Christine Sculati's blog » grantmaking

Successful grant seeking relies on research, connecting and learning

christine — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:24:31 +0000

Writing grant proposals is only one step in the process of building successful grant funding partnerships with foundations.

To illuminate the path, today The Chronicle of Philanthropy posted a video for grant seekers on The Giveaway blog titled, “Common Mistakes Made by Grant Applicants.” Follow this blog for news and analysis on how people and foundations are donating their money.

The video features short clips of interviews with grant makers and consultants who attended the April 2011 Council on Foundations Annual Conference in Philadelphia. They highlighted common mistakes and offered tips:

Grant maker tips to avoid common mistakes

Do no over promise, exaggerate or propose unrealistic ideas.
When foundations encourage it, take advantage of calling to find out what they are really interested in.
Do not miss strong opportunities (e.g., if a grant maker selects your nonprofit as a potentially good parnter, don’t fail to follow up!)

Read the post’s comments for additional tips offered by other readers. Some include:

Avoid careless typos such as the misspelling of a foundation’s name or company name.
Do your homework: Research the proper way to apply and the appropriate contact name and title.
Find out what an appropriate ask amount would be for a particular foundation. Do your research and make contact with the foundation.

Over the years, I have attended many presentations and panels organized to give grant seekers a chance to hear directly from the representatives of foundations and institutional funders. Oftentimes, I hear that they receive a large number of applications that have no alignment with their interests. Worse, sometimes letters are addressed to the wrong foundation.

The bottom line is that successful grant seeking relies on research, connecting and learning. It is not a numbers game.

3 California foundations offer guidance to grant seekers

christine — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:32:38 +0000

THE WORDS, “if you know one foundation, you know one foundation,” rang true for three panelists who spoke at the Foundation Center in San Francisco last week during Funding for Health and Human Services Month. Local foundation representatives advised grant seekers on what they like and what they don’t like when it comes to grant funding requests. And guess what?

If you know one foundation, you know one foundation

The Panelists:

Mary L. Gregory, Executive Director, Bella Vista Foundation
Fatima Angeles, Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning, The California Wellness Foundation
Carrie Varoquiers, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and President, McKesson Foundation

**Guidance from Three Unique California Foundations**
Key insights	Bella Vista Foundation	The California Wellness Foundation	McKesson Foundation
Type of Foundation	Family	Healthcare conversion	Corporate
Geographic focus	Varies by focus area	Statewide	Nationwide with HQ in San Francisco
What are your funding priorities?	Early Childhood Ecosystem Restoration	8 Health Areas and a Special Projects fund	Community Health Centers (by invitation only through National Association of CHCs) Mobile health research
How can a grantseeker cultivate a relationship?	Review the website carefully; call with questions regarding a possible "fit."	Go to the website: "Everything is there." Mail in a 1-2 page letter of inquiry (10% chance of receiving invitation to write full proposal).	Go to the website for next chance to submit a letter of intent for mobile health research projects.
What are you looking for in a proposal?	Show evidence of your expertise.	Describe your organization’s target population, not the merits of your executive director. What does your organization do and why are you the one to do it? What is your voice in the policy arena?	Promising research to find out what works in mobile health. Evidence does not exist today.
What are red flags?	Don’t "parrot back" our words from the guidelines.	Will disqualify your letter of inquiry if it exceeds 2 pages.	Letters addressed to the wrong name
Tips for funded programs	Write thoughtful progress reports.	Write thoughtful progress reports.	Write thoughtful progress reports.

12 tips for nonprofits seeking grant money

christine — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:06:57 +0000

Are you wondering how to connect with grant makers in today’s increasingly competitive environment?

The key is to understand what motivates funders to connect with your cause and how your project’s fit in to their funding priorities and initiatives. The Foundation Center, a nonprofit resource for grant seekers, offers a valuable way for nonprofits to gain these critical insights. They offer classes and access to databases through their San Francisco library as well as cooperating collections, like the Berkeley Public Library.

The main library in downtown Berkeley was the venue for a recent Foundation Center event. As part of Health and Human Services month, the Foundation Center invited representatives from three East Bay funding organizations to speak to nonprofit grant seekers. They described their funding guidelines, how to introduce your organization’s work to them and tips on submitting your proposal, if there is a fit.

The Panelists:
The panelists came from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives: one from a government agency, one from a corporate giving program and one from a nonprofit health organization.

