• Discuss the wide range of resources that communities will need to renew their most distressed areas
• Understand simple Fundraising plans to guide resource development
• Review the key steps in raising funds from private foundations
• Review sample research information
• Identify some potential foundations that support economic and human development

INTRODUCTION

A. As an integral part of developing a comprehensive and sustainable strategic community plan remember to include many layers of funding:

• Federal
• State
• Local
• Corporations
• Foundations

Some of your resources can also come in the form of donated materials, services, equipment—many businesses and corporations can invest "non-cash" resources. These should be included in your plan too. These are especially important in the planning and start-up phases, and when doing widespread community outreach where paper, printing, publicity and refreshments are so important.

The collaborative context of the EZ/EC or Champion model requires a different approach to resource development than that of a typical nonprofit community organization. The collaborative approach includes many partnering organizations and agencies; they may be investing program funds as a contribution to one of your strategic projects, and they may also manage new state, federal or foundation money generated to implement pieces of your plan.

A. Your coordinating partners will have to decide how you will partner in seeking corporate or foundation funds and define roles and expectations very clearly.

• You will have to agree on a "lead entity" to coordinate the project.
• You will have to define a "fiscal agent" to manage grant funds when your proposals are successful.
• In a collaborative approach or one with multiple organizations partnering on a community change project, some organizations may receive funds to implement a project while others may play relatively minor roles. It will be hard to give every partnering organization the same size "piece" of the responsibility or the resources.

A. During the early phases of pulling a group of organizations together to work collaboratively on a comprehensive development plan, you will probably need planning grants to coordinate research, strategic planning, community goal setting and asset "mapping." Foundations are potential sources of planning support during this part of work. Support for the planning phase should be included in your Fund Raising Plan.

B. After your team has developed your priority strategic plan and a long-term budget, you should develop a Resource Plan that identifies potential sources of resources. You’ll need resources in several areas:

• to manage your collaborative committee or organization during planning and implementation;
• to support the staff; accounting
• to support communications (newsletters, internet, cable TV announcements or shows, community meetings, copies of your plans or other resource materials)
• to launch programs
• to support evaluation

C. Each component of the Resource Plan will have different potential resources, including several different corporations and foundations along with federal, state, and local money.

D. This requires front end research and planning to identify possible foundation and corporate partners, and it will require a continual effort to shape your programs to match the funder’s prime programs.

E. You should identify and build relationships with dozens of corporations and foundations at the state, regional, and national levels.

Raising Funds from Foundations

A. Remember: Foundations exist to provide funds for charitable purposes. They must "give-away" a certain amount annually, so its not a question of whether they will give, but rather:

• what organizations will they support?
• in what areas?
• for what projects to produce what kind of outcomes?, and
• for how much money?

B. Generally, foundations will have an interest in one or more of these broad areas:

• Arts & Humanities
• Civic and Public Affairs

(rural issues, community, housing, public safety, economic development)

• Education

(afterschool, literacy, workforce training, specific subjects like math, etc)

• Environment
• Health

(nutrition, public health, nursing, and all specific disciplines)

• International
• Religion
• Science

(Includes museums, research, etc)

• Social Services

("at-risk youth," day care, mentoring, community services, counseling, recreation, substance abuse, youth and family support, etc.)

C. Research is a critical step in matching resources for your collaborative. Every foundation has program and geographical target areas. Of the thousands of foundations included in reference materials, only a portion will fund the kinds of efforts that are in your plan. Many foundations also have specific geographic distribution or focus and may not fund in your state. These are the starting points for your research:

D. You will have to rely on your non-profit organizations to apply for grants. To be eligible, they must be tax-exempt under Section 501 (c)(3) of the IRS code. Most community development corporations, community action agencies and housing groups in your area will already have tax-exempt status.

E. Corporations have different criteria for supporting community redevelopment. Many of the largest have separate Corporate Foundations that act more like a private or family foundation. If the corporation’s giving program is a part of their community relations department, then they will often be looking for projects that will generate publicity or name recognition for their products. Remember, corporations are in business to make a profit, so securing their support usually requires you to develop clear ways for them to benefit from this investment or partnership.

