Alex Koenigsberg was recently honored as the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” for Northern Colorado At the National Institute for Social Impact’s PRISM Awards, as well as “Top Five Under 40” by Colorado Biz Magazine’s Gen XYZ Awards. Alex is revolutionizing how grant writing is done in the non-profit world, and his daring risk-sharing payment scheme caught the attention of both organizations.
His philosophy is that it is unequitable for a non-profit entity to take all the financial risk when hiring a grant writer, especially with no guarantee of a payoff. A typical grant writer is paid in full at the time of submitting a grant, while the non-profit waits to see if the application is successful. Alex believes that a for-profit business shouldn’t be guaranteed a paycheck at the expense of a charity.
His business model accepts a small percentage of the fee upfront, but the rest of the pre-determined fee is awarded on a contingency basis. That is, full payment is due only if the grant is successful. This ensures that Alex shares in the risk with his non-profit partners.
His self-founded company, Arula, implements this business model with non-profits across Northern Colorado. Alex has grown the business to four employees since October of 2020, with plans to hire his fifth employee in August.
The PRISM Awards are an annual award celebration for individuals and businesses who make a positive social or charitable impact in the community. It is run by the National Institute for Social Impact, an education-based social enterprise to raise awareness about individuals and groups doing good work in the community.
The Gen XYZ Awards celebrate the young Colorado professionals who are making an out-sized impact in their industries. Each year, they announce 50 finalists and award the Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals.