Month: August 2014

Categories
Arts & Culture Fundraising Grants Resources

New Arts & Culture RFP’s-September Deadline

Oregon Community Foundation Offers Grants for Small Arts Organizations

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Recent research conducted by the Oregon Community Foundation has revealed that of the 1,468 registered nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Oregon, 81 percent have budgets under $100,000. Although these organizations are central to the cultural and economic vitality of communities in the state, they are often not eligible for traditional grant funding.

In response to this situation, the foundation has announced a new grant program that will award one-year grants of up to $5,000 to arts organizations with operating budgets under $100,000. One-year grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to arts and culture organizations in each of Oregon’s eight regions, based on the number of arts organizations in and population of each region. To be eligible, organizations must identify arts and/or culture as a priority reason for their existence; be a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service; be headquartered in Oregon; and be able to document that their cash expenses during the most recently completed fiscal year were less than $100,000.

The foundation will begin accepting online grant applications on August 1, 2014. Applications will be accepted no later than September 1, 2014.

For More Information, click here:Link to Complete RFP

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Accepting Applications for USArtists International Grant Program

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

Administered by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the USArtists International program is committed to ensuring that the impressive range of performing arts in the United States is represented abroad, and that American artists can enhance their creative and professional development through participation at international festivals.

Through the program, grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded to American dance, music, and theater ensembles and solo performers that have been invited to perform at international festivals and/or for performance engagements that represent extraordinary career opportunities anywhere outside the U.S.

Applicants must be a dance, music, or theater ensemble or solo artist, including practitioners of folk and traditional forms, working at a professional level; be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization or have a U.S.-based fiscal sponsor that has nonprofit 501(c)(3) status; if an ensemble, have the majority of its members be U.S. citizens or permanent residents (whether a U.S.-based ensemble or a collaborative project with artists in the host country); and, if a solo performer, be invited to perform as a soloist without accompaniment and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

The September 5, 2014, deadline is for engagements taking place between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015.

For More Information, click here: Link to Complete RFP

Delaware Community Foundation Invites Applications For Nonprofit Collaborations

DEADLINE: September 15, 2014

The  Delaware Community Foundation is accepting applications for its 2014 Collaborative Grants program. Through the annual program, DCF awards grants of up to $100,000 for programs involving a collaboration of two or more nonprofits within a single county or statewide. To be eligible, all applicants must be recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For complete program guidelines and application instructions, visit the DCF website.

For More Information, click here:Link to Complete RFP

 

Center for Cultural Innovation Seeks Applications for NextGen Arts Professional Development Grants

DEADLINE: September 15, 2014

The Center for Cultural Innovation‘s NextGen Arts Professional Development Grant Program provides funding to emerging arts leaders in California to enroll in workshops, attend conferences, work with consultants or coaches, or pursue alternative career enrichment activities. Qualified individuals may apply for one grant of up to $1,000 a year to support the direct costs of a proposed professional development activity, including tuition or registration fees for workshops, conferences, and trainings; travel and hotel expenses; fees to work directly with consultants or career coaches; and direct costs related to professional development activities such as purchasing publications or subscriptions, travel per diem, or transportation.

To be eligible, individuals must be between the ages of 18 and 35 at the time of application; currently be working with a California nonprofit arts organization as an administrator, artist, or board member; and have been employed in the arts field for fewer than ten consecutive years.

Applications are accepted and funding decisions made on a rolling basis throughout the year, with an application deadline on the 15th of every month. Grants will be awarded in advance of proposed activities and payments will be made through the applicant’s supporting nonprofit arts organization.

For More Information, click here: Link to Complete RFP

William H. Johnson Foundation for the Arts Invites Applications From African-American Artists

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

The William H. Johnson Foundation for the Arts was established in 2001 in honor of William H. Johnson, an American artist known primarily for his Scandinavian landscapes and his witty and poignant depictions of African-American daily life. Recognizing that minority artists often need economic assistance, the foundation seeks to encourage artists early in their careers by offering financial grants. To that end, the foundation is accepting applications for the 2014 William H. Johnson Prize.

