ECS is a leading provider of social services in the Greater Philadelphia region that challenges and reduces intergenerational poverty by increasing the ability of people to improve their lives and achieve economic independence. For more than 10 years, Fairmount has provided resource development support for this 154-year legacy organization known for adapting, innovating, and pivoting its services to meet Philadelphia’s most pressing needs.
As part of the organization’s evolution, several years ago ECS set a big goal to shift from its role as a poverty alleviation organization into a transformation agency that helps families leave intergenerational poverty for good. To achieve this, ECS began to transform every element of how the organization performs, measures, and approaches its work. This shift in organizational strategy coincided with Advancement staff transition. As a partner in building the organization’s institutional funding strategy, Fairmount continued to manage a robust grants calendar, taking on roles typically handled by staff, while adding new opportunities to the pipeline in support of ECS’ evolving programmatic focus.
In 2019, ECS launched the MindSet program, which takes a long and deep approach to ensure program participants are in a position to successfully lift themselves and their families out of poverty. This program, which can take up to seven years to complete and includes resources like a 2:1 saving match, required new, robust funding sources to ensure its success and sustainability. Fairmount developed the organization’s three-year 2021 Strategic Plan that affirmed ECS’ organizational direction, which was complemented by our ongoing institutional support that secured funding to launch, sustain, and grow its intensive, long-term economic mobility program. During the plan’s subsequent implementation years, Fairmount has helped ECS raise more than $2M in institutional support for its evolving programs, while continually identifying new opportunities to sustain, expand, and enhance services.