Education
Growth
Communications
Brand

Funding the Mission—and the Role that Drives It  

LEAP for Education
overview

Making the Case for the Coordinator

LEAP's next chapter wasn't about doing more of what it already did well. It was about fulfilling a role the region needed: a coordinator to unify the schools, employers, and organizations already doing good work, so their efforts compounded instead of running in parallel. LEAP partnered with Friday to build the case for that expansion to the supporters already backing it.

challenge
insight
solution
LEAP's supporters could see effective programs, but couldn't see the inefficiency keeping those programs from reaching their full potential: dollars and effort being spent, but not compounding. That gap made LEAP's value as a coordinator invisible. Without a name for this critical role, asking for more risked sounding like mission creep instead of the next logical investment
The inefficiency LEAP solved wasn't visible because it wasn't anyone's job to see it. Every organization in the region was accountable for its own outcomes, not the gaps between them. LEAP wasn't asking supporters to fund something built from scratch. It was asking them to fund the role that would make every dollar they'd already given go further.
Friday built LEAP a funder-centric messaging architecture centered on one deliberate position: LEAP as the coordinator unifying the region's youth workforce ecosystem. "Coordinator" was chosen precisely because it's neutral enough for broad audiences and specific enough for systems-minded funders, signaling a smarter system, not another initiative. A companion pitch deck and video script carried that same case into every funder conversation.
overview

Making the Case for the Coordinator

LEAP's next chapter wasn't about doing more of what it already did well. It was about fulfilling a role the region needed: a coordinator to unify the schools, employers, and organizations already doing good work, so their efforts compounded instead of running in parallel. LEAP partnered with Friday to build the case for that expansion to the supporters already backing it.

challenge
LEAP's supporters could see effective programs, but couldn't see the inefficiency keeping those programs from reaching their full potential: dollars and effort being spent, but not compounding. That gap made LEAP's value as a coordinator invisible. Without a name for this critical role, asking for more risked sounding like mission creep instead of the next logical investment
insight
The inefficiency LEAP solved wasn't visible because it wasn't anyone's job to see it. Every organization in the region was accountable for its own outcomes, not the gaps between them. LEAP wasn't asking supporters to fund something built from scratch. It was asking them to fund the role that would make every dollar they'd already given go further.
solution
Friday built LEAP a funder-centric messaging architecture centered on one deliberate position: LEAP as the coordinator unifying the region's youth workforce ecosystem. "Coordinator" was chosen precisely because it's neutral enough for broad audiences and specific enough for systems-minded funders, signaling a smarter system, not another initiative. A companion pitch deck and video script carried that same case into every funder conversation.
Computer screen with a value proposition for LEAP for Education, a growth client of social impact consultant Friday.
The work of strengthening LEAP internally and the work of building a more coordinated youth opportunity system externally are not two separate efforts - they are deeply connected. And because this work is already underway, LEAP is not just prepared to participate in this shift-we're positioned to lead it.
A tablet with text defining LEAP for Education's role: LEAP will bring together schools, employers, and allies to build a system that works better for everyone.
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"I can only sell something I believe in. Going through this process gave us real structure. We tend to be too wordy, and that's exactly what we needed help with."

Linda Saris
Founder & Former Executive Director, LEAP for Education
Proof

The Power of a Clearly Defined Role

After launching the new positioning, LEAP brought the coordinator narrative to its annual fundraising event. Donors responded: 

80%

increase in fundraising event revenue over the previous year

Related Resources
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