Philanthropy Front and Center-San Francisco

Reporting from the Alliance Conference: Fiscal Issues

(This post is from David Holmes, regional training coordinator, Foundation Center-Cleveland.)

Hello again from Dearborn!  Today (7/10/08) was a great day at the Alliance for Nonprofit Management conference, not only because I won a clock in the exhibitor raffle, but because I was able to get some useful information about fundraising planning and fiscal sponsorship.

My first session today built on the issues raised about nonprofit effectiveness in the plenary session I blogged about yesterday, particularly with regards to the importance of funding diversity.  Richard Brewster of the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise presented "New Approaches to Nonprofit Income Strategy," drawing from two books, Financing Nonprofits and Understanding Nonprofit Funding.  The session explored how organizations can realistically plan for a sustainable funding mix, starting with a discussion about categories of revenue and support, i.e. earned income, private donations, government support, etc.  Mr. Brewster stressed that the potential for success within individual categories is largely dependent on the programs offered by the organization. For example, an organization whose programs touch individuals directly may have more potential for earned income through fees for service than a program that fills a public need, which may be more likely to draw government support.  Building on this, Mr.Brewster discussed how to rate the value of any fundraising strategy by carefully weighing how much it aids the organization's mission and the potential it has for leveraging additional support or revenue.  He also urged organizations to explore the underlying costs associated with fundraising, like the cost of starting a new fundraising method or the cost of managing and reporting to additional donors.

With the exceptions of the two books already mentioned, Mr. Brewster noted the dearth of information available for teaching nonprofit organizations how to choose the right funding mix.  However, he did refer attendees to the book Securing Your Organization's Future authored by Michael Seltzer and published by the Foundation Center.  You can read the abridged version at our web site.

In the afternoon, I switched gears a bit to learn more about fiscal sponsorship, a practice I generally think of as strictly a temporary measure, generally appropriate for grassroots organizations or individuals, but it is changing. Gerald Solomon of the Samueli Foundation and Jane Levikow from the Tides Center shared information about the newly-established National Network of Fiscal Sponsors and how the best fiscal sponsors provide more than financial management. They provide grants administration, business administration, and capacity building for projects and leaders who don't want to divert their attention away from mission to management.  The new network's aims are to spread information about the practice of fiscal sponsorship to several key audiences: potential sponsors, detailing the complexity of the legal responsibilities; funders, explaining how fiscal sponsorship is better than incorporation for some projects; and potential sponsorship candidates, sharing information about a forthcoming nationwide directory of fiscal sponsorship organizations. 

Given the numbers of failed new nonprofits (more on that in my next post), it was good to spend the day thinking and learning about sustainability.  And I won a clock!  More to come....

--David Holmes

From the Answer Desk: Not Accepting Applications

(This post is from Katie Artzner, the Foundation Center's online reference specialist)

In our library and through our online Ask Us service, we are often asked: How can my organization cultivate a relationship with a foundation that isn't accepting applications or that gives only to pre-selected organizations?

Common reasons that foundations are not accepting applications include: the foundation has an internal process for identifying and selecting its grantees each year; it has been legally set up for the benefit of specific organizations; or it does not have the capacity to receive and review a lot of proposals.

To determine if a foundation that is not accepting applications should become a prospect for your organization, look at grants made by the foundation over the past several years. You can do this by using our free 990 Finder to view the foundation's tax return, the IRS Form 990-PF. Is the foundation funding the same organizations each year? Is it funding in the same fields of interest or the same geographic location each year? Or, does the foundation's grantmaking vary from year to year? Your strategy for cultivating a relationship with this foundation lies in the answers to these types of questions.

If you find that the foundation makes grants to the same organizations year after year, your organization's interests might be better served by moving on to other prospects that are accepting applications.

If the foundation appears to vary its grantmaking from year to year, has an interest in your field, and makes grants in your geographic location, you might start the cultivation process by asking your board members, key donors, and influential supporters if they know any of the foundation's board members or staff and if they are willing to introduce your organization to them. Alternately, you could send a letter that introduces your organization, explaining how it connects with the foundation's giving interests. Please note that the letter should not include a funding request, but should ask how the foundation selects its grantees and if you can meet with them or provide more information about your organization.

Do you have a question? Ask Us!

Philanthropy Chat with Mary Gregory

In fall 2007 we launched Philanthropy Chat, an online audio series featuring interviews with West Coast grantmakers and other philanthropy and fundraising experts. Listen to the current edition of Philanthropy Chat and hear Mary Gregory, senior program officer for Pacific Foundation Services (PFS), discuss the giving priorities of PFS foundations and trends in the family foundation field. Since PFS administers the giving for a dozen Bay Area family foundations Mary provides a view of the field few others can.

