Philanthropy Front and Center-Cleveland

PRIs: Who Should Seek Them & How to Get Them - Live Chat

Program-related investments (PRIs) are mission investments in the form of inexpensive capital available to non-profit OR for-profit social enterprises that are addressing social and environmental challenges. Unlike grants, PRIs are expected to be repaid, often with a modest, risk-adjusted, rate of return. Once repaid, the money used for a PRI is recycled into new charitable investments. (Source: Mission Investors Exchange)

Why would your org consider PRIs? If you're a for-profit social business that can't qualify for traditional grants. If your project might generate revenue or attract other investments. PRIs often are used for large amounts required for capital projects, purchase land or equipment, capitalize a loan fund, start a business venture, but they are used for smaller amounts and projects, too.

Learn about this alternative revenue source in our Q&A live chat on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 1-2pm ET, with our experts, Stephaney Kipple, Real Estate Consulting Analyst for Northern California Community Loan Fund, and Tony Wells, President & CEO of the Tony R. Wells Foundation.

Get some basic facts about PRIs with these articles:

• What is a program-related investment?
• Program-related investments - from Mission Investors Exchange, an affinity group of mission investing foundations and affiliates
• Program-Related Investments: Funding community development - written for would-be PRI recipients
• Program-Related Investments: More complicated than grants, but worth considering - a grantmaker's viewpoint

Send your questions in advance to grantspace@foundationcenter.org. Hope to see you on Sept. 25! Get more info or register>>

Your Proposal Writing Questions, Answered - Live Chat

Our trainers get these questions often in our proposal writing classes:

• How many foundations should we approach?
• What if we get more money than what we need for our project?
• How often should we follow up with a funder after submitting a proposal?

Think you know the answers? Chime in with your comments below.

But the real stumpers come up when you actually start the writing and info-gathering process, right? Bring those questions, and any others you may have about grant proposals, to our free live chat on GrantSpace next Tuesday, June 18, 2-3pm ET. Two of our seasoned trainers, Dave Holmes and Kim Patton, will answer as many of YOUR questions as we can take in an hour.

Want to make sure that your question gets asked? Send it to us in advance at grantspace@foundationcenter.org.

Meanwhile, bone up on your proposal writing knowledge with these resources:

• Developing Proposals on GrantSpace
• Knowledge Base Articles on proposal writing
• Sample Documents

Hope to "see" you at our live chat next Tuesday!

 

How to Get Grants for Your International Work - Feb. 26 Live Chat

Foundations that give grants to non-U.S. based charities must do additional reporting to IRS to prove that the funds were used appropriately, either in the form of equivalency determination (ED) or expenditure responsibility (ER).

As a result, compared to domestic nonprofits, foreign NGOs must go through many more, often time-consuming, steps before and/or after the grant is made to verify their charitable status and to help the funders comply with their extra reporting requirements.

If your organization wants to get U.S. foundation grants for your international work, join our Feb. 26, 12-1pm ET, live chat to learn about:

• What processes, procedures, and documents you'll need to meet ED or ER requirements
• Types of projects that are better suited for ED or ER
• NGOsource, a new service that will help to speed up the equivalency determination process for grantees and grantmakers

Want to make sure your question gets asked? Send it to us in advance! Answering your questions will be our experts:

• Kelly Shipp Simone, Deputy General Counsel, Council on Foundations
• Sheila Warren, Director, NGOsource

Meanwhile, bone up on international grantmaking with these related resources:

• International Grantmaking Update: A Snapshot of U.S. Foundation Trends (Dec. 2012 report)
• How International Charities Can Raise Funds in the U.S. (live chat transcript)
• Legal Structures for Raising Funds in the U.S. to Support Foreign Charities (podcast)
• Resources for Non-U.S. Grantseekers (knowledge base articles)

Are You an Artist Looking for Fiscal Sponsorship?

Juliana Steele, program specialist for fiscal sponsorship with Fractured Atlas, was interviewed recently in advance of her upcoming October 18th program on the topic at the Foundation Center-Atlanta.

In this 4-minute podcast, Juliana explains how artists can determine whether their project would be a good candidate to be fiscally sponsored, and how artists can seek out sponsors. Listen now!

Want to learn more about fiscal sponsorship, including resources like agreements, sample proposals and ways to find a sponsor? Check GrantSpace's Fiscal Sponsorship page. Also check out our Arts & Culture page for more great content.

Why Boot Camp? A Proposal Writer's 3-Day Immersion Course

Foundation Center instructor and nonprofit consultant, Marilyn Hoyt, shares helpful grantwriting tips and discusses the benefits of the Boot Camp. Check out her conversation with Foundation Center staffer Natasha >>

Proposal Writers Bootcamp - and Marilyn - are coming to Cleveland October 16th! Sign up today to gain valuable insights and hands-on know-how in the area of proposal development.

Learn more about the 3-day program offered in regions across the U.S.

Watch This! Navigating the Grantmaking Landscape

What influences change in the world of institutional philanthropy? Representatives from the Dean Witter Foundation, the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, and May & Stanley Charitable Trust met in San Francisco to discuss various shifts that can serve to drive change within foundations.

