FUNDING BALANCE Lab

At a Glance

Starts: July 8, 2026
Registration closes: June 26, 2026

Format: Virtual cohort lab via Zoom

Length: 5 months

Group sessions: 10 bi-weekly sessions (90–120 min each)
Included support: 3 built-in 1:1 sessions

Optional add-on: Additional bi-weekly 1:1 support sessions

Who can join: Individuals, small organizations, or larger teams

Investment: $2,250–$3,500, depending on organization size

Sliding scale: Limited spots available

Student pricing also available for students not covered by an organization

The ultimate goal is:

Your organization moves from reactive, urgency-driven fundraising into a strategic, sustainable, values-aligned system that consistently generates funding over time.

By the end of Funding Balance Lab, you will have a complete, board-ready 3-year resource development plan—and a clear system for implementing it.

You’ll leave with:

• A completed 3-year resource development plan
• Prioritized revenue streams based on your organization’s capacity, values, and goals
• A funding prioritization matrix to help you make clearer decisions
• Messaging frameworks for donors, sponsors, partners, and funders
• An implementation roadmap that translates strategy into next steps
• Tracking tools for grants, sponsorships, relationships, and revenue opportunities
• Stronger internal language for talking about fundraising, capacity, urgency, and sustainability
• A clearer understanding of what to pursue, what to pause, and what needs to be built before your next stage of growth
• Stronger skills in navigating not only the logistical and practical sides of resource development, but also the underlying interpersonal dynamics and human psychology behind funding systems
• Accountability supports to help keep you on track

This is a structured process for building the resource development system your organization needs but hasn't had time to create.

Funding Balance Lab may be a good fit if you are a nonprofit leader, community organization, fiscally sponsored project, consultant, development staff member, board member, or emerging resource development professional who is trying to move from reactive fundraising into a more strategic and sustainable approach.

Both individuals and teams of 2+ are welcome!

This Lab may be especially useful if:

• Your organization has been meaning to create a fundraising or resource development plan, but it keeps getting pushed behind more urgent work
• You are relying heavily on one or two funding sources and want to diversify
• Fundraising decisions are bottlenecking with one person, often the ED, founder, or lead organizer
• Your board, staff, volunteers, or partners are not yet aligned around resource development priorities
• You are pursuing opportunities as they appear, but do not have a clear system for deciding what is worth the effort
• You want to explore grants, sponsorships, contracts, earned revenue, major gifts, community fundraising, or partnerships in a more coordinated way
• You need a plan that is realistic for your organization’s actual capacity, not an idealized version of what you “should” be able to do

Many organizations engage 2–4 team members in this process so the plan can become a shared strategy across leadership, staff, board, or fundraising volunteers. This also helps plan a realistic and supported implementation phase.

Quick Details

2 hours

each

Over 5 months, we’ll move from big-picture strategy into practical implementation.

Together, we’ll explore:

• Reactive vs. strategic resource development
• Different types of funding, including grants, contracts, sponsorships, earned revenue, major gifts, community-based fundraising, and partnership-based funding
• How to assess funding opportunities based on effort, capacity, flexibility, predictability, alignment, and risk
• How to choose and prioritize revenue streams without chasing everything at once
• Anti-oppressive and values-aligned resource development practices
• Relationship mapping and donor, sponsor, partner, and funder pathways
• Messaging and storytelling for different audiences
• Implementation planning, tracking tools, and accountability structures
• Board, volunteer, and team roles in resource development
• The psychology of fundraising, including avoidance, discomfort asking for money, values tension, and the nervous system realities that shape follow-through

Most fundraising trainings focus primarily on tactics. We will get into some specific tactics, but our focus is more holistic.

This Lab also addresses the mindset, avoidance, relationship dynamics, and structural barriers that can keep organizations from actually agreeing on and implementing a plan—even when the need for one is clear.

This Funding Balance Lab cohort runs from July through November 2026.

The Lab includes:

• 10 bi-weekly virtual group sessions
• 3 built-in 1:1 sessions with Serin
• A 3-year resource development plan template
• Editable worksheets, tools, and trackers
• A digital workbook for reflection, planning, and implementation
• A recorded resource development primer
• Optional additional 1:1 support sessions for organizations that want deeper implementation support

Group sessions will be held virtually, every other Wednesday from 10:00am–12:00pm Pacific Time. These sessions will be recorded, so participants can catch up if they miss one.

The 1:1 sessions are scheduled separately and are designed to support onboarding, mid-point integration, and end-of-Lab implementation planning.

Investment

Investment ranges from $2,250–$3,500+ depending on organization size, number of participants, and whether or not you would like any additional support.

Tiered Pricing

The pricing tiers based on org size and budget are:

• Individual / very small organization: $2,250
  For 1 participant and/or organizations with an annual budget under $400,000
• Medium-sized organization: $2,750
  For 2–3 participants and/or organizations with an annual budget under $1,000,000
• Larger organization: $3,500
  For 4+ participants and/or organizations with an annual budget over $1,000,000

Payment plans available.

Other Pricing Options

Limited sliding scale spots are available and prioritized for organizations with the greatest financial barriers. If you would like to discuss this option, please indicate your need for sliding scale pricing when filling out the inquiry or enrollment form.

Student pricing is also available for students participating independently and not covered by an organization. 

Optional Upgrades

Some organizations choose to add additional support to help navigate interpersonal dynamics, cope with individual barriers, craft the best strategy, or help with implementation.

Examples include:

• Coaching Sessions ($225 per) — Additional 50-minute sessions
• Strategic Deep-Dive Sessions ($325 per) — Additional 75-minute coaching and hybrid coaching-consulting sessions to focus on specific work areas or challenges
• Team Facilitation Sessions ($275 per 50 mintues) — Additional sessions facilitated specifically for your team to support you through a specific work area or challenge
• Between-Session Feedback Support (depends on scope) — More extensive async review and commentary on documents or systems you’re developing
• Post-Lab Integration Support ($225-$325 per) — Follow-up sessions to help stabilize and refine the systems you’ve built over a longer period of time

If you already feel confident that Funding Balance Lab is the right fit, you can complete the Enrollment Form.

If you want to talk through fit, structure, pricing, access needs, or whether this makes sense for your organization right now, you can book a free 30-minute fit conversation first.

There’s no pressure either way. The fit conversation is exploratory, not a sales call, and it’s okay if we meet and decide the Lab is not the right next step.