If you missed a Meet the Grantmaker program or want to listen to other Philanthropy Chats peruse the offerings in our Events Archive.

Reality Grantmaking: The Suspense Builds

I just want to extend our congratulations and thanks to the six finalist environmental organizations that have been selected to compete for a $1,000 grant as part of our Reality Grantmaking session tomorrow morning.  For those of you not familiar with Reality Grantmaking, it is an exciting program we have done for the past few years in collaboration with the Development Executives Roundtable and the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Golden Gate Chapter.  During Reailty Grantmaking, attendees have the opportunity to observe grantmaking in action as a panel of grantmakers determine which of the competing proposals will be selected to receive the grant.  In order for us to fulfill that strong grantseeker desire to listen in on the grant deliberation process, some organizations had to be willing to "take one for the team" and volunteer to have their grant proposals publicly reviewed.  Not surprisingly when funding is at stake, there was some competition involved and we have now announced the six organizations that were selected as finalists:

• Coral Reef Alliance
• Hidden Villa
• MedShare
• Pacific Forest Trust
• River Partners
• Accountable Development Coalition

The links above will take you to the submitted proposals.  If you plan on attending tomorrow, you can do some advance reading and place bets with yourself or your friends about which of these organizations will take home that $1,000 prize. 

Get a Scholarship to Attend FC Summer Seminars

If summer is a time when you have some breathing room to learn something new about fundraising and grantseeking, and you represent a small, California-based nonprofit organization, then don't forget to apply for a Scholarship to attend one of our summer seminars.  If you represent a nonprofit organization in California with a budget under $1,000,000, you are eligible to apply.  Learn to develop your fundraising plan, to effectively research foundations, to build a fundraising board, or how to secure corporate partnerships with one of our summer seminars.

Please download the application form for more details or to apply. 

This initiative is generously sponsored by the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and the donors to the Foundation Center—San Francisco’s Capacity Building Initiative.

Library Resources for Individual Artists

Are you an individual artist in the Bay Area? If so, keep reading! We've hand-picked a few books for you to borrow from our lending library for two weeks.

• Guide to Getting Arts Grants. Ellen Liberatori. New York, NY: Allworth Press, 2006. Provides practical advice to help artists obtain grants from foundations and government agencies. Topics covered include developing a plan, creating a portfolio, identifying funders, and completing a grant application. One chapter focuses on proposals submitted by arts organizations, noting that artists may collaborate with arts groups through fiscal sponsorship arrangements. Liberatori draws upon her experience as a program officer to elaborate on how grantmaking decisions are made.
• Shaking the Money Tree: How to Get Grants and Donations for Film & Video Projects. Morrie Warshawski. 2nd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2003. A step-by-step guide that covers planning a project, doing research, writing a proposal, soliciting donations, from individuals, and more. Includes sample proposals, sample direct mail letters, and how to host a special event.
• Writing the Artist Statement: Revealing the True Spirit of Your Work. Ariane Goodwin. Haverford, PA: Infinity Publishing, 2002. Describes what artist statements are, discusses why they are important, and explains how to develop them by using creative writing exercises.

Also, if your work is central to film and media, consider downloading and listening to an archived audio program held here at the Foundation Center last October and moderated by Morrie Warshawski on Fundraising for Film & Media Projects. Learn how to attract grants and donations for your media endeavors. Panelists discuss strategies and resources for financing film, video, and media projects.

Be sure to sign up for our free training class, Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts on Friday, June 6 from 1:00 pm-2:30 pm. This course is geared towards individual artists looking to fund any type of arts-related project.

Check it Out!

We have recently added Fired Up Fundraising: Turning Board Passion into Action to our lending library. Gail Perry explains how nonprofit leaders can appeal to board members' dedication to mission and vision in order to create excitement around raising funds. Providing a step-by-step process, Perry outlines her four steps to build a board that is passionate about fundraising:

1. Focus on mission
2. Inspire your board members with a new philosophy of fundraising
3. Ready your board with the right tools and skills
4. Engage your board members in your fundraising plan

Perry's writing is inspirational and practical. She concludes the preface of her book with the following:

If you create a passion-driven fundraising experience for your board members, you can tackle the myths about fundraising and instill new, more positive approaches that will have them excited about the difference they can make. Your board members will embrace your mission so throughly that they can become agents for change.

You will have them not just willing--but also wanting--to participate in finding expanded resources for your organization. You will rekindle individual passion for your nonprofit's mission and harness that passion into shared fundraising success. You will be able to create a board that is passion-driven--not fearful--about fundraising. A board that will be on fire for the cause, working to make the world a better place, and actually being, as Gandhi said, the change they want to see in the world. (pg. xix)

Here's how to check out this book from the Foundation Center--San Francisco library and a list of other circulating titles.

