Traditionally, grantmaking is straightforward: the wealthy donate to the less fortunate to address societal issues. But here at Mission Edge, we want funders to bring an awareness of power and equity. Trust-Based Philanthropy seeks to rebalance the power dynamics in philanthropy. At its foundation, it acknowledges the reality that philanthropy has contributed to systemic inequities.

Qualcomm’s racial justice initiative sought to allocate $500,000 across 10 different organizations, each actively working to dismantle racial injustices in unique ways. Mission Edge facilitated this process, making sure the initiative was not just about financial support, but that it also brought employees together to engage in meaningful dialogues on racial justice.

A veteran, death doula, and educator, Dr. Qwynn Salazar is on a mission to ignite change in how we provide end-of-life care for those who served in the military. That’s why she started her organization, In Their Honor (ITH), in 2021 — to raise awareness and address veterans’ challenges as they approach the end of their lives.

Founder Thulani Ngazimbi comes from a diverse background in product development and sales. Currently based in Portugal, Thulani wanted to expand his business in both the US and European markets, but the currency exchange was causing him to run into some issues.

At the time Andrea joined Mission Edge, her primary challenge was profitability. Despite the fact that they’d been able to generate significant revenue, the company was still incurring losses. Andrea knew she needed help identifying areas to cut costs and improve margins, as well as advice on how to allocate an employee retention tax credit payment she received as she was going through our program.

Sometimes you just need a perspective check before you move forward. After working with us, Angela had better insight into her financial situation and was able to develop a clear plan for how much income she’d need to keep pursuing her DJ career while simultaneously preparing for parenting full-time.

Daniel “DJ Danny” Torres is a SoCal-based professional wedding and corporate event DJ. With the ultimate goal of opening his own venue space, Danny needed some assistance setting up for long-term success. He started working with Mission Edge seeking help to set revenue goals and optimize his pricing strategy.

Here at Mission Edge, we’ve seen countless small to medium sized business owners like you go from overwhelmed and anxious about their finances to in-control and knowledgeable. We believe that working with an experienced, unbiased professional is the best way to get unstuck from whatever is holding you back and finally work toward unlocking your business’s full potential.

San Diego Gas and Electric came to Mission Edge at the beginning of the summer wanting help with getting their interns connected to the San Diego community in a meaningful way. We partnered with SDGE to facilitate a virtual social impact project for more than 40 of their summer interns who were eager to make a difference in the community through their roles supporting nonprofit partners.

When Illumina came to Mission Edge three years ago, they wanted to facilitate a volunteer project that engaged an important cohort: interns. Their goal was to help early-stage professionals understand that community engagement is an integral part of working at Illumina. Now, for the third year in a row working with the biotechnology company, we’re creating a virtual volunteer project for Illumina’s summer interns.

Mission Edge came alongside Qualcomm to advocate for nonprofits and provide Qualcomm’s employees with the information they needed to make selection decisions. Because Mission Edge understands both corporate and nonprofit cultures, we were able to create a CSR program that truly meets the needs of local nonprofits, and helped Qualcomm select partners that fit within the giving goals of the program.

Through our fiscal sponsorship program, we provided the Bro-Am with full-service accounting and human resources services, as well as a proven nonprofit structure to operate within. The partnership allowed the band to focus on focus on planning their art, community impact, signature events and fundraising, leaving nonprofit management and logistics to the experts (us).

Alicia Fox is passionate about helping her clients achieve a healthy lifestyle. While growth is a good thing, Alicia and her two employees were feeling overwhelmed by the size of their new business, and the growing to-do list that went along with it.

If the words “finance coach” put a bad taste in your mouth, you’re not alone. A small-business financial coach will help you create a plan that covers everything from basic business concepts to managing your cash flow. Rather than a one-size-fits-all plan, you’ll get advice and insight tailored to where you currently are as a business and where you want to go.

If you’re a CEO or business leader on a mission to do more than increase your profit margin or enhance your bottom line, you might be wondering if it makes sense to have a fiscal sponsor. But how should you know if fiscal sponsorship is the right move for you? Let's define fiscal sponsorship, explore the different types, and debunk common fiscal sponsorship myths.

A finance coach is an experienced financial professional who partners with small businesses to provide strategic financial guidance, expertise, and support. (Around here, we like to call them CFOs or “finance experts.”) They work closely with business owners and leadership teams to understand the company's goals, financial challenges, and growth strategies.

In December of 2020, Irani started Rombomb Burger, a San Diego catering business he hoped to expand into a thriving mobile burger joint. But trying to provide for his family with a patty-flipping, burger-slinging business during a pandemic proved tricky at best. Here’s how our finance experts helped Romin add a little meat to his budding burger business.

Over our nine-year partnership, we’ve been able to empower Mid-City CAN through fiscal sponsorship to focus on its mission and development efforts, including securing federal funding. All of these efforts paid off when they were able to launch their own independent 501(c)(3) organization. Mission Edge helped them hire more people, increase their impact, and support their community.

When you start out in a small business, you don’t always have the luxury of perspective, or the resources to know what to avoid before it’s “too late.” We created the Impact Lab as a free program to help small business owners like you figure out what’s holding them back, and help them work toward their goals with solid, data-driven planning and personalized, community-based support.

Due to their expertise in Brazilian cuisine, Jane and Eduardo had no problem coming up with a large variety of products to offer their customers. But over time, they began to have difficulties keeping up with inventory management and allocating time. Mission Edge helped them to have a more accurate perception of their business costs and future growth opportunities.