— RURAL IMPACT · PHILANTHROPY · STRATEGY
Designing, managing, and telling the stories of programs and products that create meaningful change.
For the organizations driving rural change and the funders backing them.
Strategy, storytelling, and grants.
— About
I start with questions,
not playbooks.
My work is inquiry-driven. Before I bring frameworks, I want to understand the system you're working in — who's at the table, what you already know, what's missing, what's worked, what hasn't. Strategy follows inquiry. It doesn't precede it.
This orientation was built over years of work in complex food systems, supporting rural economic development and entrepreneurship at the Black River Innovation Campus, and training as a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®.
The throughline is dual fluency: I speak the operator's language and the funder's, and I translate between them in service of better work on both sides.
Chris Maggiolo, Principal
— Services
Five connected practices, available individually or as a coordinated engagement.
Practice 01 — Program Systems Management
Architecture for multi-stakeholder work. Roles, decision rights, and measurement clarified so programs move forward without losing community voice or funder trust.
Practice 02 — Strategy & Inquiry
Strategy built from inquiry, not playbooks. Working with leadership teams and boards to clarify mission, stress-test assumptions, and produce plans short enough to remember and specific enough to act on.
Practice 03 — Storytelling & Outreach
Finding the throughlines in your work and putting them in front of the audiences that matter. From cases for support and annual reports to public-facing campaigns and stakeholder engagement.
Practice 04 — Philanthropic Partnerships
Building real partnerships between organizations and the funders backing them. CAP-informed strategy for engaging foundations, family offices, and individual donors.
Practice 05 — Grant Writing & Grants Management
Prospect research, proposals, reporting, compliance — the full grants lifecycle. Available as an outsourced grants function or as systems-building for your internal team.
Combined Engagements
Most engagements combine two or three practices. Strategy paired with storytelling, or systems work alongside grants management — designed together so the throughline holds. Scopes fit your stage, capacity, and the questions you're working on.
— Approach
How the work moves.
Inquiry first. Strategy follows. Three phases, one relationship.
01
Discovery
A focused conversation to understand the work, the stakeholders, and what success would look like. No charge, no pressure.
02
Scope
A written scope of work that names the deliverables, the timeline, and the budget. Right-sized for where you are now.
03
Delivery
Regular check-ins, transparent progress, and deliverables built to be used — not filed away.
— Contact
Submit an Inquiry
Send me a note to find time to chat, or provide project details to receive a tailored engagement outline.