What Seiche does

Seiche is a privately-held social impact strategy and communications consulting firm founded in 2017 by Katie Eukel and Tom Elko and headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with a small distributed team across the United States (1-10 employees, six named including the co-founders, a Creative Director, two Directors, a Creative Senior Associate, and a Director of Finance and Operations). The firm serves philanthropies, foundations, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and government agencies working on systems change, equity, racial justice, climate, and community empowerment. The company operates with an explicit growth-limiting philosophy, embedded as a founding value, rejecting growth for its own sake and committing to scale only in service of impact.

The firm offers three integrated service lines delivered as professional consulting engagements: Actionable Research (stakeholder research, landscape analysis, program assessments, and data synthesis); Strategy & Planning (organizational strategy, campaign development, digital strategy, and executive coaching); and Creative Communications (multimedia content development, narrative strategy, communications capacity building, and digital advertising). Seiche does not develop or sell proprietary technology, software, or AI products; its "platform" is its multidisciplinary team and methodology. The firm's research outputs feed strategy, which in turn guides creative communications execution, allowing it to bundle capabilities into right-sized solutions for each partner.

Seiche generates revenue through project-based consulting engagements and multi-year partnerships negotiated on a per-engagement basis with no publicly disclosed pricing. Business development is relationship-driven, relying on referrals, reputation, and long-term client engagement within the philanthropic and nonprofit ecosystem rather than outbound sales. Named clients include the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (decade-plus partnership), McKnight Foundation, Minnesota Council on Foundations, Joyce Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation, Ann Bancroft Foundation, Energy News Network, State Voices, and others. The firm maintains a distribution presence through its website, organic social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X), and conference participation, but no indirect channel or reseller model.

Name

Seiche

Legal name

Seiche

Website

https://seiche.works

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Seiche is a private social impact strategy and communications consulting firm founded in 2017 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving philanthropies, foundations, and nonprofits with research, strategic planning, and creative communications services delivered by a deliberately small team.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Paul

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Professional Services: Seiche generates revenue through client engagements for social impact strategy and communications consulting. Services include research, strategic planning, creative communications, and organizational consulting. Engagements appear to be project-based or ongoing partnerships with foundations, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Seiche is a social impact strategy and communications firm that delivers three integrated service offerings: Actionable Research, Strategy & Planning, and Creative Communications. The firm guides foundations, nonprofits, government agencies, and mission-driven organizations through systems change work by translating community insights into creative action through multidisciplinary research, strategic planning, and storytelling capabilities.