The Johnson Prize is awarded annually to an early-career African-American artist working in the areas of painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, installation, and/or new genres. For award purposes, “early career” is a flexible term that should be interpreted liberally to include artists who have finished their academic work within a dozen years of the year the prize is awarded. Age is not determinative, and artists who have not earned BFAs or MFAs are still eligible so long as they have not been working as an artist for more than twelve years. The 2014 prize recipient will receive $25,000. The winner will be announced in December 2014.

For More Information, click here: Link to Complete RFP

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Invites Applications for Fund for Creative Communities

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Fund for Creative Communities is accepting applications for projects that bring high-quality art projects to places and people in Manhattan. Part of the New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralization program, a statewide community arts re-granting program, the program awards grants of up to $5,000 in support of projects and activities that  enable Manhattan communities to experience and engage with the arts. Each year, the program awards close to $230,000 to  arts projects in the borough, including concerts, performances, public art, exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, readings, and more.

The fund supports small and midsized nonprofit organizations and artists that provide high-quality local arts programs. The fund also seeks to increase access to arts and cultural activities in Manhattan neighborhoods and to encourage new arts activities in communities where the need exists. Information sessions are offered each summer in ten locations across Manhattan. Sessions include a review of the programs and useful information to help applicants put their best foot forward. Attendance at an information session is required for first-time and returning applicants who have not attended since 2011.

For More Information, click here: Link to Complete RFP

Southern Exposure Invites Applications for Alternative Exposure Grants

DEADLINE: September 18, 2014

Southern Exposure is a San Francisco-based artist-centered nonprofit committed to supporting visual artists. Through extensive and innovative programming, SoEx strives to experiment, collaborate, and further educate while providing a resource center and forum for Bay Area and national artists and youth in its Mission District space, as well as off site.

Through its Alternative Exposure grant program, SoEx supports the self-organized work of artists and small groups that play such a critical and significant role within the San Francisco Bay Area arts community. Now in its eighth year, the program provides grants of up to $5,000 to foster the development and presentation of artist-led projects and programs that are direct, accessible, and open to the public. Funded activities may include a new exhibition or exhibition series, the ongoing work of an arts venue or collective, a public art project, a one-time event or performance, publications directly related to the visual arts, an online project, an artist residency, a series of film screenings, and more.

Projects must run between November 15, 2014, and June 30, 2016. To be eligible, project activities must be accessible and presented to the public within the Bay Area, while the lead organizer must live in San Francisco or Alameda counties.(For groups, additional collaborators may live elsewhere, but the majority of collaborators in the group must live in an eligible county.) Projects may not be a part of the primary programming of an established 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization;  nonprofit organizations are not eligible to apply.

To assist applicants, SoEx will be hosting three informational sessions in the Bay Area: Information Session 1 on August 11, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. (PST) at the Southern Exposure offices (3030 20th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110); Information Session 2 on August 20, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at Aggregate Space Gallery (801 West Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94607); and Information Session 3 on September 8, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. at the SoEx offices.

For More Information, click here: Link to Complete RFP

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Accepting Fellowship Applications From Artists and Scholars in the United States and Canada

DEADLINE: September 19, 2014

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation provides fellowships for advanced professionals in all fields — including the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and creative arts — except the performing arts. Last year, the program awarded fellowships to one hundred and eighty-one scholars, artists, and scientists in the United States and Canada.

Often characterized as “midcareer” awards, the fellowships are intended for individuals who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. The program seeks to further the development of scholars and artists by helping them engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions.

Fellowships provide grants to selected individuals over a time period between six and twelve months. Since the purpose of the program is to provide fellows with blocks of time in which they can work with as much creative freedom as possible, fellows may spend their grant funds in any manner they deem necessary to their work.

Support is only available to individuals. Fellowships are not available for the creation of residencies, curriculum development, or any type of educational program, nor are they available to support the development of Web sites or blogs. The foundation understands the performing arts to be those in which an individual interprets work created by others. Accordingly, the foundation will provide fellowships to composers but not conductors, singers, or instrumentalists; choreographers but not dancers; filmmakers, playwrights, and performance artists who create their own work but not actors or theater directors.  Grant amounts vary, and the foundation does not guarantee it will fully fund any project.

