Sunshine Cottage is a nonprofit school in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1947 by Dela White whose daughter was born with profound hearing loss. The school serves children who are deaf or hard of hearing in an inclusive setting where children with typical hearing learn alongside their peers.
At Sunshine Cottage, children with hearing loss become part of a community centered on enriching lives and improving listening, language and speech. Children utilize state-of-the-art hearing technology to develop listening and spoken language to communicate naturally and effectively without the use of sign language.
In partnership with Sunshine Cottage leadership, the Cielo Strategy team developed high level strategic goals focused on fundraising including a diversified annual fundraising plan to move the organization to the next level. We worked together on a “case for support” that provided Sunshine Cottage with a content library for corporations, foundations, and individual grant proposals, while reviewing and researching additional sources of grant funding.
We provided one-on-one guidance and coaching with their development staff – helping execute fundraising strategies, an annual fundraising plan, and individual giving and donor outreach and gratitude.
Cielo Strategy Group developed Sunshine Cottage’s first ever recurring gifts program that began by inviting families to give – an audience they had not yet cultivated as donors. The program, named Dela’s HEARos, was a success. We wrote the appeal content, created materials, and guided the staff on execution. They now have 44 donors who have committed to monthly or annual giving offering an additional stream of revenue and sustainability that Sunshine Cottage previously did not have.
