In this episode of The First Day from The Fund Raising School, Bill Stanczykiewicz, Ed.D., is joined by Jasmin Johnson, executive director and founding staff member of the Baton Rouge Area Youth Network, to discuss fundraising for intermediary organizations. Unlike nonprofits that provide direct services, intermediaries strengthen the organizations doing that work through coordination, partnerships, and capacity building. Johnson explains how the Baton Rouge Area Youth Network, known as BRAYN, began as a volunteer-led network of out-of-school-time programs and expanded to connect educators, health care providers, mental health organizations, and other youth-serving partners. Its four pillars, connect, strengthen, align, and sustain, frame a distinctive fundraising challenge: helping donors understand the value of an organization whose impact happens through the work of others.
Johnson explains that making this case begins with showing what coordination makes possible and what fragmentation can prevent. Providers benefit from stronger partnerships and shared resources, families gain help navigating services, government benefits from stronger community infrastructure, and funders gain better visibility across their investments. These outcomes may develop slowly and extend across multiple organizations, making them harder to communicate than the number of children participating in a particular program. Bill and Jasmin emphasize that intermediaries must make those connections visible. A gift supports the infrastructure that helps many organizations work more effectively, giving donors an opportunity to strengthen services across a community.
Bill and Jasmin also explore how intermediaries can raise money without competing against the organizations they support. Johnson describes a decision-making matrix that she and her board use to evaluate opportunities, guard against mission drift, and avoid creating problems for their partners. That commitment has meant passing on funding opportunities that would place BRAYN in competition with the providers it exists to help. For Johnson, these decisions are essential to trust. An intermediary cannot credibly promise to strengthen other organizations while making it harder for them to secure resources. Bill notes that this intentional approach applies to all nonprofits, encouraging fundraisers to consider whether a funding opportunity advances their mission and supports the relationships their work requires.
The central takeaway is that an intermediary’s value includes becoming a trusted place for answers, connections, and support. Johnson shares the example of a pediatrician who received funding for an obesity prevention program but needed guidance on youth development, illustrating how expertise in one field does not automatically provide every tool needed to serve young people effectively. She also describes BRAYN’s school partnerships, which involve identifying needs, connecting providers, and assessing whether programs are prepared to operate safely and effectively. Shared standards, practical tools, and coordination all become part of the case for support. For fundraisers, the lesson is to connect that behind-the-scenes work to the people who ultimately benefit. The immediate support may go to organizations, but the purpose remains stronger services for children, families, and communities.