Osher Foundation Makes Landmark Gift to California Community Colleges

In recent weeks the San Francisco Chronicle has been reporting stories about an encouraging trend among our nation's elite universities that is making it easier for low-, middle- and in some cases upper-middle-income students to afford the high price tag of a college education.  More than three dozen schools, including institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and Yale with robust fundraising operations and large endowments have been able to allocate funds to cap or eliminate loans, tuition or parental contributions for economically disadvantaged students and families. 

While this is good news for those who can meet the entrance requirements of these institutions, some expressed concern that the schools where low- and middle-income students most tend to go can not afford to offer similar tuition breaks.  Public universities tend to have much smaller endowments than privately funded institutions, and community colleges typically do not receive large philanthropic gifts.  So this week's pledge of $50 million from the San Francisco-based Bernard Osher Foundation to the California Community College system to help low-income students at California community colleges is well timed to address these concerns since the system serves 2.6 million students each year, many of them low-income.  Since part of it is structured as a challenge grant it also signals a likely increase in foundation and individual donations to California's community colleges.  Here are more details, from our own Philanthropy News Digest, about what is believed to be the largest donation ever made to a private-institution in the United States:

The gift will be used to create an endowment for the 109-school system that will be managed by the Foundation for California Community Colleges in Sacramento. Half of the pledge will be paid immediately, while the additional $25 million will be dispensed over the next three years while FCCC works to raise an additional $50 million. According to Osher president Mary Bitterman, the foundation has given millions to universities over the past few years, but community colleges need significantly more financial assistance.

With 2.6 million students, California's community-college system is the world's largest public college system. The new endowment is expected to support 1,250 scholarships in 2009 and eventually provide 5,000 per year. The foundation is expected to announce an additional $20 million grant to several California public universities to help community-college transfer students.

According to FCCC president Paul Lanning, potential donors to community colleges simply haven't been asked to provide support. "[The Osher gift] shows that we warrant public support," he said. "There's a very clear disparity between what we do and how we're funded. We can't keep relying on public funding."

Krupnick, Matt. "Endowment to Aid Needy Students." San Jose Mercury News 5/05/08

Sturrock, Carrie. "Biggest Gift Ever for Community Colleges." San Francisco Chronicle 5/7/08

Welcome to the Foundation Center-San Francisco's New Blog

Spring is a wonderful time for starting new projects and planting the seeds for what we hope will flourish and grow throughout the rest of the year.  So it is in this springtime spirit of grassroots growth, abundant nurture and bountiful harvest that we embark on our philanthropy blogging journey from the San Francisco outpost of the Foundation Center.   We will use this space to highlight regional philanthropy news and local nonprofit happenings, successful grantseekers whom we can learn from, tools you can use in our library and online, and to notify you about upcoming programs or highlight lessons learned from recent programs.

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Here is a list of some of our newly released tools, resources, and upcoming programs:

• According to the our new report, Key Facts on Corporate Foundations, giving by corporate foundations increased 6.6 percent in 2007 to an estimated $4.4 billion.
• The Spanish translation of our classic Guide to Proposal Writing, Guía para escribir propuestas, was just released.
• The Foundation Center will offer Funding for the Environment programming throughout the month of June in all of our five offices.  Gain insight into your local environmental funding community and learn about incorporating green practices into your nonprofit operations. View the Environment Month calendar for San Francisco.
• Over the next couple of months we are bringing our popular Proposal Writing Basics class to nine cities throughout California in partnership with the James Irvine Foundation to prepare arts organizations to apply to the Irvine Foundation's new Creative Connections Fund.  Please see the Irvine web site for more details about the Fund. For more information and to register for the free training programs, visit our web site.

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Featured Grantmaker of the Week:  Yesterday Target's San Francisco Bay Area region hosted a community celebration for its grantees at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which reminded us about their local contributions to corporate philanthropy, upcoming deadlines, and how nice it is when grantmakers stop what they are doing to take a moment to thank their grantees for their hard work and dedication.  In 2007, Target provided $3 million to nonprofit organizations in the nine county Bay Area, and an additional $880,074 to K-12 schools in this region.  Target is known for its commitment to giving 5% of its income to its communities, a unique mark of distinction in corporate philanthropy.  Target is now accepting grant applications online through May 31, 2008.  The Target grant program focuses on three areas: Arts, Early Childhood Reading, and Family Violence Prevention.  Visit Target.com/grants to complete and submit an application or for more information. 

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So, some seeds have been planted here, and we hope you will help us by making this a community garden project of sorts.  Do you have a grantseeking success story to share or local grantmaking announcements to feature?  Let us know via comments or contact Janet Camarena at jfc@foundationcenter.org. 

Happy Spring Seeding Everyone!

-Janet Camarena, Director, SF Office