During the time I worked for a nonprofit in the Vail, CO area, I traveled all over Eagle County for school board meetings, town halls, a high school football game or two. For the first time, it felt as if I was giving back to the community I was living in at the time. And it was a powerful feeling.
I lugged heavy camera equipment through the snow in the dead of winter and up and down annoyingly steep parking lots. Note: I drove a Volkswagen Jetta at the time, which is not the most ideal vehicle for the mountains, or a ton of equipment. And you know what? I kind of loved it. It was a learning experience with stuff like cameras I had never used before, but more so because of the people I would have otherwise never met. While I was filming, I was also listening to what the councils and townspeople had to say.
That little feeling of doing good by the people in this abstract, behind-the-scenes way was gratifying. By no means was I out there saving lives; I was practicing my art of storytelling and being behind the camera, which, in turn, helped give people access to local media.
And now, as a cofounder of a marketing and business strategy agency, that feeling is being sought after again. That small sense of contributing to something bigger stayed with me. It’s part of what shaped the work we’re doing now as cofounders of a creative marketing and business strategy agency. The same motivation that had me hauling camera gear through snowbanks, helping organizations share their stories with the communities they serve, is what drives our work today.
Colorado alone has more than 38,000 registered nonprofits. According to Propublica, these organizations "reported $62.2 billion dollars in revenue on their most recent tax filings." The nonprofit sector is vast, and many of these organizations are doing incredible work with limited internal resources. That’s where boutique agencies like Sandbox Collaborative Strategies (SCS) can step in with an outside perspective.
Often, nonprofits rely on publicity, including awards, as well as grants and donations. The question is rarely whether a nonprofit deserves the award or grant, most absolutely do. The difference often comes down to how clearly and effectively the story is told in the submission. SCS has a proven history of helping clients with federal, national, and state award writing.
But award writing is just one piece of what SCS brings to the table. At its core, SCS was built for organizations doing meaningful work without the resources or support to match. That's a reality many nonprofits know well. The mission is clear, the passion is there, but the strategic infrastructure — the branding, the messaging, the operational clarity — often lags behind. That's exactly the gap SCS was designed to fill.
The SCS approach is straightforward: Define, Design, Deliver. It begins with listening, really listening, to understand what an organization is building and what's standing in the way. From there, the team maps out a workable plan, one grounded in the nonprofit's strengths rather than a one-size-fits-all formula. Then comes execution, with SCS staying in it through the process, not just handing over a deck and walking away.
For nonprofits, that kind of collaborative, boots-on-the-ground partnership can be transformative. Because nonprofits deserve more than survival. They deserve to thrive. And that's a mission worth getting behind.