Mark Friedman, Chief Executive Officer of First 5 Alameda County
Susan Houghton, Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the Northern California Division of Safeway, Inc. and Safeway Foundation
Angela Jenkins, Community Benefit Manager for Kaiser Permanente’s East Bay Community Benefit Program

12 tips for nonprofits seeking grant money
I created a list of tips shared by the panelists.

When you apply for a grant, a real person is reviewing your application. If you address it “Dear Recipient,” it will go into the trash.
Funders might have more than one giving mechanism (foundation grants, employee giving program, corporate charitable giving, event sponsorships, etc.). Figure out the best point of entry for your project or program.
When contacting a funder, be sure to find out what method they prefer. For example, a funder might prefer initial contact by phone, email, letter or online inquiry.
Before you contact a funder, do your homework. All of the panelists pointed to their websites for guidance on grantmaking and giving priorities.
After you receive a grant, be sure to stay connected with your funders. After your last grant or contribution, did you send an update? Send a photo? Invite the funder to an event? Involve employees (in the case of a corporate giving program) to be involved in your work?
Does the funder require that your program follow evidenced-based approaches (i.e., informed by scientific research) or have measurable results? Or are they more interested in you trying something innovative and new to solve a problem?
Does your program’s objectives or goals align with the strategic plans of the funder?
Have you asked your current funders for introductions to other potential contributors? Will they consider co-hosting a funder briefing?
Is your GuideStar.org listing up-to-date?
Choose your board members wisely.
Don’t be shy about developing relationships with local government officials and their staff. Advocate for how your services are important to the community they were elected to serve.
Are you marketing your programs to build visibility for your issue and organization?

Meet health grantmakers at the Foundation Center in April

christine — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:50:06 +0000

In my last post I wrote about “Park Prescriptions” and “Healthy Parks Healthy People,” campaigns organized by the Institutes at the Golden Gate and the National Park Service to strengthen the connections between the healthcare system and public lands.

If your organization or agency is behind the movement, then you might want to know that April is Health and Human Services Month at the Foundation Center, a nonprofit resource center on philanthropy.

This month they are hosting three “Meet the Grantmaker” panels – two in downtown San Francisco and one in Berkeley. Funders will discuss their organizations’ guidelines, how to introduce your organization’s work to them, tips on submitting your proposal and trends in health and human services grantmaking.

Several other programs will present resources, tips and tools for strengthening your chances of succeeding with grants. To register, visit the Foundation Center’s website. All events are free, but they typically fill up early.

Meet the Grantmakers: Funding for East Bay Health & Human Service Organizations

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 10:00 am – 12:00 pm in Berkeley.

Panelists:

Safeway Inc. Corporate Giving Program
Kaiser Permanente-East Bay
First 5 Alameda County
Y & H Soda Foundation

Meet the Grantmakers for the Bay Area: A Program for Health & Human Service Organizations

Thursday, April 28, 2011 10:00 am – 12:00 pm in San Francisco

Panelists:

Fatima Angeles, Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning, The California Wellness Foundation
Mary L. Gregory, Executive Director, Bella Vista Foundation
Christine Tran, Program Officer, Blue Shield of California Foundation
Carrie Varoquiers, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and President, McKesson Foundation

More April Events

Securing Corporate Support for Health & Human Services
Thursday, April 21, 10:00 am-12:00 pm in San Francisco
Explore best practices in gaining corporate support and meet local corporate funders.

10 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid for Health and Human Service Organizations
Monday, April 25, 2:00-3:30 pm in San Francisco
Learn best practices in marketing for health and human service organizations.

Think Sustainable: Earning Income for Your Health and Human Service Nonprofit
Tuesday, April 26, 10:00-11:30 am in San Francisco
Discover how to develop an earned income strategy.

What’s Our Value? Using Evaluation to Make the Case for Health and Human Services in Tight Times
Wednesday, April 27, 1:00-2:30 pm in San Francisco
Gain knowledge of the latest thinking in program evaluation and receive tools that will help you initiate internal evaluation efforts.

Visit the Foundation Center’s website to see a full list of opportunities.

Why is the Census important to you?

christine — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:23:59 +0000

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Any day you should receive notice in the mail about the 2010 Census. The official questionnaire will follow the initial announcement one week later in mid-March.

The federal government distributes more than $400 billion a year to state, tribal and local governments based on the decennial Census count. And every ten years some states gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and some lose, depending on what the Census numbers say about the relative sizes of their populations. The changing numbers require states to redraw Congressional District boundaries.

Yet to the despair of social justice advocates, populations that are most in need of community services, resources and civil rights enforcement have also been the hardest to count. In the Bay Area a number of foundations have helped to mobilize outreach in historically undercounted populations by awarding grants to grassroots organizations with extensive reach in their communities.

When it comes to filling out box #9 with regards to race, advocacy organizations will also play a critical educational role to show how individuals can “self-select” by choosing more than one race or “some other race” to identify as multi-racial or by national origin. For example, some might choose to enter Afghan, Sikh, Maya or Haitian. This widely-syndicated article by the Associated Press describes how some Caribbean-American leaders are urging their communities to write their nationalities on the line under “some other race” on the forms, along with checking the racial categories they feel identify them best.

While the way race is counted is an important evolution in the Census, it remains to be seen how the Census Bureau will tabulate the write-in selections in 2011.

Articles and Resources on Census 2010

Nonprofits Count!: A project of the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network, this website provides information, including best practices, on how nonprofit organizations and human services agencies can help produce an accurate count of hard-to-count populations.

Mapping Hard-to-Count Communities: Hard-to-Count (HTC) populations are groups that may have a higher non-response rate on the 2010 Census. With support from The California Endowment, Healthy Cities has generated a portal through which Census stakeholders may locate communities at risk for undercounting in California.

Justice Department Confirms Confidentiality of Census Information – March 5, 2010 article by the Washington Post

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Census History: Counting Hispanics – March 3, 2010 article by the Pew Hispanic Center

Census: Battleground for Money and Justice – February 17, 2010 by Blue Avocado

Most View Census Positively, But Some Have Doubts - February 12, 2010 by The Pew Research Center for the People & The Press

California Complete Count Committee

The Census Project Blog: A collaboration of state and local governments, civil rights and labor groups, housing and child advocates, businesses, professional societies, and research organizations interested in a fair and accurate Census 2010

Brookings Institution Census Information

Grantmaker Initiatives

Census 2010 Grants Will Bring Visibility to Hard-to-Count Populations – The San Francisco Foundation
New York Foundations Push to Get Accurate Census Count – Philanthropy News Digest

Private foundations offer millions to ensure accurate census count – Contra Costa Times

The California Endowment has awarded nearly 11,000 grants across California totaling more than $1.9 billion.

Obama’s pledge for social innovation

christine — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:07 +0000

On June 30, President Obama announced his pledge to support social innovation from the “bottom up.” As a community organizer in Chicago, he learned that the some of the best solutions exist at the grassroots level.

The president added that we need to bring the most promising community-based solutions to scale by expanding successful programs and developing other high potential solutions with a strong emphasis on measuring results and impact. “People don’t need somebody out in Washington to tell them how to solve their problems, especially when the best solutions are often right there in their own neighborhoods, just waiting to be discovered,” said Obama.

As reported earlier this year by The Chronicle on Philanthropy, the White House is looking for “new ideas” and “new models” but innovation does not necessarily imply new nonprofits or programs. “It’s about impact and effectiveness,” said Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. In Tuesday’s announcement, Obama said that he will be asking Barnes to travel across the country to “discover and evaluate the very best programs in our communities.”

The $50-million fund for social innovation is part of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The funds were authorized by the national service law in April 2009, but the funds still need approval by Congress in the fiscal year 2010 budget.

More coverage:

Update on Philanthropy This Week (audio)
Posted: Tue, 14 Jul 2009
Social Innovation Fund and Spending Down Your Endowment

Corporation for National & Community Service
Posted: July 2009
FAQ – Social Innovation Fund – Shows how and when to apply (PDF)

Building and funding programs to promote play

christine — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:13:12 +0000

Youth development advocates nationwide have been building a movement to prioritize play and outdoor time for children and youth – through recess, sports and adventures in nature. Backing them up are new research studies from the fields of pediatrics and youth development, linking the influences that regular play and outdoor learning time have on success in school and life.

This afternoon the inaugural Sports4Kids Play On conference kicks off three days of keynotes and sessions dedicated to the topic of play – its multiple benefits and how to build programs to make a difference in our schools and communities. The conference runs May 18 – 20 at San Francisco’s Mission Bay Conference center. This conference comes at a time when many children and youth-oriented nonprofits are developing community programs that get kids outside to play in safe, fun, and supportive environments while learning, connecting and being physically active.

Finding funding and understanding philanthropic priorities is key to making outdoor and sports-based programs a success, so I am looking forward to today’s afternoon session featuring speakers from health-driven foundations including the The California Endowment, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Kaiser Permanente followed by a discussion with Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play and often called one of the country’s premiere experts on play behavior.

