Heart and structure. Grassroots nonprofits need both to last.
The leaders closest to their communities have the trust, the vision, and the grit. What they don't have is a finance director, a grants team, and HR. We built Brandl Operations to be exactly that, on terms grassroots organizations can afford.
A more equitable nonprofit landscape.
A back office shouldn't depend on the size of a budget. Large institutions have whole departments behind their mission. Grassroots leaders, most of them Black and Latine, most from the neighborhoods they serve, deserve the same.
Others have tried to close that gap with workshops and referrals. We close it by doing the work, alongside the leaders doing theirs. This started from a need we saw up close, not a business plan, and it's priced so the money follows the need. The dream: an ecosystem of grassroots, BIPOC-led, neighborhood-based organizations with real seats at the table. One day this may be a nonprofit itself. For now, it's a back office that believes in you.
Three commitments to every partner.
We work alongside you
We're partners, not auditors. Your leadership stays at the center, and we build the systems around it.
Nothing hidden
You always know what we're doing, why, and what it costs. We teach as we go, so your team learns the work too.
Mission first, systems always
Strong programs need strong operations behind them. We protect both, so the mission lasts.
Jack Brandl, MSW, LSW
Founder & Principal
Jack started Brandl Operations after living the problem firsthand. As Executive Director of Boxing Out Negativity, he wrote the grants, kept the books, ran payroll, and managed state contracts, often alone, while growing a beloved West Side program into a multi-site youth development and violence prevention organization. He saw how much grassroots leaders are asked to carry, and how little support they get for it.
Before that, he led fundraising for Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, one of the nation's largest nonprofit community development corporations, and ran operations and development for the Reeb Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Jack is known for turning complicated organizational problems into things you can do on Monday morning. He puts neighborhood leaders first, and believes a nonprofit needs both heart and structure to last.
Grassroots growth
Led a resident-founded nonprofit through rapid, sustainable growth.
Fundraising at scale
Led fundraising for one of the nation's largest nonprofit community development corporations.
Collective impact
Built the systems that let dozens of partner organizations work as one.
Credentials
Master of Social Work, Certificate in Leadership in Human Services Management, Licensed Social Worker. Bilingual in English and Spanish.