CLIENT STORY: BE THE SOURCE

From Overwhelmed to Unstoppable: Small Nonprofit Builds Capacity & Boosts growth with New Strategy

Renee Bernhard founded Be the Source because she knew what it felt like to be a foster parent faced with the many complexities of the child welfare system. She and her husband were on a mission. But nine years into founding their organization, they faced new challenges: multiplying grant deadlines and the constant cycle of applications and reporting that kept pulling them away from the mission they’d started the organization to accomplish.

That's when Renee reached out to DBD Group. For the past two and a half years, Be the Source has partnered with DBD Group to transform their fundraising from a source of stress into a strategic engine for growth—and the results have been profound, especially for the families and kids whose lives have been impacted.

Our journey with Renee and her team represents one of many stories we're celebrating in our 20-year journey supporting nonprofits. In this story, see how Be the Source discovered that consistency, clarity, and intentional relationship-building can transform not just their fundraising but their entire organization’s impact on families and kids.

The Client: KIPP: Be the Source

Be the Source (formerly Foster Source) is a nonprofit organization serving the child welfare community across Colorado. Founded by Renee and Brian Bernhard in 2016, it grew from lived experience—the couple's own journey as foster parents caring for 10 children over three years, including one adopted child.

Today, Be the Source has evolved beyond its original focus on licensed foster caregivers. They now support the entire caregiver ecosystem through trauma-informed and evidence-based services, including support for foster caregivers, kinship providers, biological parents, and their families. With a current staff of nine and growing impact across Colorado, Be the Source has expanded its reach while maintaining the personal, compassionate approach that defines its work.

Background: Why Their Work Matters

Caregivers experience many challenges, especially in a system impacted by trauma, shifting legislation, and misconceptions. As Renee explains, fostering is often like “inviting trauma and rage into your home as permanent houseguests. It affects your entire family, and it's there to stay." For kids to experience healing and growth, Renee realized it’s critical that caregivers receive the support they need to navigate the many complexities of child welfare.

This need became even more evident when Renee met a single foster mother who had taken in three siblings. As the family began to struggle, Renee connected the foster mother with a specialized therapist for her own well-being and support as a parent. As a result, those kids were later adopted, and they're still together and doing well. This single intervention created a ripple effect, inspiring the creation of Be the Source's therapy services program. Since then, they have hosted and sponsored therapy for over 700 caregivers across Colorado.

Ultimately, what became clear is that when caregivers receive proper support to navigate a child’s trauma, children experience greater healing. Entire generational patterns shift as a result. As Renee reflects, "We're all carrying generations of unprocessed trauma. So the more we can actually manage and process in this generation, the better it will be for many, many years to come."

Before Working With DBD Group: Fundraising Strategy Can’t Keep Up with Growth

What started in a living room as a grassroots initiative began to grow, and with it, growing pains. By the time Renee reached out to DBD Group, they'd expanded to a small team wearing countless hats—but the scale of their ambition had outpaced their capacity.

Their fundraising challenges felt particularly heavy, especially when it came to grant writing and donor cultivation. The underlying issue was one of strategy and alignment: Renee knew what they were doing and why, but their team struggled to communicate it in a way that resonated with donors.

"We're a grassroots organization that we founded out of our living room, and it grew very, very quickly," Renee explains. "Each year we have grown and grown, and each year the needs of our family and our reach have grown and grown." The problem was that this growth required a level of grant management that didn't yet exist. "Once you get to that point where you're applying for bigger funding and submitting larger and more complicated proposals, it really can be a full-time job. And it just wasn't one that I had."

Before coming to DBD Group, they had worked with other grant writers, but Renee found their process frustrating. "I felt like they would look at the proposal and then come to me and say, OK, I need you to answer all of these questions," Renee recalls. "For me, that wasn't the help I was looking for. I needed someone who really understood our organization and would be capable of really stepping in on my behalf and taking a generous part of the lift of the proposal."

What became evident in their grant process was that they also struggled with a clear strategy and message, leading to team burnout and funders feeling unsure about how investing in caregivers directly impacts kids.

For Renee, the fundraising started to feel heavier and heavier, as much of the responsibility for development, strategy, and relationship cultivation fell entirely on her shoulders—a weight made heavier by her discomfort with traditional donor cultivation.

