Mission
Peak Education walks alongside youth as they prepare to pursue the education and training they need to reach their dreams – illuminating the possibilities after high school, guiding them as they chart their course and providing support, resources, and skills to equip them for the journey. Peak Education contracted with AJS Consulting starting in March 2023 with an initial focus of replacing their former grant writer with a firm and also growing their foundation base.
The Details
When AJS was first hired in March 2023, Peak Education was seeking someone to replace their past grant writer who was moving on for new possibilities. The non-profit already had a healthy, existing foundation base of about $400,000 a year. AJS quickly went to work in the busy spring season of ensuring the continuation of existing grants while also taking the time to research and build the company’s standard Grants Calendar. The new research helped to double the number of known funding possibilities and AJS quickly jumped into even more writing.
While strategically choosing a mix of known and new large possibilities in May 2023 an application was completed for a national possibility. Like most grants, awards can take three to six months of waiting. So, momentum on many other possibilities continued…
The first week of December 2023, an email was received asking if a local Chick-fil-A franchiser owner could come the following week for a site visit. As usual, staff prepped, everyone re-read the application from seven months earlier, and the whole team was present ready to share impact stories about the work they do in the community. The local individuals arrived, but seemed to not have many questions. They politely asked if they could pause to retrieve some times from their car. They returned with a $200,000 ceremonial check and a message of “Surprise. You aren’t a finalist. You are one of our first prize category winners.”
In January 2024, this award became public knowledge. Peak Education enlisted additional Marketing and PR services form AJS to help ensure active local news coverage to completement the national coverage Chick-fil-A provided. Soon it was extremely well known in the community that Peak Education had received the $200,000 Chick-fil-A “Caring for People Award.” At that time, it was the largest single git the organization had ever received. Then in March 2024, Peak Education became an OEDIT Opportunity Now recipient (the largely statewide known workforce investment fund with various level). Peak Education invested some additional funds with AJS for Marketing and PR help again.
By adding national and state recognition and awards to their accolades, Peak Education reached what could only be called a Malcolm Gladwell-like “Tipping Point.”
Between Fiscal Years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, Peak Education’s yearly grant funding more than doubled to over $1 million a year and is showing signs of possibly doing so again this fiscal year.