Keystone Impact Consulting Group offers private foundation consulting through three core services: (1) Foundation Clarity Sessions, a structured diagnostic to assess foundation operations and deliver a prioritized roadmap; (2) Fractional Program Director support, providing senior-level help with grantmaking calendars, process oversight, grantee communication, and board reporting; and (3) Scholarship Program Design, supporting the design and launch of scholarship programs aligned with IRS requirements and operational best practices. These services help lean private foundations strengthen operations, improve grantmaking systems, and build scholarship programs with stronger structure and oversight.

A Foundation Clarity Session is a 90-minute structured diagnostic designed to assess your foundation’s current operations, identify gaps in processes such as board reporting, grantmaking workflows, compliance-related practices, and impact measurement, and deliver a prioritized roadmap of recommendations. It is a low-risk way to get an experienced outside perspective on your operations and determine whether additional support makes sense for your foundation. This is a practical operational assessment that gives you actionable next steps, whether you hire us or not.

A fractional program director is a senior-level consultant who provides part-time program operations support to your foundation, often in the range of 10–15 hours per week depending on scope. Unlike traditional consultants who primarily make recommendations, a fractional program director typically provides ongoing hands-on support with functions such as managing the grantmaking calendar, stewarding grantee communication, preparing board materials, supporting compliance-related processes, and offering strategic guidance. This model gives lean foundations access to experienced program leadership without the full cost, benefits, and HR infrastructure of a full-time hire. Fractional program directors often bring 10–20 years of hands-on grantmaking or philanthropic program experience, along with tested systems from managing programs at scale.

Full-time Program Directors typically involve a significantly higher Year 1 cost once salary, benefits, payroll taxes, recruiting, onboarding, and infrastructure are included. Depending on the market and role design, the all-in cost for a director-level hire may land around $110,000–$180,000 or more, and it often takes 3–6 months to reach full effectiveness. Fractional Program Director support typically ranges from $48,000–$78,000 annually, depending on scope, and can often begin improving systems and stabilizing priorities within the first few weeks. Fractional support also offers more flexibility to scale up, scale down, or end the engagement as your foundation’s needs change. In many cases, fractional providers also bring more senior hands-on grantmaking experience than a foundation can typically hire full-time at a lean staffing level.

Fractional Program Director services are priced based on scope and can range from several thousand dollars per month to $10,000+ for more complex, high-touch engagements. For example, engagements might include around $4,000 per month for one core program area, $5,500 per month for two program areas, and $6,500 per month for broader grantmaking operations support, including calendar management, board reporting, process oversight, impact measurement, and related program operations. For many lean foundations, this can be less expensive than hiring a full-time director-level employee, whose Year 1 all-in cost is often substantially higher once salary, benefits, payroll taxes, recruiting, and infrastructure are included. Fractional support provides senior-level experience without recruiting fees, benefits, or a long ramp-up period.

Scholarship program design varies based on the program’s size, structure, and compliance requirements. Simpler programs typically require less design work, while more complex programs, such as those involving multiple eligibility criteria, application and review processes, award documentation, disbursement tracking, and launch guidance through the first cycle, require a more substantial investment.

This work is typically structured as a one-time design engagement to build a clear, compliant, and repeatable program. Ongoing administration or management is scoped separately. Because each program is  different, pricing is determined after an initial conversation to understand scope and needs.

Yes. For fractional program director services, Keystone Impact Consulting Group requires a 3-month minimum commitment. For scholarship program design, the engagement typically runs 3-6 months from initial design through first award disbursement. Foundation Clarity Sessions are one-time engagements with no ongoing commitment required.

We primarily work with lean private and family foundations that operate with small or no internal staff and are looking to strengthen their grantmaking operations. Generally, our clients give at a moderate annual level and focus on areas such as education, youth, or community impact, though our work is not limited to specific issue areas.

Our best-fit clients are foundations that have a clear vision for what they want to accomplish but need support building the processes, materials, reporting, and oversight structures to execute effectively without hiring a full-time program director. We support both established foundations refining their operations and newer foundations building infrastructure.

Our primary focus is private and family foundations because their operational needs tend to align best with fractional program director support. We may also occasionally work with small community foundations or lean corporate foundations that need project-based support, such as scholarship programs, grantmaking, program development, or board governance. If you’re not sure whether we’re a fit, a Foundation Clarity Session is a good place to start. We’ll assess your needs and give you an honest answer about whether our services make sense for your foundation.

New foundations are often a strong fit for our services because it is easier to build sound operations from the beginning rather than to fix weak systems later. We help newer foundations establish grantmaking procedures and calendars, documentation, and tracking to support 990-PF reporting, board reporting frameworks, impact measurement practices, and internal decision-making processes. If your foundation has been operating for less than two years and you’re still figuring out how to structure the work, we can help build the operational foundation you need.

Most scholarship programs take about 3–6 months to move from design to the start of the first award cycle, though timing depends on program complexity, decision-making timelines, and award cycles. A typical timeline includes: (1) Program design and board approval (approximately 3–6 weeks) to define goals, eligibility, and selection criteria and obtain board approval; (2) Application development (approximately 1–2 weeks) to build the application, create the evaluation rubric, and establish basic tracking; (3) Launch and application period (typically 2–3 months) to announce the scholarship and accept applications; (4) Selection and award (approximately 3–4 weeks) to review applications, support committee deliberation, and notify recipients; and (5) Disbursement (ongoing) to verify enrollment and release funds according to the program structure. Many foundations begin planning in the fall for the following academic year. Faster timelines are sometimes possible, but rushing the process can create preventable operational and compliance issues, and timelines should align with when students apply and with school deadlines such as admission, registration, and enrollment.

