The Aubrey Group was onboarded as consultants in 2021 to assist in creating, recruiting, and managing the Rahway Nonprofit Alliance. Our team first researched the most active nonprofit partners and those that provide critical services to residents. Our work began with conversations with City employees to identify nonprofits with an established presence and provide outreach consulting services between the City and its nonprofits. 

We invited representatives from these nonprofits to individual interviews to assess their needs and gauge their interest in establishing a collective place for nonprofits to seek mentorship. Through their participation, we crafted the alliance’s mission, goals, and strategic direction. 

The Aubrey Group created a comprehensive project plan that details multi-year timelines and defines membership responsibilities and organizational milestones. In the first two years, we led over 20 meetings, launched a public-facing website, and authored an Annual Report detailing initial milestones and success. In the second year, The Aubrey Group identified a common agenda, objectives, and shared measurements to address food insecurity within the City. 

Identifying a central issue allowed us to assess each nonprofit's various shortcomings and strengths. During this process, we provided resources and led discussions on improving nonprofit capacity and efficiency to meet their goals. 

As a result of this process, a new grant-seeking training webinar series was produced for 2024. Each organization is unique, and this series aims to provide broad assistance for all nonprofits regardless of their capabilities. Grant-seeking is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but this information lays the foundation for future success. 

The series included:

• Webinar #1: Grants Introduction & Organizational Preparedness

  In this webinar, participants learned about the background of grants and how they are designed at various funding levels: Federal, State, Local, and Private/Foundation. Participants also learned how to prepare their nonprofit for grant seeking, such as crafting strong mission and vision statements, developing their Board structure and Bylaws, engaging in data collection practices, solidifying their nonprofit status and financials, and more!

• Webinar #2: Grant Research and Readiness

  Participants learned how to find grant opportunities at the Federal, State, Local, and Private/Foundation levels. Participants were also trained on how to engage with the various grant-seeking and application portals.

• Webinar #3: Application Development

  Participants engaged in application writing, learning how to create compelling narratives and craft concise budgets. Participants also learned how to read a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and various grant guidelines to ensure their applications match what a funder is looking for. 

• Webinar #4: Tying It All Together

  In this last session, participants were provided with an overview of matching fund requirements, how to utilize partnerships for grant seeking, and what comes after their initial grant submissions.

After each webinar, participants took short quizzes ahead of our group working sessions. In the working sessions, participants brought draft applications, newly proposed organizational materials, and questions about the challenges they are facing in grant pursuit. Participants began the series in summer 2024 and concluded in early 2025. After the conclusion of the series in early 2025, an official RNA Grant Seeking Certificate was provided to the five organizations that completed this training. This formalized certificate can assist organizations seeking formal partnerships as they develop grant programs. 

The Aubrey Group continues to foster collaboration and partnerships, hear from community stakeholders, and build upon the RNA’s collective impact approach.

About the Client: The City of Rahway is located in Union County, within the Rahway Valley region in the New York metropolitan area. Rahway maintains an award-winning downtown area and is a hub for the arts and biological sciences. Its diverse population of nearly 30,000 people enjoys the City’s affordability and various recreational programming. Rahway has been reinventing itself by blending its rich historic tradition with excitement for a bright future.

In an effort to identify and address gaps in communication, collaboration, education, and access that challenge its residents, the City of Rahway created the Rahway Nonprofit Alliance (RNA). The RNA’s primary focus is to bring local nonprofit partners together to identify community needs, address the lack of services, and recommend policies that serve the common good to the administration. The RNA is a one-stop shop for nonprofit partners to strengthen their individual and collective impact capacity.

Photo Credit: Rahway Nonprofit Alliance Website