Grass Roots Solutions
Grass Roots Solutions is a Minneapolis-based progressive engagement strategy and evaluation consulting firm, founded in 1999, serving foundations, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns with strategy design, program evaluation, and leadership coaching delivered by a 15-person distributed practitioner team.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersMinneapolis, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Grass Roots Solutions does
Grass Roots Solutions (legal entity Grassroots Solutions, Inc.) is a Minneapolis-headquartered, privately held professional services firm founded in 1999 by Dan Cramer and Robert Richman after their work on U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone's campaigns. The firm operates as one of the earliest progressive engagement strategy and evaluation consultancies in the United States, delivering three core service lines: Engagement Strategy (program, campaign, and strategic planning design), Purposeful Evaluation (program evaluation, organizational capacity assessment, and strategic learning), and Coaching and Advising (one-to-one leadership coaching and donor advising). All work is delivered through a 'practitioner approach' in which every principal and senior strategist has personally led campaigns, run nonprofits, drafted policy, or organized labor.
The firm's client base is concentrated in U.S. progressive philanthropy and advocacy, with publicly disclosed relationships including the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Democracy Fund, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Open Society Foundations, SEIU, Planned Parenthood, Center for American Progress, Sandy Hook Promise, and State Voices, alongside hundreds of additional clients served over 27 years. It operates as a distributed team of approximately 15 individuals across 10 U.S. states with no proprietary technology platform, no venture funding, and no disclosed parent entity. In 2021 the firm transitioned to majority women-owned status under co-owners Anne Johnson and Lindsay Hanson.
The go-to-market motion is sales-led and relationship-driven, relying on direct consulting engagements sourced through professional networks, the firm-published Insights blog, conference presentations (including the American Evaluation Association's #EVAL24), and a website contact form. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and engagement terms are negotiated per project. In 2025 the four co-owners announced the firm will wind down operations at the end of the year, making this analysis effectively retrospective for forward investment decisions.
Grass Roots Solutions firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Grass Roots Solutions
- Legal name
- Grassroots Solutions, Inc.
- Website
- https://grassrootssolutions.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Grass Roots Solutions is a Minneapolis-based progressive engagement strategy and evaluation consulting firm, founded in 1999, serving foundations, advocacy organizations, and political campaigns with strategy design, program evaluation, and leadership coaching delivered by a 15-person distributed practitioner team.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Grass Roots Solutions is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Minneapolis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices9 records
Markets served
Grass Roots Solutions business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Engagement Strategy Consulting: Strategy, program, and campaign design services for civic engagement, community power building, and advocacy organizations. Includes strategic planning and landscape research and assessments.
- Purposeful Evaluation: Program and strategy evaluation, organizational capacity assessment, and strategic learning services for foundations and nonprofit organizations. Supports building community power and tackling oppression through evaluation as leverage.
- Coaching & Advising: One-to-one leadership coaching, ongoing strategic advising to leadership teams, and donor advising services for individual leaders, institutional philanthropists, and organizations.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Grass Roots Solutions product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Grass Roots Solutions is an engagement strategy and evaluation consulting firm serving progressive organizations, foundations, advocacy groups, and political campaigns. Its three core offerings are Engagement Strategy (strategy, program and campaign design, strategic planning, landscape research), Purposeful Evaluation (program and strategy evaluation, organizational capacity assessment, strategic learning), and Coaching & Advising (one-to-one leadership coaching, ongoing strategic advising, donor advising). Services are delivered by a practitioner team with direct experience running campaigns, nonprofits, and advocacy work.
Product overview
Grass Roots Solutions is an engagement strategy and evaluation consulting firm offering three core service offerings: Engagement Strategy (strategy, program and campaign design), Purposeful Evaluation (program evaluation, organizational capacity assessment, and strategic learning), and Coaching & Advising (one-to-one coaching, strategic advising, and donor advising). The firm also produces research resources including the Built to Last platform for organizer development and the Tilling the Soil report on organizer learning. All services are delivered through a practitioner approach by a team with direct experience in campaigns, advocacy, and organizing.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Engagement Strategy Strategy, program, and campaign design services including strategic planning and landscape research and assessments that help progressive clients build power and achieve their visions. Designed for foundations, nonprofits, advocacy groups, and political campaigns seeking civic engagement strategy, program design, and campaign support.
