The Story Behind the Work

Fundraising Is More Than Money

When people hear the word fundraising, they often think about a dollar amount: a grant, a sponsorship, a campaign goal, or a donation.

But fundraising has never been only about money.

It is about investment.

A volunteer invests their time. A mentor invests their wisdom. A staff member invests their skills. A donor invests their trust. A community partner invests relationships, credibility, and reach.

Money is one form of investment. The deeper work is helping people understand what their investment makes possible and building the systems needed to honor it.

I learned that lesson through service long before I ever had the words for it.

The Grant That Changed How I Saw Myself

My first grant application was written with the help of a director who believed in me.

At the time, I was a high school dropout. I had already spent time in a state-level ECAP program and was advocating at the state and federal levels for our early learning center as it navigated a budget crisis shaped by mandatory minimum requirements.

I was learning how funding decisions affected social programs. I was comparing how different states supported community services, while trying to find creative ways to protect a program that mattered deeply to families like mine.

The grant was for an art program at Shelton’s early learning center.

That center had been our home for two years. Before November 2019, my family had experienced three years of homelessness. The center became a sanctuary for my daughter. Her classroom became a bedroom. The playground became a backyard. Family-style meals became a comfort that felt like Sunday dinner.

In the grant letter, I wrote about how my daughter learned to create stories through pictures before she could write words. I wrote about how art could help children thrive during difficult seasons and give families something beautiful to hold onto.

I did not know I was capable of creating something beautiful until I wrote that letter.

That moment changed the way I saw myself. It showed me that my lived experience was not a limitation. It was a perspective. I could recognize needs, connect them to solutions, communicate why they mattered, and help other people see the value of investing in them.

Service Became My Education

My first introduction to nonprofit work came through court-ordered community service at a local food pantry. What could have become a label became a doorway.

I learned how to organize distribution, coordinate volunteers, stretch limited resources, and serve people with dignity.

What began as an obligation became one of the most formative experiences of my life.

That opportunity eventually led me across the country and around the world. As a young woman, I served in Mozambique, supporting orphan care, food purchasing, and medical clinics in communities without reliable running water or electricity. I did not speak the language, and I worked in a high-conflict environment.

It taught me how to lead under pressure, solve problems creatively, and build trust across differences.

During one of the lowest seasons of my life, service gave me a way to keep moving. I became a group facilitator for women experiencing substance use and domestic violence. That work led to teaching classes, facilitating support groups, and working alongside organizations serving survivors of trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.

I also found my own educational path through a nonprofit that offered ESL and adult education courses. Again and again, nonprofits created openings for me when traditional systems did not know what to do with me.

What the Work Kept Showing Me

Across food pantries, shelters, crisis centers, schools, churches, advocacy organizations, and educational programs, I kept seeing the same pattern:

The people closest to the mission were often carrying the greatest responsibility with the fewest resources.

They cared deeply. They understood their communities. They knew what needed to change.

What they often lacked was the time, staffing, structure, funding strategy, communications support, or organizational capacity to keep moving forward without burning out or losing important knowledge along the way.

Passion is powerful, but passion cannot be the only system holding an organization together.

That is why fundraising matters.

Fundraising is not simply asking people for money. It is building relationships, communicating purpose, identifying shared values, inviting people into meaningful investment, and creating the structure to steward that investment well.

Why I Founded Shanks Development Group

I founded Shanks Development Group because nonprofits deserve more than outside advice. They deserve someone willing to step into the work, understand the pressure, organize what already exists, protect what should not be lost, and help build the structure behind the mission.

My approach is practical, relationship-centered, and rooted in possibility.

I listen first. I look for what is working, what is missing, and what can be strengthened. I help organizations clarify their stories, strengthen development systems, connect fundraising to mission, and communicate their impact with dignity and purpose.

Clients do not need someone with a one-size-fits-all answer. They need someone who can step into complexity, see what matters, and find a way forward.

I believe there is always a way to move the work forward and I am committed to finding it with you.

Because behind every grant, every database, every board report, every campaign, every volunteer hour, and every story is a person whose life may change because someone chose to keep showing up.

That is the story behind the work.

You change lives. We help more people see why.

Michala Shanks

Founder, Shanks Development Group