Testimonials
“Tori helped MFB expand our work addressing the root causes of hunger by building a new grant channel to support organizations already doing that work in their communities. She then helped us grow that channel into something broader — an approach to philanthropy that is human-centered, focused on systems change, and grounded in deep partnership with human services practitioners. Her guidance, insight, and ability to translate ambition into practice have been invaluable. MFB’s Neighbor Impact Grants are stronger, more responsive, and more impactful because of our partnership.”
— Meg Kimmel, President & CEO, Maryland Food Bank“Tori is a consummate non-profit resource development professional. Having worked with Tori in her role as director of corporate and foundation relations, I observed her lead her team to raise millions of dollars to support CCBC’s mission and goals. She is strategic, thorough, data- and project-driven, and has exceptional communication skills.”
— Ken Westary, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, CCBC
Tori K. Burns, CFRE
Principal, Mission & Means
Meet the Founder
Through my work as a grant writer and volunteer leader, I started noticing a pattern. Strong missions. Committed leaders. Meaningful programs. Yet teams struggled to secure the resources needed to grow.
Sometimes the challenge was how they communicated their work. Other times, organizations were pursing funding without considering (or addressing) the underlying structures needed to support those efforts.
Those experiences shaped my belief that strong grant seeking starts well before an application is submitted. Mission & Means was created to help nonprofits address that upstream challenge and approach grant seeking more strategically.
Our goal is not simply to help organizations raise money. It is to help them build the conditions for sustainable growth and long-term impact.