Philanthropy Front and Center-San Francisco

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!

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. 

Red Oak Opportunity Foundation

Recently I received one of those phone calls that just make my day that are from foundation administrators who are looking for ways to promote their grantmaking activities to the wider community.  As you can imagine, in our line of work we more often hear from grantseekers looking for grant opportunities, so it is exciting when we hear of foundation opportunities to share with our community.

Jimmy Reina reached out to tell us about the Red Oak Opportunity Foundation (ROOF), established by Red Oak Realty in the East Bay in 1985.  ROOF is a grantmaking public charity, and its grant funds are derived from contributions from the company, staff, its clients, and other community members.  Its funding priorities include supporting local homeless services, educational organizations, and other community-based organizations in the communities Red Oak serves.  According to Reina, because they are a small foundation they "give preference to supporting small and all-volunteer organizations in which a small grant can make a big difference." 

This year Reina anticipates the ROOF grant budget to be in the $60,000-$70,000 range and the grant size averages $500 to $5,000.  Grant decisions are announced annually in December and the application deadline is November 15.  More information on how to apply and an application are available at the ROOF web site. 

Keeping the Beach Barefoot Friendly

If the recent heat wave has you dreaming of ocean vistas and sand between your toes then you might be interested in this RFP that was just posted to our RFP Bulletin on Friday:

Barefoot Wine, a California winemaker, and the Surfrider Foundation, a grassroots not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to preserving the world's oceans, waves, and beaches, are offering support for a talented beach enthusiast to spend a week working with the Surfrider Foundation in San Clemente, California during the summer of 2008.

Barefoot Wine's Summer Dream Job program will provide hands-on experience in ocean water quality and organized beach cleanups as well as instruction in grassroots awareness campaigns. Entries will be judged by the staff at the Surfrider Foundation based on past environmental experience, relevant skills, and proven dedication to the cause. Along with being compensated financially, the recipient will receive a trip to California, including airfare, beachside housing, and ground transportation. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older and residents of one of the fifty United States or the District of Columbia.

See the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project Web page for complete program information.

For other current RFPs of interest, vist our RFP page.

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