For More Information, click here:Link to Complete RFP

American Council of Learned Societies Invites Applications for Digital Innovation Fellowships

DEADLINE: September 24, 2014

The American Council of Learned Societies  is accepting applications for its ninth annual Digital Innovation Fellowships. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the fellowship program supports digitally-based research projects in all disciplines of the humanities and related social sciences. The aim of the program is to provide scholars with the means to pursue intellectually significant projects that deploy digital technologies intensively and innovatively.

Fellowships are intended to support an academic year dedicated to work on a major scholarly project that takes a digital form. Projects may address a consequential scholarly question through new research methods, new ways of representing the knowledge produced by research, or both; create new digital research resources; increase the scholarly utility of existing digital resources by developing new means of aggregating, navigating, searching, or analyzing those resources; or propose to analyze and reflect on the new forms of knowledge creation and representation made possible by the digital transformation of scholarship.

Each fellowship carries a stipend of up to $60,000 toward an academic year’s leave and provides for project costs of up to $25,000. ACLS does not support creative works (e.g., novels or films), textbooks, straightforward translations, or purely pedagogical projects. The program is open to scholars in all fields of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences. Applicants must have a Ph.D. degree conferred prior to the application deadline. An established scholar who can demonstrate the equivalent of a Ph.D. in publications and professional experience may also qualify. United States citizenship or permanent resident status is required as of the application deadline.

For More Information, click here: Link to Complete RFP

Target Accepting Applications for K-12 Field Trip Grants Program

DEADLINE: September 30, 2014

Target Corporation is accepting applications from education professionals for the Target Field Trip Grants program, an annual program designed to bring K-12 students in the United States to museums, historical sites, and cultural organizations.Grants are intended to fund visits to art, science, and cultural museums; community service or civic projects; career enrichment opportunities; and other events or activities away from school. More than 3,600 grants of up to $700 will be awarded in January 2015.  Grants are available for field trips taking place between February and December 2015 and may be used to cover field trip-related costs such as transportation, ticket fees, food, resource materials, and supplies.

Education professionals who are at least 18 years old and employed by an accredited K-12 public, private, or charter school in the U.S. that maintains 501(c)(3) or 509(a)(1) tax-exempt status are eligible to apply. Educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff at these institutions must be willing to plan and execute a field trip that will provide a demonstrable learning experience for students.

Visit the Target website for complete program guidelines and access to the application form.

For More Information, click here:Link to Complete RFP

Museums Alaska Invites Applications for Collections Management Fund

DEADLINE: September 30, 2014

Museums Alaska, in partnership with the Rasmuson Foundation, is accepting applications for its Collections Management Fund, a grant program designed to enhance collections management at Alaska museums through professional expertise, training, and access to conservation materials and supplies.

Grants of up to  $10,000 will be awarded in support of activities that help organizations build capacity in the area of collections management and conservation of collections within three categories:

1) Supplies and equipment: Applicants may request funds for general collections management needs as well as specific project needs. (Shipping costs are eligible grant expenses.) Priority will be given to emergency conservation projects.

2) Training: Applicants may request grants to support training of museum staff and community participants. Tuition or workshop fees for training events are eligible for funding, as are associated training costs for providing a local training event for staff and community participants. Travel costs of experts hired for specific projects and travel for museum staff to attend collections-related trainings elsewhere also are eligible grant expenses. Projects with emphasis on training staff or community members who can then pass on knowledge (i.e., “train the trainers”) are encouraged.

3) Professional services: Applicants may request support for specific projects, including contract hiring of conservators, registrars, collections managers, etc. who can provide expertise or services beyond the capacity of local staff. Eligible expenses for contractors are limited to short-term projects, with preference for local hire. When hiring an expert from outside Alaska, institutions are encouraged to share expert services among communities. Museums Alaska reserves the right to group like requests into a coordinated tour by a visiting professional.

To be eligible, applicants must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, government, tribal entities, or equivalent organizations that hold collections in the public trust, such as a museum or cultural center. Small, rural-based organizations are encouraged to apply.