- Purposeful Evaluation Program and strategy evaluation, organizational capacity assessment, landscape research and assessment, and strategy design. Evaluation is positioned as purposeful leverage that supports building community power and tackling oppression. Designed for foundations and nonprofit organizations seeking to assess grantmaking strategies and document theory of change.
- Coaching & Advising Advisory services including one-to-one coaching for emerging and existing leaders, ongoing strategic advising to leadership teams, and donor advising to match donors with needed work. Designed for progressive leaders, executives of social change organizations, elected officials, and institutional philanthropists.
- Built to Last: Developing and Sustaining Organizers Online resource platform bringing together findings, resources, and insights from two major projects on community organizing: the Organizer Learning Project and the Organizer Staffing Stories of Practice Project. Designed for organizations seeking to build resilient teams and sustain community organizing work.
Quantifiable outcome
- Partnered with hundreds of clients working for progressive change since 1999
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Grass Roots Solutions
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Grass Roots Solutions technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Grass Roots Solutions partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Grass Roots Solutions competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- CompassPoint Nonprofit Services: CompassPoint provides management consulting, leadership development, and capacity-building services to nonprofits and foundations. Strong overlap in strategy, evaluation, and organizational development work for progressive clients.
- 270 Strategies: 270 Strategies is a progressive campaign and organizing consultancy working with nonprofits, unions, and political campaigns on engagement strategy and field operations. Overlapping expertise in campaign design and progressive base-building makes it a strong comparable.
- The Management Center: The Management Center is a nonprofit management consulting firm focused on building strong, equitable, and sustainable nonprofit organizations. The two firms share values-driven consulting approaches and overlapping client segments in the progressive nonprofit space.
- La Piana Consulting: La Piana Consulting is a national nonprofit strategy and management consulting firm serving foundations and advocacy organizations with strategic planning, mergers, and organizational development. Directly comparable in service offerings and client type.
- Frontline Solutions: Frontline Solutions is a direct peer providing campaign, training, and strategic consulting to progressive organizations, with overlapping client base in civic engagement, advocacy, and movement-building. The two firms compete for the same foundation and nonprofit engagements in the progressive ecosystem.
- TCC Group: TCC Group is a management consulting firm serving foundations, nonprofits, and philanthropic institutions with strategy, evaluation, and capacity-building services. The two firms directly compete for foundation evaluation and strategic learning engagements.
Broad incumbents
- Arabella Advisors: Arabella Advisors is a larger philanthropy advisory firm providing strategic guidance to donors, foundations, and impact-oriented investors. It operates in the same philanthropic advisory space but with broader service offerings including impact investing and donor-led strategy.
- The Bridgespan Group: The Bridgespan Group is a large nonprofit consulting firm advising on strategy, leadership, and organizational effectiveness for foundations and nonprofits. It is broader in scope and scale than Grass Roots Solutions but operates in the same foundation/nonprofit consulting category.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Grass Roots Solutions social profiles
Digital presenceGrass Roots Solutions financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Grass Roots Solutions leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles14 records
Grass Roots Solutions funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Grass Roots Solutions M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Grass Roots Solutions
What does Grass Roots Solutions do?
Grass Roots Solutions is an engagement strategy and evaluation consulting firm serving progressive organizations, foundations, advocacy groups, and political campaigns. Its three core offerings are Engagement Strategy (strategy, program and campaign design, strategic planning, landscape research), Purposeful Evaluation (program and strategy evaluation, organizational capacity assessment, strategic learning), and Coaching & Advising (one-to-one leadership coaching, ongoing strategic advising, donor advising). Services are delivered by a practitioner team with direct experience running campaigns, nonprofits, and advocacy work.
Is Grass Roots Solutions a public or private company?
Grass Roots Solutions is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Grass Roots Solutions founded?
Grass Roots Solutions was founded in 1999. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Grass Roots Solutions based?
Grass Roots Solutions is headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Grass Roots Solutions make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Engagement Strategy Consulting is the primary driver. The others are purposeful Evaluation and coaching & Advising.
Who are Grass Roots Solutions's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 270 Strategies, The Management Center, La Piana Consulting, Frontline Solutions and TCC Group. Broad incumbents are Arabella Advisors and The Bridgespan Group.
Does Grass Roots Solutions have an API?
No public API is recorded for Grass Roots Solutions.