Ultimate Goal: Free Leadership to Focus on Impact

What Be the Source needed was a new fundraising strategy that aligned with its growth so the team could focus on the mission. While Renee initially came to DBD Group for support with grant writing, the goal wasn't just to write better proposals—it was to build a sustainable, strategic system that would allow them to scale intentionally.

"We really got to the point where we just needed some help with development, grant writing, and strategy," Renee explains. To do that well, Renee also knew she needed a partner who could help her embrace authenticity in donor relationships without feeling like she had to be someone she wasn't.

Process: Order, Clarity, and Confidence

Building a narrative foundation for grants

We immediately got started on one of the most foundational steps: honing in on the narrative base for grantwriting. "Working with Katrina was a breeze," Renee reflects. "One of the first things we did was just completely revamp our Colorado Common Grant application." This document became their "true north" for all other grants—a carefully crafted narrative that ensures consistency and clarity across all proposals.

Creating operational structure

With a solid foundation in place, we introduced operational structure and discipline to what had been an overwhelming process. "We built a grants calendar to track applications and reporting, and we introduced a clear process for drafting, reviewing, and submitting proposals. We established regular check-ins, creating space for accountability and problem-solving along the way," explains Katrina. Monthly meetings became a sacred time where Renee and Katrina reviewed the grant tracker, assessed progress, identified what needed attention, and moved forward together.

Reframing the impact

Another critical piece was reframing the message around impact. Be the Source's programming is delivered through caregivers, so their early proposals naturally focused on caregiver support. But funders struggled to see how the child was impacted by this support. "DBD really helped us realign our messaging to be child-focused, and that made a big difference in how things were funded," Renee explains. This shift in perspective—moving from "we support caregivers" to "we support children by empowering their caregivers"—opened doors with funders who wanted to invest in child outcomes.

Developing donor relationships

Once the structure and narrative were in place, DBD consultant Sarah Breece helped Renee develop authentic relationships with donors and foundation officers. But rather than teaching her to "schmooze," Sarah helped her embrace who she naturally is. "They were able to help me just really embrace going in authentically and explaining the mission and why it's so important. And that has made it easier for me to do those larger asks without this pressure of feeling like I had to try to be who I thought the funder wanted me to be," Renee shares.

Creating a communication plan

What made donor cultivation even easier for Renee was the development calendar and communication plan that Sarah developed. "Just having a communication plan and a development calendar for the year really keeps me on track as far as who I should be reaching out to. That was something that I just didn't have before. I would do it when I had time, which is really never," Renee explains. For the first time, donor cultivation became a planned, intentional practice rather than something that happened only when there was space.

Rebranding for growth

In 2025, DBD’s Kellie Wardman led them through a focused "strategy sprint" that accelerated the planning process. Working together, the team delivered comprehensive strategic work: an updated mission and vision, clear core values, and a powerful "What We Believe" statement that clarified the organization's position and boundaries.

Throughout the entire process, what made this partnership succeed was our approach of seeking understanding and offering honest guidance. "I really appreciate that they understand us as an agency. They understand what's important to us. And I also appreciate that they are very honest with us. Katrina's told me several times with things that I thought we should apply for... She'll really do a deep dive into the proposal and say, ‘I really don't think this is aligned,’" Renee explains. Rather than chasing every opportunity, DBD Group helped Renee’s team stay true to their core work and seek funders aligned with their true mission.

Outcome & ROI: From Scattershot to Strategic, From Overwhelmed to Empowered

The results have been remarkable. Year-to-date in 2025, Be the Source has secured approximately $180,000 in grant commitments (not including government contracts), and they have another $513,000 in proposals pending with strong probability rates. But these numbers represent far more than dollars. They represent validation that the organization's work matters and that their approach resonates with funders who understand child welfare.

"The organization now operates with an organized and proactive grants program," notes DBD consultant Katrina Crook. "Renee no longer feels overwhelmed by deadlines, and the organization has a reliable process that drives efficiency and impact."