For complete eligibility guidelines, program description, and application instructions, see the Museums Alaska website.

For More Information, click here:Link to Complete RFP

Categories
Fundraising Nonprofit Leadership Nonprofit Mangement NonProfit News Social Media/Communications Trends

5 Nonprofit Technology Trends to Watch in 2014!

Brought to You By: Nonprofit Tech For Good…Check Out Their Website. Enjoy!

2014 will be an exciting year for nonprofit technology. Numerous communications and fundraising trends are on the verge of going mainstream and nonprofits committed to early adoption have a number of new tools and strategies to pioneer this year. Social media will remain a top priority for nonprofits in 2014, but 2013 helped solidify social media as a mandatory set of communication tools. It’s no longer cutting edge, but rather an integral component of a successful online communications and fundraising strategy similar to website and email communications.

1) Mass Adoption of Responsive and Flat Design

Nonprofits that have not yet mobilized their online communications and fundraising campaigns will start to pay the price literally in lost donations in 2014. Going mobile will not be free and for many small nonprofits a costly upgrade, but to successfully communicate your mission and programs and fundraise online in coming years, it is a necessary investment. Websites, blogs, and e-newsletters that are responsively designed will become more common place in 2014 and will incorporate elements of flat design for optimal mobile browsing.

fistula foundation new responsive website

2) Integration of Digital Wallets Into Social Networks

Facebook recently selected 18 of their favorite nonprofits and embedded a “Donate Now” on their Facebook Pages and while that was nice of them to do, it’s not useful to the other million+ nonprofits (in the United States alone) that would like access to the service. Unless Facebook partners with an online donation service that can efficiently distribute donations for a million+ nonprofits, such as JustGive.org or Network for Good, Facebook’s new donation service will be limited to the selected few nonprofits that Facebook is willing to process and distribute funds for. The application process is exceptionally vague and noncommittal which is telling on how limited Facebook’s short-term plans are for the service.

That said, both Facebook and Twitter are working on launching their own digital wallet systems which could radically transform online fundraising via social networks. The credit card data of donors would be stored within their Facebook or Twitter accounts (or LinkedIn or Instagram accounts) to allow for one-tap donations and funds would be distributed by a third-party, such as PayPal or a mobile wallet app service (or a donation service similar to Network for Good). It’s a guessing game at this point who the social network giants will partner with. Of all the digital payment services, Google Wallet is the digital payment system to watch in 2014. Google will likely integrate their Google Wallet “Donate” button into Google+ Pages as it is already into YouTube Channels that participate in YouTube’s nonprofit program.

google donate button into youtube channels

3) Live Reporting During TV Events

As social media becomes more integrated into TV, nonprofits would be wise to master the art of live reporting this year. It will require new media managers to be available beyond the traditional Monday-through-Friday, 9-to-5 work week, but with the possibility of increasing your nonprofit’s exposure to millions of TV viewers, early adopter nonprofits should prioritize being active on social media during news conferences and special events, such as the #SOTU, and experiment with Internet TV and its related apps as soon as possible.

sony internet tv nonprofits

4) Maturation of Mobile Fundraising Apps

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, many mobile fundraising apps have come and gone. Some were ahead of their time and others lacked the design and functionality necessary to hook smartphone users. However, in 2013 a new suite of mobile fundraising apps launched that have staying power – and more will likely follow in 2014 – and early adopter nonprofits should watch and pioneer the trend.

givemob

5) Increased Employment Opportunities in New Media

In 2013 the number of nonprofits that increased their social media budgets quadruppled and this is a trend that will continue throughout 2014. The reality is that mobile and social media require time to use effectively. The number of social networks as well as the quality of content that your nonprofit creates for your social media campaigns is directly correlated to the amount of staff time your nonprofit invests in new media. The good news is that most nonprofits are starting to realize this and are adjusting their budgets accordingly as proven by the number of new media jobs in the nonprofit sector available online.

how much do nonprofits invest in social media infographic

 

Categories
Fundraising Grants Major Gifts Nonprofit Leadership Nonprofit Mangement Resources Social Media/Communications Trends Uncategorized

Top Free Nonprofit & Fundraising Webinars

Hi Everyone! This is a listing of the best nonprofit websites that provide free webinars. Webinars are a great way to learn and increase your professional development without leaving the comfort of your home or office. I hope this helps and allows you to increase your impact. Enjoy.Learn.Grow.Give Back!

Nonprofit Tech For Good-With 50,000 monthly visitors and more than 750,000 followers on social networks, Nonprofit Tech for Good (formally Nonprofit Tech 2.0) is a leading social and mobile media resource for nonprofit professionals. Created and managed by Heather Mansfield, Nonprofit Tech for Good focuses on providing valuable, easy-to-understand information, news, and resources related to nonprofit technology, online communications, and mobile and social fundraising.

Website– http://www.nptechforgood.com/social-and-mobile-media-webinars-for-nonprofits/

4Good-4Good exists to empower nonprofit organizations and social enterprises by connecting like-minded professionals and community members, and by empowering the sharing of a wealth of resources from which they may benefit.

Website– https://4good.org/4good/past-nonprofit-webinars

The Nonprofit Times-The NonProfit Times, the flagship publication of NPT Publishing Group in Morris Plains, N.J., is the leading business publication for nonprofit management. Geared to the executive suite, The NonProfit Times delivers news, business information and original research on the daily operations of tax-exempt organizations.

Website– http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/library/

Tech Soup– TechSoup is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a clear focus: connecting your nonprofit, charity, or public library with tech products and services, plus learning resources to make informed decisions about technology. Our free resources are available to all users. Once registered and qualified with TechSoup, nonprofits and libraries can access donated and discounted products and services from partners like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec.

Website– http://www.techsoup.org/community/events-webinars

Note: Be sure to select upcoming webinars and to scroll all the way down past the calendar to access past webinars.

GrantSpace- GrantSpace is a service of the Foundation Center, offers information and resources that are specifically designed to meet the needs of nonprofits worldwide in need of know-how for securing funding and operating effective organizations.

Website- http://grantspace.org/Multimedia/Webinars/(multimedia)/t

Firespring– Firespring contributes a significant amount of time, money, and technology to advance important causes through personal service in our community, investments in educational programs, grants for nonprofits, and the development of powerful tools that allow organizations to increase efficiency, raise more funds, and build support.

Website: firespring.org/learn

 

Categories
Social Justice Uncategorized

What Does Philanthropy Have To Do With Social Justice?

Social Justice: What’s Philanthropy Got To Do With It? – Hurst Lecture Series

Streamed live on Aug 6, 2014

Generously underwritten by the Hurst Family Foundation, the Hurst Lecture Series features conversations with renowned and inspiring leaders for public audiences in Aspen. Featuring Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, interviewed by Jane Wales, Vice President of the Aspen Institute and Executive Director of the Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation. The Ford Foundation is the second largest philanthropy in the United States with over $11 billion in assets and $500 million in annual giving. The foundation is based in the United States and operates worldwide, with ten offices in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South America.

 

Categories
Uncategorized

The New Activist Givers

Check out this interesting Forbes article written by Richard C. Morais….

Steward Leonard Jr., chief executive of Stew Leonard’s, the famous grocery store chain in Connecticut, was with his family in the Caribbean when his 2-year-old son, Stewie, drowned in the pool. ”You really are emotionally tired after such a tragedy, and you don’t know what to do with this grief you have,” says Leonard. ”My wife and I said, ‘Let’s create a foundation and see if we can help others.’ The foundation became a way of healing for the entire family. It still is.”

The Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities have, among other things, financed swimming lessons for tens of thousands of disadvantaged children, produced an award-winning children’s book called Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim, and have found countless other ways to help families that have similarly suffered a child’s drowning.

The Leonards are part of the growing Give Now movement spearheaded by activist organizations such as the Wealth & Giving Forum. ”Traditional philanthropy was defined as waiting until you were really old and very rich and writing a lot of checks,” says Daniel Schley, chief executive of Foundation Source, a backroom-services specialist that helps family foundations become more efficient. ”But the real power, drive and momentum in modern philanthropy is coming from people in their 40s and 50s who generated a great deal of wealth at an early age and have decided to leverage that wealth in philanthropy.”

