At Bolek Grant Writing, we’re proud to share how our partnership with Thin Blue 1st demonstrates the power of strategic capacity building. Referred to us by the Welborn Baptist Foundation, this collaboration exemplifies how investing in organizational infrastructure creates a foundation for sustained success.

The Challenge: Limited Organizational Capacity

When Thin Blue 1st’s Executive Director first contacted us, the organization had a rock-solid mission of providing spiritual and emotional support to law enforcement officers, first responders, and their spouses. However, their organizational infrastructure and capacity were still in their infancy.

This presented a classic scenario: A vital mission-driven organization with tremendous potential, and a local foundation ready and willing to support them – but the foundation needed to see improvements in organizational capacity and strategic direction first.

The Foundation’s Strategic Investment

When Thin Blue 1st initially applied for program support through the Welborn Baptist Foundation’s Christ-Centered Living Grant Cycle, they weren’t awarded program funding. Instead, Welborn made a strategic decision that would prove transformative: They awarded funding specifically for Thin Blue 1st to work with Bolek Grant Writing on grants readiness and capacity building.

The Bolek Approach

Our engagement focused on building essential organizational infrastructure:

• We developed a compelling case statement that clearly articulated their mission and impact.
• We conducted comprehensive funding-prospect research to identify potential supporters.
• We helped transform their logic model into an easily understandable format for grant funding attachments and donor relationship building.
• We created compelling narrative for grant applications that resulted in increased grant funding.

The Results: Grant Wins

Two years later, when the next Christ-Centered Living grant cycle opened, Thin Blue 1st was able to demonstrate significant capacity building progress from their work with Bolek Grant Writing. This time, Welborn not only funded them for continued capacity building work but also awarded grant funding for program support.

During their time with Bolek, Thin Blue 1st has achieved remarkable growth. They have:

• raised funding to provide salary support for the Executive Director/Chaplain;
• hired a female chaplain to serve female law enforcement officers and to coordinate programs designed for female spouses of LEOs and women in law enforcement;
• diversified income streams with increased unrestricted giving from church, corporate, and individual donors;
• grown their annual operating budget; and
• expanded services from their initial coverage area.

Beyond Grant Writing

What we especially love about this partnership is how our work touched on multiple aspects of fundraising, even though our expertise is grant writing. The truth is, it’s all connected. Strong grant capacity supports overall fund development practices, strategic positioning, and organizational effectiveness as a whole.

We don’t confine ourselves to only providing grant writing assistance, because fundraising isn’t black and white. Building a compelling case for support, understanding your competitive position, and articulating clear outcomes – these foundational elements strengthen every fundraising conversation, whether with a foundation program officer, a major donor, or a corporate partner.

A Partnership for Lasting Value

This success story perfectly illustrates how strategic capacity building creates lasting value. When a foundation sees potential in an organization’s mission but recognizes the need for stronger infrastructure, investing in that capacity building can transform an organization’s trajectory, enabling them to serve their community more effectively for years to come.

Discover how Bolek Grant Writing helped Thin Blue 1st transform from an organization with great potential into a well-positioned nonprofit with diversified funding streams and expanded services. Learn how our capacity-building approach strengthens not just grant applications but overall fundraising effectiveness, creating sustainable growth that continues to serve law enforcement officers and their families across the region.