EDESIA NUTRITION
CASE STUDY
THE CHALLENGE.
Edesia is a U.S.-based nonprofit headquartered in Rhode Island with a global mission to end child malnutrition. Their work directly saves lives by producing nutrient-rich foods for children suffering from acute malnutrition.
When the dismantling of USAID programs disrupted one of their major funding channels, Edesia faced an urgent challenge. To continue their life-saving work, they needed to quickly identify new institutional funders and strengthen their grant strategy to ensure a steady flow of resources. Every day without funding meant fewer children reached. Speed and precision were critical.
GRANT RUBRIC.
To strengthen Edesia’s institutional funding strategy, PhoenixFire applied its proprietary Grant Rubric, a structured system that evaluates each proposal for clarity, flow, and funder alignment. The rubric uses measurable criteria to check readability, narrative logic, and the completeness of each response.
Our team synthesized Edesia’s complex data quickly, organizing it into a clear format that made the proposal easy to review and understand. This process ensured that the final submission was polished, focused, and funder-ready.
GRANT ACQUISITION STRATEGY.
PhoenixFire Strategic Consulting partnered with Edesia to design a comprehensive approach to institutional fundraising. Our team began by analyzing peer organizations and mapping their funders to uncover patterns of giving.
Through this process, we built a matrix of twenty comparable nonprofits and identified which foundations and agencies had consistently supported several of them.
This data-driven approach allowed us to pinpoint funders already aligned with Edesia’s mission and values. By prioritizing these relationships, we focused our efforts on opportunities with the highest likelihood of success and accelerated the entire grant acquisition process.
OUR UNIQUE APPROACH.
PhoenixFire approaches grant writing with a simple belief: success begins long before drafting. We invest heavily in understanding our clients’ missions and in identifying funders who are already aligned with their work. For Edesia, this meant developing a detailed peer comparison matrix and pinpointing warm leads based on real giving patterns.
Our experience as both grant writers and grantmakers allows us to see the process from both sides. We understand what reviewers look for, how they make decisions, and how to communicate impact in a way that feels urgent, credible, and compelling. This strategic insight is what helps our clients stand out in competitive landscapes.
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THE RESULTS.
Within a short period, Edesia secured institutional funding on the very first grant submission using PhoenixFire’s strategy. The success proved that targeted research, strategic alignment, and precise storytelling could accelerate funding even in moments of uncertainty.
The outcome went beyond a single win. Edesia’s new system for identifying and engaging funders continues to strengthen their long-term sustainability, allowing them to focus on what matters most: producing life-saving nutrition for children around the world.