These young activists are mostly coming up through the high-finance and tech industries. They are highly engaged in their causes, investing not just money but also time, energy and oversight. By our conservative estimate, these activist philanthropists will be pouring between $1.9 trillion and $2.6 trillion into philanthropy over the 20 years that began a decade ago, roughly 35% of the total giving during this period. But the results-focused nature of this philanthropic capital will make it far more important than the charitable giving seen during the last century.

Exclude Warren Buffett, and 21 Americans, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, each gave at least $100 million to charities in 2006. The top 60 donors gave a median $60 million each, compared with the $33 million median given the previous year. At the other end, America’s 71,000 grant-making foundations disbursed $41 billion, a 12% increase over 2005, and an inflation-adjusted 228% increase over what was disbursed in 1996.

Behind this impressive growth is a new wave in philanthropy that is not only activist but also mindful of “return on investment.” Imagine a 1960s flower-power protest organized by flinty-eyed hedge fund managers. They first showed up in numbers during the dot-com boom of the 1990s, and many of them believed their ”venture philanthropy” or ”social entrepreneurialism,” were inventions of the ”New Economy.”

In reality, philanthropy’s first industrializing phase took place in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries when the likes of Carnegie, Mellon and Rockefeller used their hard-headed business skills to tackle society’s most severe problems. John D. Rockefeller’s Sanitary Commission of 1909 and the Rockefeller Foundation he created in 1913 pretty much eradicated hookworm in America and laid the groundwork for the nation’s public health system.

But there is a difference. ”Rockefeller viewed his philanthropy through the lens of his business, and it really mirrored the Industrial Revolution. It was highly centralized, it was top down, it was based on experts and it was big picture,” says Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, which invests in companies offering services to the world’s poor.

”Wealth today has been created by a world view dominated by fast-moving networks, open information, bottom-up entrepreneurialism,” she says. “So it’s less likely to see [philanthropists like Bill Gates] going in at the top of a problem, but more likely for them to find entrepreneurs they can back, and business models they can use, from the bottom-up of the market.”

Mario Morino and his Venture Partner Philanthropy is a prime example of this new bottom-up activism at work. Morino built software firms–including Legent, sold to Computer Associates for $1.8 billion–and cashed out in the mid-1990s. Raised in Rust Belt Cleveland and grateful for the education he received, he immediately created the Morino Foundation as an educational philanthropy.

His rambling mission statement written in 1995 talks about using ”network interactive communications” in the ”Knowledge Age” to ”empower” the disadvantaged. It reflects the dot-com hubris of the time, and Morino inevitably got a reality check. A teacher once stood up at a conference and bluntly told Morino and the other superhighway do-gooders that her classroom didn’t even have a phone jack. Another added that she taught out of a garage.

But Morino is intensely earnest, and in one 18-month period, he interviewed 700 philanthropic sources across the country. The software executive noticed that deeply committed and competent community leaders periodically emerged out of the ”volunteer” armies that were the backbone of America’s charity work. These charismatics were the nonprofit equivalent of entrepreneurs, and they tackled the hardest issues in the toughest neighborhoods and built dynamic charities in the $500,000 to $2 million range. But these natural leaders with insider know-how did not have the networks, resources or ”managerial discipline” to lift their charitable institutions to the next level.

In 1999, Morino visited General Atlantic Partners, the top-drawer private equity group, and suddenly had an ”epiphany” to bring the management, capacity and brand-building techniques of private equity to the philanthropic sector.

”Grant making is generally program-based, often with tight restrictions on how the grants can be used for overhead, so the ability for a nonprofit to take that money to improve itself managerially was very low or didn’t exist,” says Morino. ”Therein lies one of the fundamental problems [of the philanthropic industry].”

