get a guess, not an answer.
Scholarship or grant season means the same manual scramble: chasing statuses, retyping the same names, hoping nothing falls through.
If that person stepped away tomorrow, could anyone else pick this up? For most foundations we meet, the honest answer is no.
A scholarship foundation we now manage had its financial history scattered across old spreadsheets, some lost outright. Every time a student changed schools or paused a semester, someone tracked down the right file and updated it by hand. Nobody, including the foundation itself, had a reliable picture of its own true expenditures and obligations. A deficit had been quietly growing for years, hidden in that gap.
We gave the foundation a clear, current financial picture: investment minimums, forecasted payouts and dividends, and actual expenses, reconciled in one place. That's what let it pay off the deficit sustainably. Administrative time dropped from hours every week to a few minutes.
This particular story is a scholarship fund, but the pattern isn't unique to scholarships. The same scattered records and invisible deficit show up just as often in general grantmaking, arts and cultural giving, or any family foundation where the paperwork has quietly outpaced the people running it.
If that sounds like your foundation, this is exactly the kind of problem we're built to fix.
A one-time setup, quoted after a free look at your records, plus a retainer based on how much work your foundation generates. If your workload changes, we agree on the change in writing before new fees apply.
Simple records and a modest number of payments, often one annual grant or scholarship cycle.
Recurring cycles, more payments, or several distribution streams through the year.
Multiple programs, high volume, or complex multi-year commitments.
| Level | Typical Workload | Retainer: Quarterly | Retainer: Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Light: simple records, a few payments | $1,500/Qtr | $750/Mo |
| Level 2 | Moderate: recurring cycles, more payments | $3,000/Qtr | $1,250/Mo |
| Level 3 | Heavy: multiple programs, high volume | From $4,500* | From $1,750* |
* Level 3 figures are a starting point, not a final quote.
Setup is where most of the work is, because it means bringing your records into one place. We look at what you have, estimate the hours at $250 an hour with a $2,500 minimum, and give you a fixed written price before anything starts. It is due in full before work begins. A small foundation with clean records is typically near the minimum. A scholarship fund with a student-facing site and years of history is often $10,000 or more.
The retainer includes the portal, your quarterly or monthly check-in, check stock, letters and standard postage. Tax filings, audits, legal advice and investment management stay with your own professionals. The setup fee assumes a 12-month minimum retainer.
Your board gets one secure login. Everything else is handled for you.
Your board can view ledgers, distributions and reports between calls. Student, applicant and organization updates are entered once and flow through to your records, documents and financial standing automatically.
Pick which organizations are being paid this cycle, and matching letters generate automatically, pulling each recipient's name, address, and amount from a directory you maintain. Checks print on your own printer on blank check stock, so the check and its letter go out together, in one envelope, the same sitting.
We act as your fractional foundation director, handling the day-to-day so your board's time goes to grantmaking decisions, not spreadsheet upkeep. Final approvals, fiduciary decisions, and tax filings remain with your board and your own counsel.
Based in Wisconsin, working with family foundations of every size and mission: scholarship funds, general grantmaking, and operating foundations alike.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing, just a look at your current records and what it would take, if anything, to fix them.