Follow the economic stimulus money to your community

christine — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:25:20 +0000

Yesterday San Francisco launched RecoverySF.org to highlight the progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in the City and County of San Francisco. The idea is to build transparency so communities can track grants that San Francisco has applied for and won, view official correspondence with federal and state agencies and learn about upcoming public meetings.

While it might appear that the City has received awards of close to $300 million for projects ranging from transportation to work force development, these are only projections. The City must apply for and win the competitive grant awards before the money can be channeled to local projects.

The City promises to post announcements when ARRA funds have been fully awarded and obligated to San Francisco.

California and the federal government have also set up Web sites to track stimulus dollars.

The federal site is: www.recovery.gov.

The state site is recovery.ca.gov

For a complete list of all Recovery Act programs, visit Grants.gov.

See my previous blog post on the Recovery Act for more resources.

Nonprofit Strategies for Tough Times: Economic Stimulus Act FAQ (Philanthropy News Digest blog- PhilanTopic)

Updates:
5/21/09: Recovery.org, run by a private company, might make searching and tracking federal stimulus projects easier to follow than the federal government site Recovery.gov, as recently reported in the Washington Post.

5/22/09: The City of Oakland recently set up www.oaklandstimulus.com for tracking the status of the city’s requests for federal stimulus funds.

What does the new economic stimulus legislation mean for your nonprofit?

christine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:23:21 +0000

The Obama Administration launched Recovery.gov as a way for the public to track spending and progress of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – also called the “Recovery Act” and the “Stimulus Package.” If you are interested in learning how that spending could relate to nonprofits or public agencies, a few good resources are already available. Many public agencies responsible for distributing funds to state programs and nonprofits, through grants and loans, have already set up Web sites.

Recovery Act Resources for Nonprofits

Zimmerman-Lehman – “The Stimulus Package: Is Your Nonprofit Receiving Funds (or Should It)”

Council on Nonprofits – Special Reports on Economic Stimulus & Recovery

The National Endowment for the Arts has posted grant guidelines for $50 million in Recovery Act grant funds.

Apollo Alliance – Describes how $113.5 billion will benefit “green-collar” jobs and training, cleaner energy, energy efficiency, high-mileage electric vehicles and renewable energy over the next two years.

National Recreation and Park Association – How the Recovery Act will benefit parks and recreation.

California State Water Board – $280 million for “shovel ready” projects in California that will create jobs immediately. At least 20% must go toward “green projects” – water efficiency, energy efficiency, green infrastructure, and environmentally innovative projects.

U.S. Department of Education – Overview and Implementation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Overview and Grant Programs

U.S. Department of Justice – Including $1 billion to the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program; $225 million to the Office on Violence Against Women

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund – Including $3 billion in New Markets Tax Credits and an additional $90 million for the CDFI grant program.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services – Including more than $15 billion in federal assistance to help states cover the costs of Medicaid programs.

“Corporate Philanthropy in Turbulent Times” program on November 14 in San Francisco

christine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:17:40 +0000

Every year the Foundation Center in San Francisco hosts a forum on regional corporate philanthropy trends in the Bay Area. In light of the state of the economy and possible fundraising impacts on the social sector, this is a good time to hear from corporate giving officers.

Representatives from Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Intel, and Cisco Foundation will present trends in corporate philanthropy and forecast their giving for next year and beyond. Some nonprofits are wondering if we will see impacts reminiscent of the economic fallout earlier in the decade, when giving portfolios shrank and competition for grants and charitable donations became fiercer.

Janet Camarena, the director of the San Francisco Foundation Center, will moderate the forum. She recently launched a new blog for the Center and has invited the community to post questions to the blog for consideration during the November 14, 2008 forum.

Co-sponsored by San Francisco Business Times and the Development Executives Roundtable (DER), this popular forum typically fills to capacity early.

Go to DER’s Web site to register.

The forum is free if you bring your own lunch, $12 for DER members and $10 for non-members.

UPDATE:
The Foundation Center’s video recording of this event is now available on their Web site.

Risk and reward in philanthropy

christine — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:01:16 +0000

It’s human nature to be adverse to risk-taking. But like successful business people, many social entrepreneurs believe you have to be willing to take risks to achieve progress.

A widely read example of risk and reward in philanthropy is the story of Greg Mortenson and his painstaking journey to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the New York Times bestselling Three Cups of Tea. With a typewriter Mortenson wrote 580 appeal letters to potential donors and 16 grant applications in an attempt to raise $12,000, the minimum he needed to fulfill a promise and build a school in a remote alpine village in Pakistan. While his appeals were largely a failure, the difference came with one individual who read a newsletter article about Mortensen’s personal mission, took a risk, and moved fast – agreeing to fully fund the school. Dr. Jean Hoerni made the decision to fund the project after one phone call and Mortenson’s word that he would “not to screw up.”