Perhaps most importantly, Be the Source feels more confident about its strategy. Renee describes a conscious shift in their approach: "There was a point for me and for Katrina when we decided, you know, we're not going to spend a lot of our time anymore on these $5,000 $10,000 proposals. We're going to be spending more of our time on these $100,000 $200,000 proposals." This wasn't just about asking for more money—it was about focusing energy where it would have the greatest impact.

This focus has translated into real growth. "We want to say when we started, we maybe had four staff. We're up to nine now," Renee reflects. "The impact has really improved as well, not only in the number of families we're able to serve, but in how we present that impact. It has made the difference in big companies sending teddy bears versus big companies saying, ‘Let us pay for the Kinship Caregivers Therapy.’ Both are appreciated, but I would argue that paying for the Kinship Caregivers Therapy will benefit those children much, much longer into the future."

Now, Be the Source attracts funders committed to meaningful, systems-level change rather than just surface-level support.

Key Learnings & Discoveries

The journey with DBD Group revealed several insights for any small nonprofit considering their fundraising approach.

Consistency compounds growth. Small, intentional, consistent actions in donor cultivation and stewardship compound over time. Regular monthly check-ins, planned communications, and a structured grants calendar transformed what felt like chaos into a manageable rhythm. "Those habits are becoming part of the organization's culture and will serve them well for years to come," notes Katrina.
Clarity creates capacity. By developing clear organizational language—a "true north" in their mission, vision, values, and impact statement—nonprofits communicate with more confidence and consistency. "It was really important to us that our team and our board and even our clients were all using the same language to describe us and our services," Renee explains. This alignment, though simple, had profound effects on everything from proposal writing to staff onboarding to donor conversations.
Strategic precision beats volume. The temptation to chase every funding opportunity is real, especially for resource-strapped nonprofits. Be the Source learned that focus and intentionality yield better results than scattershot applications. "We've spent a lot of time in the past twisting ourselves like a pretzel to try to fit what a funder is funding. And since working with DBD Group, we don't do that anymore. We focus on what it is we do. We know it's important and there are funders for it," Renee reflects. This shift freed the organization to pursue grants aligned with its actual mission rather than creating programming to chase funding.
Authenticity is an asset, not a liability. For Renee, learning to bring her genuine self to donor conversations—rather than trying to become a polished fundraiser—was confidence-boosting. "Going in authentically and explaining the mission and why it's so important" proved far more effective than any attempt to embody a different persona. This matters for any nonprofit leader who questions whether they're "fundraiser enough."
Funders will care about your story when it's connected to impact. The shift from caregiver-focused messaging to child-focused messaging wasn't about being dishonest—it was about helping funders see the full picture. "Being able to design our story so that it's understandable to folks who really don't understand child welfare was key for us. And being able to do that succinctly was really the difference in having funders say, ‘Ah, OK, yes, I see why this is so important’," Renee explains.
Small organizations can achieve big results with the right support. Be the Source's transformation proves that nonprofit size doesn't determine potential. "We're still a very small agency, and we can't do it all. We really do lean on our partners like DBD Group to help us move forward and present as professionally as possible," Renee says. Capacity building isn't just for large organizations. It's often most impactful for small teams carrying ambitious loads.

Conclusion: Don't Go it Alone

DBD Group's 20-year journey has been defined by our work with nonprofits like Be the Source and many others—meeting leaders where they are, understanding their unique challenges, and providing practical tools paired with personal encouragement. "With DBD's help, we've really been able to get to the next level of our nonprofit," Renee reflects. "DBD walked alongside us and got us to that elevated level."

When asked what she'd tell other small nonprofits considering DBD Group, Renee said, "It is 100% worth the investment. It will change the way you present your agency. It will change the way you submit proposals. And it really will change the way you're seen by funders. You will be better understood. You will be funded better. And what that really means then is that you can do more of the work that you know is so important."

This is why we exist—to free nonprofit leaders from the burden of figuring it all out alone and to create the conditions for organizations to thrive.

Your cause matters. Let's ensure it's thriving!

If your nonprofit is navigating similar challenges—whether you're drowning in grant deadlines, struggling to communicate your impact, or feeling like you're wearing too many hats—know that you don't have to figure this out alone. Connect with DBD Group to explore how strategic planning, grant program development, and fundraising coaching can help your organization move from surviving to thriving.