Beyond the Annual Report: How TCEI Uses Unrulr to Rethink Grant Reporting

Challenges

The Children’s Education Initiative (TCEI) was created to expand access to high-quality private education for underserved youth. But even bold missions run into old problems, especially when it comes to tracking impact.

In early 2023, TCEI found that:

• Traditional grant reporting methods (think: PDFs, annual board packets) made it hard to capture what was really happening at partner schools.
• Getting regular, boots-on-the-ground reporting requires too many in-person site visits.
• AJ and the board wanted to understand school culture, leadership, and community engagement, but most systems only showed outcomes, not day-to-day life.
• Static, end-of-year reports didn’t reflect real-time progress or help build relationships between the board and schools.
• As a brand-new nonprofit, TCEI had no legacy processes to untangle, just a clean slate and one big question: what should reporting actually look like?
  

Goals

Broadly, TCEI set out to reimagine how funders and grantees stay connected.

Specifically, they were looking for a reporting system that would:

• Be authentic and visual (think: video clips from school events)
• Let schools show, not just tell, how they’re living out TCEI’s core values and demonstrating sustained growth
• Provide real-time insight into school leadership, culture, curriculum, and DEI efforts
• Build genuine familiarity between board members and the educators they support
• Shift the conversation from compliance to partnership; future funding decisions grounded in lived experience, not just metrics
• Spark cross-school learning by making Unrulr posts visible across the cohort

Implementation

From the very beginning, TCEI made Unrulr its default reporting platform, skipping static reports and opting for dynamic, ongoing storytelling.

Here’s how it works in practice:

• Partner schools post multimedia documentation aligned to a shared set of outcomes (COGS):
  
  • Strong School Leadership
  • Culturally Competent Curriculum
  • Commitment to DEI
  • Financial Assistance in Action
  • Matriculation Outcomes
• Posts are often created by school communications staff (marcom) who are already fluent in storytelling, but all stakeholders are empowered to be a storyteller
• AJ provides light scaffolding (a spreadsheet and a 1-post-per-COG/week cadence), while schools retain flexibility
• Authenticity is prioritized over polish (think teacher confessionals, field trip snapshots, or impromptu interviews)
• All posts are visible to AJ and the board and, eventually, to other partner schools
  

The Story, through COGS

Every Unrulr post shared by TCEI’s partner schools is tagged with one or more COGS—Concepts, Outcomes, Goals, and Skills—that reflect TCEI’s core values. These tags signal what schools emphasize, what they celebrate, and what kind of learning environments they’re working to create.

Across 422 posts, schools tagged a total of 680 COGS—indicating that many posts were aligned with more than one value. Here’s what surfaced most in year one:

Commitment to DEI

Tagged 181 times (27% of all tags)

This was the most frequently used COG across the cohort. It speaks to how often schools documented efforts around identity, inclusion, and celebration of student backgrounds—consistent with AJ’s emphasis on students feeling seen, heard, and valued in school spaces.

Curriculum

Tagged 179 times (26% of all tags)

Nearly tied with DEI, this COG reflects how often schools shared documentation related to identity education and cultural learning. AJ noted this was a critical lens for TCEI: students understanding who they are, where they come from, and how they engage with others.

School Leadership

Tagged 150 times (22% of all tags)

Posts in this category surfaced how leadership shows up at each school through action. AJ specifically mentioned looking for signs of “standard bearers” for the school’s mission, and Unrulr gave him and the board a window into how leadership was actually embodied.

Commitment to Financial Aid

Tagged 109 times (16% of all tags)

This COG focused on how schools make financial aid meaningful not just in numbers, but in how it affects students’ access to the full life of the school. AJ mentioned reviewing stories that showed students participating in all aspects of school, regardless of income, including things like spring trips and extracurriculars.

Matriculation

Tagged 61 times (9% of all tags)

As the lowest-tagged COG, this one naturally reflects its seasonal relevance. AJ noted that matriculation is something they track annually, and that future cohorts will likely capture more of this as schools grow accustomed to documenting transition moments throughout the year.

“Now we get to see the work—and feel it. Instead of having to report, schools get to tell their story.”
— AJ Yates

Why TCEI Chose Unrulr

TCEI wasn’t looking for a better form to fill out. They wanted to understand their partner schools visually, consistently, and in real time.

Unrulr offered the right mix of features:

• Low lift, high familiarity: Mirrors social media tools schools already use
• Real-time visibility: Dated posts provide an authentic look at what’s happening now, not just in June
• The power of multimedia: Photos, videos, audio recordings, and PDFs weave a rich tapestry of impact
• Dual-purpose documentation: The same content supports accountability and celebration, in-the-moment and longitudinally
  

“It doesn’t need to look like charts and graphs all the time. It can be people talking. It can be film of what’s happening. It can be pictures of smiling faces—or frowns. It helps us get to know them in a way a packet never could.”
— AJ Yates

The Impact of Unrulr

Unrulr both streamlined reporting and reshaped how TCEI sees schools, makes funding decisions, and supports long-term growth.

• Stronger funding decisions: Visibility helps AJ and the board identify where to expand support
• School empowerment: Schools reflect on their own work vs just reporting for someone else
• Humanized reporting: Board members develop real relationships with real educators
• Sustained engagement: Regular posting replaces one-off reporting marathons

What’s Next?

Looking forward, TCEI is thinking about how to scale their momentum. After a strong first year, AJ and the team plan to expand their school cohort and deepen partnerships with existing grantees. The long-term vision includes building a lasting archive of Unrulr posts to show school growth over time and not just isolated snapshots.

They’re also seeing a new kind of collaboration emerge: all Cohort 1 schools have chosen to share their Unrulr posts with one another, creating a cross-school learning community and incubator. Down the line, AJ hopes to bring students and families into the process, giving them space to tell their stories alongside the educators who serve them.

Interested in using Unrulr to make your impact visible?

Whether you’re funding classrooms, schools, or entire communities, Unrulr helps you see what’s working and celebrate what’s possible.

Book a demo today and reimagine what grant reporting can look like.