About Uncommon Schools

Founded in 1997, Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of 52 charter schools serving over 20,000 students in historically under-resourced communities across five regions: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark, and Rochester.

Our mission is to start and operate outstanding urban public schools that close the achievement gap for low-income students. In pursuit of this mission, we provide a rigorous academic foundation, robust co-curricular opportunities, and consistent support to ensure every student – regardless of zip code – is prepared to succeed in college and achieve their dreams.

The Engagement

Uncommon Schools engaged Development Guild for a six-month interim management assignment focused on corporate philanthropy (1.5 days per week). The organization needed experienced leadership to evaluate and track corporate giving activity and shape a refreshed strategy. The scope also included creating a corporate giving plan, strengthening communications and collateral, identifying and researching new corporate prospects, and providing steady support to the team while they navigated full portfolios.

What Makes Our Service Unique 

Our work combined interim functional leadership with the kind of strategic counsel typically associated with a longer consulting engagement. We stepped into day-to-day responsibilities in order to maintain momentum, while keeping an eye on building systems, tools, and structures that could carry forward. The assignment called for a nuanced understanding of both corporate philanthropy and internal capacity, since the goal was not only to manage immediate needs but also to position Uncommon for stronger and more coordinated corporate fundraising in future years.

Throughout the engagement, we worked closely with Uncommon’s staff via regular meetings with institutional giving staff and external affairs leaders, introductory meetings with programming colleagues, and presentations to the development team. These touchpoints created an environment of shared learning and ensured that the work did not sit in isolation from broader development strategy.

The Goals & Outcomes

Key goals included maintaining progress toward corporate revenue targets, developing a clear and actionable corporate giving strategy, building a stronger and better qualified prospect pipeline, and equipping the team with practical collateral and tools. They also wanted a process that aligned staff across departments and reflected their collaborative culture.

By the close of the assignment, Uncommon had a corporate funding opportunities comparison grid, a framework for corporate pricing discussions, and a timeline with projections that gave leadership a shared view of priorities and pacing. These resources translated the broader strategy into concrete next steps.

Prospect research and modeling were central to the outcomes. We vetted and researched 552 unique institutional prospects and, for each, confirmed region and location and assigned viability, organization type, regional connection, mission alignment, typical gift size, and application process. Summary charts and a prospect model turned this analysis into an easy-to-use tool for prioritization and planning.

We also produced in-depth corporate research briefings for targeted companies and conference sponsors, along with guidance for post-conference follow-up, so staff could approach partners with a well-informed strategy.

To support outreach, we drafted cases for support for HSSTV, Athletics, and Academics and created sponsorship one-pagers for partners such as Huron and MetroPlusHealth. Sample gift and pledge agreements provided additional reference points. Together, these materials gave Uncommon a cohesive corporate story and a set of templates that can be adapted for future opportunities.