The challenge
CORRAL Riding Academy uses equine-assisted therapy to serve at-risk teenage girls. The work has deep community impact but little visibility among traditional funders. CORRAL had a strong program model and a solid record of participant outcomes, yet its funder base had barely grown in years. Growing it meant changing how CORRAL presented its work to the philanthropic community and building a systematic way to find and cultivate new institutional funders.
Our strategic approach
Elysian Trust began by conducting a full audit of CORRAL's existing funder relationships and program documentation to identify the strongest narrative threads for external audiences. We developed a multi-tier outreach strategy targeting foundations focused on youth development, mental health, alternative education, and gender equity, sectors where CORRAL's equine therapy model had clear relevance but limited prior exposure. We built individualized pitches for each funder category, coordinated submission timelines, and managed follow-up communications throughout the cycle.
Impact & results
CORRAL secured over $250,000 from more than 15 new funding relationships, all with funders the organization had never engaged before. Beyond the immediate revenue, the engagement expanded CORRAL's presence in the philanthropic community and gave it a repeatable pipeline it can keep building on its own.