In the San Francisco Bay Area, another philanthropist embraces the idea of risk-taking in grantmaking. In a new book, Bill Somerville, president of the Bay Area Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF), makes the case that grantmakers should take risks to reap the highest rewards for their investments. Somerville recounts several stories of how a little risk went along way in transforming individual lives and communities – from juvenile courts to classrooms. Published by Berkeley-based Heyday Books, his new book with Fred Setterberg is titled “Grassroots Philanthropy, Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker.”

In Grassroots Philanthropy Somerville advocates that grantmakers should find and fund outstanding people, eliminate bureaucracy in favor of moving quickly, focus on ideas and not problems and take risk and initiative. While Somerville’s approach to grantmaking may not be for every foundation, it makes sense for the grassroots as the book title implies. By definition, grassroots movements move quickly and are driven by effective leaders doing hands-on work at the community level. Many of these individuals cannot afford to get bogged down in time-consuming and costly application processes.

In the case of Mortenson’s plight to build schools, a donor’s risk-taking led to the formation of the Central Asia Institute, which has now established 64 schools in remote and underserved regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The remote schools have educated over 25,000 children and have provided unprecedented opportunities for girls.

For Somerville and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation 17 years of nonconformist approaches to grassroots grantmaking have attracted several prominent California foundations as supporters including The California Endowment, David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Flora Family Foundation, Herbst Foundation, and the San Francisco Foundation, among others.

Getting outside

christine — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:21:58 +0000

“Exercise is key to health, and studies have shown that people are much more likely to exercise if parks and opportunities for recreation are nearby,” writes the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in their latest issue of Land & People. For TPL and many other community-focused organizations, the interconnected issues of physical health, getting outdoors and connecting kids to the outdoors, are becoming paramount to their work. These issues are relevant for the land conservation-focused TPL, health organizations like Kaiser Permanente and funders like the Stewardship Council in California. TPL in fact received funding from Kaiser Permanente to build what they call “Fitness Zones” in Los Angeles, particularly in densely populated low income East Los Angeles neighborhoods where obesity is high.

Another organization focused on getting youth outside believes “[c]hildren are smarter, cooperative, happier and healthier when they have frequent and varied opportunities for free and unstructured play in the out-of-doors.” As such, the Children & Nature Network, chaired by Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv, compiled two annotated bibliographies to research that will tell you just how much kids are not getting outdoors, the consequences and the most promising solutions.

What does an effective nonprofit look like?

christine — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:39:58 +0000

A recent “Meet the Grantmakers” panel at the Foundation Center in San Francisco brought together Jacob Harold of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Anne Valley of The James Irvine Foundation, and Linda Wood of The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund to focus on the theme of “organizational effectiveness.” Threaded throughout the discussions were topics raised at the March 10-12, 2008 conference convened by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations – also known as GEO. GEO promotes organizational effectiveness by identifying and promoting grantmaking practices that improve grantee performance. If your organization passed the letter of inquiry and proposal stages with a funder and needs to get ready for a site visit, the Foundation Center panelists would encourage you to download a free copy of “The Due Diligence Tool.” Many grantmakers are now using this GEO publication to assess nonprofits when making funding decisions. The guide pulls together best practices from a variety of U.S. foundations from small family foundations to large private foundations.

The Foundation Center launches many free online resources for nonprofits

christine — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:24:46 +0000

Since 1956 the Foundation Center has connected nonprofits to free philanthropic resources. For years I have been attending their events in San Francisco including “Meet the Grantmakers” panels and special events with topics from “Fundraising for Small and All-Volunteer Organizations” to “Trends in Bay Area Bank Philanthropy.”

In recent months, the Center has launched several online multimedia resources to make the invaluable information shared in their free events accessible to communities and organizations that cannot attend the lively presentations in Atlanta, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco, or Washington, DC. I just discovered “Philanthropy Chat,” which is a new online audio series featuring interviews with West Coast philanthropists and fundraising experts. Janet Camarena, the director of the Center’s San Francisco library and learning center, hosts the interviews. In the first pilot edition recorded on October 10 she speaks to Ralph Lewin, associate executive director of the California Council for the Humanities. You can listen to the audio recording or read the transcript on the Center’s website and learn about the Council’s current grantmaking programs and how they are using new media technologies.