Head over the GrantSpace to watch the full video now >>

Panelists include:

• Ken Blum, Consultant, Dean Witter Foundation
• Nancy Kami, Executive Director, Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund
• Peta Penson, Program officer, May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust

Find other videos with grantmakers at the GrantSpace multimedia archive.

Watch This! Outcome Measurement - What Do Fundraisers Need to Know?

Over the last few years, terms like "impact", "evaluation", and "outcomes" have become standard components of most foundation grants, and more and more foundations now require grantseekers to quantify the expected reach of their services and programs. But what do these terms mean and how do fundraisers fit into the equation?

Head over to GrantSpace to watch the full video >>

Julia Bator, the Chief Executive Officer at Fund for Public Schools, moderates the discussion at this Foundation Center special event, which focuses on how to measure and evaluate your organization's impact and outcomes. 

She is joined by: Laurie Dien, the Senior Program Officer at the Pinkerton Foundation; Traci Lester, the Executive Director of Reach Out and Read of Greater New York; and Sylvia Rowlands, the Assistant Executive Director of Evidence-Based Programs for New York Foundling.

Topics covered include:

• Understanding foundations' expectations prior to the application
• Ensuring that your organization has the capacity to track and produce the required data
• Involving program staff prior to, during, and after the grant

Watch now >>

This program is presented in collaboration with AFP New York City Chapter.

Learn more about evaluation with our GrantSpace Knowledge Base Article, Where can I learn about nonprofit program evaluation? View other videos, podcasts and multimedia content at the GrantSpace multimedia archive.

Watch This! Picking Up Steam with STEM

In an effort to prepare the workforce for the next generation for a creative economy and jobs that will require talent adept at designing the technological innovations of tomorrow, corporate and foundation grantmakers are increasingly focusing their educational funding on STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math.

Watch the full program now >>

And today there is a growing movement to expand the definition to also include arts within these portfolios since there is a growing recognition that creativity and innovation are also important to nurture—hence STEAM. Come to this session to learn more about guidelines, trends, and new potential directions for STEM funding in our region.

Panelists include:

• Teri Douglas, Account Executive, Radio Disney
• Susan Harvey, Program Director, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation | Stephen Bechtel Fund
• Wendy Fukamaki, Community Relations Manager, Signature Programs, Pacific, Gas & Electric Company
• Anne Wintroub, Director of Citizenship and Sustainability, AT&T

Head over the GrantSpace to watch the full program. View other great videos, podcasts and online events at the GrantSpace multimedia archive.

 

Watch This! What's Trending in the World of Foundations?

The Council on Foundations (COF), the largest national professional association of grantmakers, recently held its annual conference in Los Angeles, California. More than 1,100 grantmaking institutions representing all types of grantmakers convened for the conference. At the Foundation Center's San Francisco office this past May, a panel of local grantmakers that attended the conference spoke on timely topics in philanthropy. The panel included:

• Bess Bendet, Director, Blue Shield Against Violence, Blue Shield of California Foundation
• Wendy Ramage Hawkins, Executive Director, Intel Foundation
• Manuel Santamaria, Grantmaking Director, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
• Daniel Olias Silverman, Director of Communications and Corporate Secretary, The James Irvine Foundation

Head over the GrantSpace to watch the full program >>

Get more information about trending grantmaker topics in our podcasts, videos, webinars and live chats, posted to the GrantSpace multimedia archive.

What do you do When Your Fundraising is Flatlining?

We recently wrote about a new report released by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) showing that fundraising levels of more than half of reporting nonprofits have flatlined or decreased compared to 2010. What's a nonprofit to do? 

Some of the strategies being employed by the nonprofits in the NRC survey are fairly standard: direct mail, special events, online campaigns, and major gifts.  Almost half are currently involved in or are planning a capital or fundraising campaign. We absolutely recommend these tried-and-true fundraising strategies.

However, one of the statistics in the NRC report makes me a little nervous: 28 percent of the nonprofits surveyed said foundation and corporate support is the potentially biggest growth area. Before you put all of your organizations' proverbial eggs in this basket, consider this. Year after year, the total of charitable giving in the US that comes from foundations and corporations hovers around 20 percent. And, even though we are expecting foundation giving to grow modestly in 2011 and 2012, the ongoing economic crisis has increased the funding needs of nonprofits and created an extremely competitive grantseeking environment.

Are we saying nonprofits should forget about grant funding?  Not at all. We are saying that it's important for nonprofits to know that grant funding should be just one part of an overall fundraising strategy and you need to have a balanced fund development plan that includes diverse sources of revenue and support. If you need to get a fundraising plan in place but don't know where to begin, our class and seminar can help.

Need more advice? Be sure to check out some of these resources:

• Where can I find advice and information about fundraising in times of economic downturn?
• Fieldstone Alliance “20 Emergency Funding Sources for Nonprofits”
• Grassroots Fundraising Journal “How to Prepare Your Nonprofit for an Economic Recession” 

Also, don’t miss Lauren Steiner’s year-end fundraising tips in a previous post .

Do you have advice? Please leave a comment.