A typical engagement begins with a short assessment and transition period. In Weeks 1–2, we review your current grantmaking processes, board materials, reporting practices, and key operational documents, and meet with key stakeholders such as the ED, board chair, or staff. In Week 3, we provide a written assessment that identifies gaps and recommends priority improvements. In Weeks 4–5, implementation begins: we start supporting day-to-day program operations, such as grantee communication, board packet preparation, and tracking processes, while also building stronger systems. Many clients begin to feel meaningful operational relief within the first 1–2 months, with stronger systems taking shape over the first few months of the engagement. Because fractional program directors bring tested processes from prior work, they can often begin contributing more quickly than a new full-time hire who is new to the role.

Communication depends on the service. For Fractional Program Director engagements, we typically have one weekly check-in call of about 30–60 minutes, along with asynchronous communication by email as needed. Before board meetings, communication often increases to ensure materials are ready and leadership feels prepared. For urgent issues, clients have direct access by email and phone. For Scholarship Program Design engagements, we usually meet weekly during the active design phase, then shift to a lighter cadence during implementation. For Foundation Clarity Sessions, the engagement includes one 90-minute session and recommendations delivered within five business days.

Our founder, Michelle Abril, brings 14+ years of foundation and philanthropic operations experience. Her background includes managing $2.7 million in annual grantmaking, overseeing scholarship programs serving 800 recipients annually, contributing to $13 million in endowment-related strategy, and serving on allocation committees overseeing $10 million+ in annual giving. She has worked on both sides of the grantmaking process, both as a nonprofit fundraiser securing major gifts and writing proposals and as a foundation professional reviewing them, which gives her a practical understanding of what makes grantmaking systems work for both funders and applicants.

Yes. Private foundation scholarship programs are subject to IRS rules for grants to individuals. We design scholarship programs to align with applicable IRS requirements and operational best practices, including selection procedures, evaluation rubrics, documentation systems, and tracking processes. Our approach is informed by relevant IRS guidance. We do not provide legal or tax advice, but we help foundations build operationally sound scholarship programs.

We design board reporting systems that help foundations answer the questions boards most often ask: What are we funding? Is it working? What are we learning? Where are the risks? Instead of overwhelming board members with long packets full of grantee materials, we help foundations create streamlined quarterly board briefs that may include a grantmaking dashboard, outcome highlights, key lessons and adjustments, a short risk watchlist, and clear questions where board input is needed.

Yes. We help foundations address common board meeting challenges, such as repeated questions that are not clearly answered or carried forward, agendas overloaded with updates rather than strategic discussion, blurred boundaries between the board and management, and reporting that does not give board members sufficient confidence in what they are hearing.

Under Internal Revenue Code Section 4945, scholarship grants made by private foundations to individuals are considered taxable expenditures unless awarded under a procedure approved in advance by the IRS. These procedures must ensure recipients are selected on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis using criteria that align with the program’s charitable purpose. The foundation must also maintain adequate records and demonstrate that funds are used for qualified educational purposes in accordance with IRS requirements.

Paying the educational institution directly is often the most straightforward administrative approach when a scholarship is intended for qualified education expenses, as the school can verify enrollment and apply funds to tuition and required fees. When scholarships are paid directly to students, the program should maintain documentation showing that funds were used for qualified expenses, as defined under Internal Revenue Code Section 117. Many programs also structure awards in installments tied to enrollment verification and continued academic progress. For private foundations, these practices also support compliance with Internal Revenue Code Section 4945.

We help foundations move beyond activity reporting (“we served 150 youth”) to understanding results (“participants improved reading levels based on pre/post assessments”). Our approach can be built into your existing grantmaking process: we define clear, measurable outcomes for each grant upfront, align grantee reporting to capture evidence of progress (not just anecdotes), build in mid-cycle check-ins so adjustments can be made in real time, and provide board-level summaries that highlight what’s working across the portfolio and where to refine strategy. We focus on practical, right-sized measurement—going deep enough to generate credible insights without requiring complex or resource-intensive evaluation.

Book a Foundation Clarity Session. This 90-minute structured diagnostic gives us a chance to assess your operations, identify gaps, and determine if we're a good fit and it gives you a prioritized roadmap of recommendations, whether you hire us or not. After the Clarity Session, if fractional support makes sense, we'll propose a scope of work tailored to your foundation's needs. If not, we'll tell you honestly and refer you to other resources. No high-pressure sales, no obligation. Just a clear assessment of what your foundation needs and whether we're the right people to help.

That’s exactly why the Foundation Clarity Session exists. Foundations often come in unsure whether they need additional support, can continue managing with current systems, or are “too small” for dedicated program operations. The Clarity Session is designed to bring structure to that decision by helping you assess: the true operational load (which can add up quickly when program management is fully mapped out), what may be falling through the cracks (such as impact tracking, compliance details, or internal alignment), what stronger systems could look like in practice, and the potential return on investing in operations versus maintaining the status quo. In some cases, the outcome is simply a few targeted improvements. In others, it becomes clear that additional support would create meaningful leverage. Either way, the goal is clarity so you can make an informed decision.

We work remotely. Our services are delivered through video calls, email, and cloud-based collaboration tools, allowing us to integrate seamlessly with your team regardless of location. This applies across all offerings—from fractional program director support to scholarship program design and Foundation Clarity Sessions.