Key Resources for locating potential foundation partners

A. Researching corporations and foundations will require some heavy lifting—through large directories—as well as eye-burning searches through CD disks. Many public libraries, community college and university libraries have key sources in their reference sections:

• The Foundation Center publishes excellent references:

1. The Foundation Directory, which lists the larger foundations or foundations making grants over $200,000 annually;
2. The Foundation Directory Part 2, which covers mid-sized foundations that award up to $200,000 annually in grants;
3. The Foundation 1000 profiles the largest foundations that are responsible for more than 65% of all U. S. Foundation giving

• The Taft Group publishes a compilation of corporate and foundation resources:

1. The Directory of Corporate and Foundation Givers, 1996; 1997, which includes over 8,000 major funding sources for nonprofits.

B. Another way to begin your foundation research is on the Web. Online search engines will help you craft your research to locate funders that match your programs more tightly and do it much more rapidly than you can do it in the library. But, not all foundations and corporations are included in the online directories, so you still will have to do some manual research!

Start your online research at:

• Listing of Non-Federal Funding Opportunities

• The Foundation Center

http://fdncenter.org/

Serves the informational needs of grantseekers and grantmakers. The center offers training, seminars, libraries and locations, as well as grant information, funding trends and analysis.

C. You’ll need current information directly from the foundations themselves to help make your programs most relevant to the funder. Some foundations will include this type of information on their Web site; otherwise, you’ll have to request:

1. Annual Reports

2. Brochures about new initiatives

3. Recent grant lists

 

Here’s an example of the process used to research potential foundation partners

We used the Taft book, Directory of Corporate and Foundation Givers, 1996 and pulled out sample sections to illustrate the sections that help streamline your research:

1. PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS

• Geographic Distribution: nationally, with a special commitment to Phila.

• Typical Recipients

A quick search reveals several community development activities:

Civic & Public Affairs—especially Economic Development, Employment/Job Training; Housing, Rural Affairs;

Health—especially Nutrition, Prenatal;

Social Services—especially Child Welfare, Community Service Organizations, Family Service, Youth Organizations.

• Grant Types: challenge, general, project, research, and seed funding

Obviously, the foundation is very flexible with an array of possible grant categories that could be accessed by a rural community engaged in comprehensive redevelopment planning or action.

• Recent Grants: note the disclosure period of 1994, which means the list is at least 3-4 years old, and it may not show new commitments. It obviously shows only very large grants to intermediaries so it’s not real helpful.

• Application Information:

The initial approach suggests a brief letter of inquiry that summarizes the proposal. The description outlines what your letter must include and it ends with an important statement: "Full proposals are not encouraged without an initial contact with the staff."

Another important piece relates to deadlines: "Applications may be submitted throughout the year."

Planning, Patience, Persistence, Personal Relationships

A. Foundation funding is not a Quick Fix for a one-time grant; it is the long road of planting seeds that will support your comprehensive community development agenda for years.

B. Raising funds from foundations is a long process. It’s not unusual for even a successful grant from most large national foundations to take over a year to secure the funds.

C. Expect that discussions with foundation staff will require continual refinements and revisions in your original proposal ideas and documents. It’s very unlikely that your first stab will get funded, and you’ll have to shape your projects in different ways to meet the unique criteria and approaches of different funders.

D. An essential aspect of securing grants from foundation is building relationships with program staff. Without an advocate inside the foundation, you will not get very far—even if your proposal is sound and compelling!

E. Keep in mind, that raising resources takes a lot of staff or volunteer time, especially in the early phases of research, proposal development and discussions with foundation program staff.

F. State and regional foundations are generally easier to access, and they have greater experience or track records that relate to your issues and areas. National foundations usually get THOUSANDS of proposal inquiries every year (Kellogg gets over 10,000!), so it takes a clear idea that fits their program areas and lots of patience to get their attention. Often, while you are thinking in terms of implementing your important local program, the national foundations are thinking about big "models" and broad initiatives with lots of impact.

SUMMARY

A. Using the handout as an example, you can see a selection of foundations that have a national scope and an historic interest in supporting economic development or increasing opportunities for low-income youth and families.

• These are just a few examples that your communities can use as starting points for deeper resource development tied to your empowerment agenda.
• As your team approaches foundations, be sure to carefully study their program interests and craft your proposals to match their requirements.

B. These private foundations are potential resources for your redevelopment plan, but to sustain your progress you will also need to generate state, federal, and local funds. Each of these resources requires careful research and planning.

• Raising resources to support community change takes willpower and patience, so don’t give up after a few rejections—this is part of the process.

C. Developing resources for your community plan should be a continual process, one that your coordinating team balances with program delivery and operation management, evaluation, and community participation.

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