Product overview

Seiche is a social impact strategy and communications firm offering three integrated service offerings: Actionable Research, Strategy & Planning, and Creative Communications. These capabilities are combined to build right-sized solutions for partners, with the research informing strategy which then guides creative communications execution. The firm does not operate as a software platform but rather as a professional services consultancy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Actionable Research Multidisciplinary research service through deep listening that helps clients understand and navigate the landscapes for their work. Includes stakeholder research, landscape analysis, program assessments, and data synthesis.
• Strategy & Planning Identifies pathways for change, aligning people, structures, and culture to move from concepts to actionable plans. Includes organizational strategy, campaign development, digital strategy, and executive coaching.
• Creative Communications Develops creative content and storytelling approaches that help clients engage their audiences online and offline. Includes multimedia content development, narrative strategy, communications capacity building, and digital advertising.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $11.5 million distributed to 92 community intermediaries for disaster recovery through Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2020Collaborated with the Minnesota Council on Foundations and Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation to establish the Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund (MDRF) in March 2020. Over $11.5 million was ultimately distributed to 92 community intermediaries for pandemic recovery.
• Dr. Cirien Saadeh / The UptakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeiche collaborated with Dr. Cirien Saadeh, executive director of The Uptake, to conduct research for the Minnesota Census Mobilization Partnership assessment. Used a Journalism of Color approach to amplify voices of MCMP participants.
• Minnesota Census Mobilization PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeiche partnered with MCMP, a collaborative of foundations and organizations led by Minnesota Council on Foundations, to assess census engagement impact and develop learnings for future initiatives.
• Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeiche partnered with CERTs and McKnight Foundation to launch The Power of Minnesota campaign. CERTs helped identify 26 individuals with personal stories about clean energy for the documentary and outreach efforts.
• Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term strategic partner with multiple engagements including Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund assessment, Census Mobilization Partnership evaluation, Integrated Capital Recovery Program assessment, impact reporting, and internal equity audit.
• McKnight FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership with multiple engagements including Midwest Climate & Energy Accountability Framework development, program integration support, and clean energy transition community engagement through The Power of Minnesota.
• W.K. Kellogg FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term partnership spanning more than a decade including digital storytelling platforms, National Day of Racial Healing campaigns, and ongoing communications and digital partnerships.
• Northeastern Minnesotans for WildernesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year partnership for Save the Boundary Waters campaign including digital and social media strategy, content development, video series production, and online community building.
• University of Minnesota Center for Applied Research and Educational ImprovementminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeiche recommended that foundations partner with University of Minnesota to make the Minnesota Principals Survey an ongoing project. The survey is now housed at CAREI at the University of Minnesota.
• Joyce FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with The Minneapolis Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and McKnight Foundation to develop principal engagement strategies and survey research.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Harder+Company Community Research: Harder+Company is a research and evaluation firm focused on health, education, and social justice for foundations, nonprofits, and public agencies. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both deliver research, evaluation, and program assessment services to philanthropic clients, with overlapping impact-reporting use cases.
• FSG: FSG is a global social impact consulting firm that helps foundations, nonprofits, and companies develop strategy, evaluate programs, and advance equity. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both compete for foundation strategy and impact-measurement engagements, though FSG operates at significantly greater scale and breadth.
• The Raben Group: The Raben Group is a public affairs and social impact consultancy that supports nonprofits, foundations, and advocacy organizations with strategy, communications, and coalition-building. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both serve mission-driven clients with integrated strategy and communications services focused on equity and systems change.
• ORS Impact: ORS Impact is an evaluation and strategy firm that supports foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies in measuring social impact and developing learning-focused strategy. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both compete for foundation strategy, evaluation, and learning engagements with similar philanthropic and nonprofit clients.
• Burness: Burness is a communications firm supporting nonprofits, foundations, and advocacy organizations with strategic communications, media relations, and campaign storytelling. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both specialize in communications and narrative work for social-impact clients and compete for similar foundation and nonprofit engagements.
• GMMB: GMMB is a full-service communications and campaign firm that works with nonprofits, foundations, and advocacy organizations on media, digital, and creative campaigns. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both compete for foundation and advocacy campaign work, with GMMB serving as a much larger scaled incumbent.
• Blue State: Blue State is a digital agency that works with nonprofits, advocacy groups, and brands on digital strategy, fundraising, and campaigns. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both deliver digital communications, campaign creative, and audience engagement work for mission-driven organizations, though Blue State operates at significantly larger scale.
• Hattaway Communications: Hattaway Communications is a strategic communications firm that helps foundations, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations develop narratives and campaigns to drive social change. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both specialize in narrative strategy, campaign development, and stakeholder engagement for social-impact clients.
• TCC Group: TCC Group is a consulting firm that provides strategy, evaluation, and capacity-building services to foundations, nonprofits, and corporate grantmakers. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both serve the same philanthropy and nonprofit client base with research, planning, and impact-measurement offerings, though TCC Group is larger in scale.
• Spitfire Strategies: Spitfire Strategies is a communications and social marketing firm that helps nonprofits, foundations, and advocacy groups build narrative strategy and campaigns. It is a direct peer to Seiche because both deliver creative communications, campaign strategy, and storytelling services to mission-driven organizations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/seicheworks
• Facebookfacebook.com/SeicheWorks
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/seiche
• Instagraminstagram.com/seicheworks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Seiche