So Morino set out to fill this hole by personally spending $9 million to establish Venture Philanthropy Partners with two partners, and then raising a $30 million fund with 26 high-profile investors, including Jean and Steve Case of AOL fame. Some of these investors take up board seats on VPP’s investments; others make their high-powered Rolodexes available to the nonprofits. The mission: ”Alter the status quo for children in need of opportunity” and ”create a different, innovative approach to philanthropy.”

VPP committed its resources to 12 charities in the Washington, D.C., area, collectively serving 47,000 children. VPP’s chief executive oversees the private equity approach: top-to-bottom reviews of the hand-picked charity; identification of expansion opportunities and management goals; and clear targets backed by quarterly reviews to ensure benchmarks are getting hit.

VPP’s approach is slowly paying off. One of its brightest stars is See Forever Foundation, which set up an inner-city charter school that cases the juvenile courts for kids in trouble, and then stands over them (until 7:15 p.m. at one school, and on Saturdays at another). Expanding further with VPP’s backing, See Forever provides tiny classes, hot meals, emergency housing, counseling and after-school tutoring. With 275 kids under its wing at the moment, See Forever’s inner-city ”no-hopers” have an 85% graduation rate.

Mary’s Center for Child and Maternal Health is another VPP investment. Nurse Mary Gomez originally started her charity in 1988 as a center where undocumented immigrants from Central America, too afraid to visit hospitals, could safely get natal care and pediatric services. Mary’s Center has since developed into a cheery, one-stop mecca for any Washington-area immigrant trying to make his way in America. It offers everything from HIV/AIDS testing to English lessons, as well as delivering babies, teaching teens family planning and assisting its immigrant clients in the myriad of government offices they have to deal with.

”Many of our clients come from cultures where it is acceptable to hit children,” explains Gomez. ”One of the things we teach them is that you can’t do that in America. We had one case where a woman had her children taken from her by Child Services just because she didn’t understand the rules or what was going on.”

By 2004, however, Gomez and her four-member management team had hit a ceiling. They had $8 million in revenue; a staff of 111 served 11,000 clients. VPP concluded its rigorous vetting process and began sinking management time and resources into Mary’s Center. Two years later, Mary’s revenues are up 50%, staff is at 136 and 14,000 clients are being served. More important, a new 10-person senior management team, including an experienced chief operating officer and a development office, are busy opening two new sites in Virginia and Maryland.

In the halls, Gomez warmly greets a newly hired site manager she’s never met before. ”See, I am learning to delegate,” she says.

VPP, after a period of building its own capacity and reflecting on lessons learned, is raising a second, $50 million fund. Morino has personally invested $25 million in philanthropic causes so far, and expects to sink another $9 million into VPP. His goal? ”Bottom line, if we could help sway the needle from loyalty-based giving to merit-based giving–and [as a result] there was more effective allocation of public funding–that would be a huge accomplishment,” he says.

Of course, the octogenarian check-writers remain a vital source of charitable funds as America ages. Paul Schervish and John Havens at Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy say $45 trillion will have changed hands through estate settlements in the first half of this century, the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in U.S. history.

But this other in-your-face crowd is the fast-rising group to watch.

Categories
Arts & Culture Business Nonprofit Leadership NonProfit News

2014 Arts & Economic Prosperity IV Quick Facts

These quick facts are brought to you courtesy of Americans for the Arts. For the full report and invaluable information, click here http://www.americansforthearts.org.

 

Arts & Economic Prosperity IV is the fourth study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry’s impact on the economy. The most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted, it gives us a quantifiable economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences. Using findings from 182 regions representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, an input-output economic model is able to deliver national estimates.

Quick Facts

Nationally, the industry generated $135.2 billion of economic activity—$61.1 billion by the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations in addition to $74.1 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences. This economic activity supports 4.13 million full-time jobs and generates $86.68 billion in resident household income. Our industry also generates $22.3 billion in revenue to local, state, and federal governments every year—a yield well beyond their collective $4 billion in arts allocations. Despite the economic headwinds that our country faced in 2010, the results are impressive.

economic impact infographic

Organizations

In 2010, nonprofit arts and culture organizations pumped an estimated $61.1 billion into the economy. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations are employers, producers, consumers, and key promoters of their cities and regions. Most of all the are valuable contributors to the business community.

