Services
Grant Writing
We help organizations secure funding through strategic, evidence-driven grant development. Our approach goes beyond writing—we position your work for success by aligning program design, data, and impact with funder priorities. From opportunity identification to submission, we strengthen funding readiness and enhance competitiveness in highly selective grant processes.
We offer end-to-end grant development support across every stage:
Post-Submission Support: Provide follow-up support, revisions, and preparation for reporting or future funding opportunities.
Funder & Opportunity Research: Identify and assess high-potential funding opportunities across government, foundations, and institutional donors.
Strategic Positioning: Refine program goals and clearly align initiatives with funder priorities, eligibility criteria, and evaluation frameworks.
Proposal Planning: Develop a strong narrative structure, key messaging, and workplan to guide a clear and compelling submission.
Data & Evidence Development: Gather and synthesize relevant data, research, and impact evidence to build a credible and persuasive case for funding.
Proposal Writing: Develop tailored, high-quality proposals that clearly articulate need, approach, outcomes, and impact.
Budget Development: Create or refine realistic, funder-aligned budgets with clear justifications.
Review & Quality Assurance: Ensure clarity, consistency, and full alignment with funder guidelines and expectations.
Submission Management: Coordinate timelines, compile required documentation, and support final submission.
Market & Institutional Research
We design and deliver rigorous market and institutional research to support strategic planning, program design, and informed decision-making. Grounded in context and tailored to your audience, our work produces clear, actionable insights, not just data, helping organizations understand systems, identify opportunities, and move forward with confidence.
We offer comprehensive research support across the full lifecycle:
Ongoing Advisory Support: Provide guidance to help interpret findings and integrate insights into planning and decision-making processes.
Research Design & Scoping: Define research questions, frameworks, and methodologies aligned with your goals and decision-making needs.
Market & Sector Analysis: Analyze trends, gaps, and opportunities across sectors, industries, or geographic markets.
Jurisdictional & Policy Scans: Examine policies, programs, and models across regions to identify leading practices and transferable insights.
Stakeholder & Ecosystem Mapping: Identify key actors, relationships, and system dynamics to support engagement and strategy development.
Data Collection: Design and implement qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and document review.
Data Analysis & Synthesis: Transform complex data into clear findings, themes, and strategic insights.
Insights & Recommendations: Develop practical, evidence-informed recommendations tailored to your context and priorities.
Reporting & Knowledge Translation: Produce clear, well-structured reports, briefs, and presentations for diverse audiences.
Program Design
We design programs and learning experiences that are grounded in evidence, informed by theory, and built for real-world implementation. Our approach integrates research, evaluation findings, and organizational context to ensure programs are strategic, responsive, and positioned for impact.
We provide end-to-end program design support:
Funding Alignment: Position program designs to align with funder priorities and strengthen readiness for grant applications.
Needs Assessment & Problem Framing: Clarify the problem, target populations, and context to ensure the program addresses real and priority needs.
Program Model Development: Design clear, coherent program structures, including components, delivery approaches, and participant pathways.
Theory of Change & Logic Models: Develop frameworks that link activities to outcomes and articulate how change is expected to occur.
Curriculum & Learning Design: Create structured learning experiences, training content, and facilitation plans tailored to your audience.
Evidence Integration: Apply research and best practices to strengthen program effectiveness and credibility.
Pilot Design & Iteration: Support the development of pilot programs, including testing, feedback loops, and refinement.
Implementation Planning: Define roles, processes, timelines, and resources required for effective delivery.
Evaluation Integration: Embed measurement frameworks and indicators to support ongoing learning and accountability.
evaluation & KPIs
We help organizations understand what works, for whom, and why, using evaluation as a tool for learning, accountability, and strategic decision-making. Our approach goes beyond measurement to generate meaningful insights that drive improvement, demonstrate impact, and inform future direction.
We provide comprehensive evaluation and performance measurement support:
Funder Reporting & Compliance: Support outcome reporting aligned with grant and contribution agreement requirements.
Evaluation Design: Develop tailored evaluation frameworks aligned with program goals, funder requirements, and learning priorities.
Theory of Change & Logic Models: Clarify program pathways and define measurable outcomes.
KPI & Indicator Development: Identify meaningful, practical indicators to track performance, outcomes, and impact.
Data Collection Systems: Design tools and processes for consistent, reliable data collection (surveys, interviews, administrative data, etc.).
Data Analysis & Interpretation: Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to generate clear, actionable insights.
Performance Monitoring: Establish systems to track progress, identify trends, and support ongoing program improvement.
Reporting & Communication: Develop reports, dashboards, and presentations that translate findings into accessible insights for different audiences.
Learning & Improvement Support: Facilitate reflection sessions and learning processes to help teams apply findings in real time.
About The Collective
The Collective is led by Raghad Hussein, Principal Consultant, specializing in Grant Strategy & Funding Development, Evaluation, and Strategic Research. Raghad brings over 15 years of experience in grant writing, strategic research, and program evaluation across nonprofit, public sector, post-secondary, and community-based organizations, with a strong focus on youth, racialized communities, newcomer, arts, education, and workforce development initiatives.
Raghad has led multi-year funding strategies and evaluation projects at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, helping organizations design strong programs, secure sustainable funding, and demonstrate impact to funders and stakeholders.
Core expertise
- Grant strategy and funding development (government, foundations, corporate)
- Proposal writing, LOIs, concept notes, and budget development
- Program design and evidence-based model development
- Strategic research, environmental scans, and funding landscape analysis
- Evaluation frameworks, performance measurement, and impact reporting
- Grant compliance, reporting, and funder alignment
Notable credentials
- PhD in Social Work– University of Calgary
- Graduate Degree in Public Policy & Program Evaluation – Carleton University
- Credentialed Evaluator (CE) – Canadian Evaluation Society
- Multiple certifications in research, program design, and evaluation (Carleton University, NorQuest College, University of Calgary)
- GBA+ Certification – Government of Canada
- Indigenous Canada Course | University of Alberta
- Leadership Development Certificate, AccessHR
testimonials
SRDC helped us secure our biggest grant yet with their expert research and clear proposals. Highly recommend!
From our blog
Explore recent insights, case studies, and practical resources from the Strategic Research & Design Collective blog.
contact us
Interested in working with Strategic Research & Design Collective? We welcome inquiries from organizations seeking research, evaluation, program design, or funding support.
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