Audiences

Dinner and a show go hand-in-hand. Attendance at arts events generates income for local businesses—restaurants, parking garages, hotels, retail stores. An average arts attendee spends $24.60 per event, not including the cost of admission. On the national level, these audiences provided $74.1 billion of valuable revenue for local merchants and their communities.

per person spending infographic

In addition, to spending data, researchers asked each of the 151,802 survey respondents to provide his/her home ZIP code. Analysis of this data enabled a comparison of even-related spending by local and nonlocal attendees. While the ration of local to nonlocal attendees is different in every community, the national sample revealed that 31.8 percent of attendees traveled from outside of the county in which the event took place and 68.2 percent of attendees were local (resided inside the county).

Local Vs. Nonlocal Audiences Breakdown - 31.85% = Non-Residents, 68.2% = Local

Previous economic and tourism research has shown that nonlocal attendees spend more than their local counterparts and this study reflects those findings. Data shows that nonlocal attendees spent twice as much as local attendees ($39.96 vs. $17.42), demonstrating that when a community attracts cultural tourists, it harnesses significant economic rewards.

Event-Related Spending by Local Vs. Nonlocal Audiences - $17.42 for Local Audiences, $39.96 for Nonlocal Audiences

Arts & Economic Prosperity IV demonstrates that America’s arts industry is not only resilient in times of economic uncertainty, but is also a key component to our nation’s economic recovery and future prosperity. Business and elected leaders need not feel that a choice must be made between arts funding and economic prosperity. This study proves that they can choose both. Nationally as well as locally, the arts mean business!

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Business Entrepreneurship Social Entrepreurship Start-Up Business News & Resources

Funding Strategies For Startups & Social Ventures-Harvard Innovation Lab

Harvard i-lab | Startup Secrets: Funding Strategies to Go the Distance

At a time when there are so many ways to fund your startup, from angels to accelerators, it’s more important than ever to develop a funding strategy that fits your particular needs. Maybe you shouldn’t even raise money! In this session we’ll explore the options and help you think through not just your initial funding but a trajectory to stay funded until you’ve reached your goal, be that an independent public company or a self-sustaining social venture. We’ll also try to remove the mystique of VC and as usual bring some case examples to bear to bring it all to life.

 

Harvard i-lab | Navigating the Funding Landscape for Social Ventures

Social Entrepreneurship Track: Navigating the Funding Landscape for Social Ventures with Brendan Cullen & Tom Fry of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation and Georgia Levenson Keohane, author of Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century.
This dynamic group of investors and thinkers lays out the broad funding landscape that is now before social entrepreneurs, and shares insights and advice on how to navigate that landscape based on a venture’s business model, intended impact, geographic location, and more.

 

 

 

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Nonprofit Leadership

After a Nonprofit Financial Crisis, The Board Needs to Step In

Great article written by Joan Garry. Take a Gander!

greenpeace oped 07302014

News that a senior financial officer at Greenpeace made a reckless investment decision that cost the organization $5.2 million has sent a jolt to all nonprofits. Combined with further revelations of mismanagement and allegations of hypocrisy by a top leader, the organization’s credibility is in jeopardy.

Greenpeace’s leaders have acknowledged the employee’s “serious error in judgment” and fired him. They’ve told members that the group’s board is “deeply concerned” but maintain that the loss of $5.2-million won’t affect any essential advocacy work. Still, how could this be anything but a sign that the Greenpeace International Board of Directors was asleep at the switch? That’s why this bad investment rightly has donors seriously worried. It doesn’t help matters that the board has been silent about the incident. All public statements have been made by the staff. What’s happened to Greenpeace isn’t unusual. Nonprofit organizations often don’t anticipate that bad things can happen, don’t plan for them, and often don’t have the expertise or consultants on hand to prevent them. So instead they dispense with the problem employee or employees, issue a heartfelt apology, and consider their work done. That’s why it would be wise for all nonprofits to think about what they would do and should do in cases of crisis, and in the case of Greenpeace, what it can still do now after its initial response fell short. Take responsibility—together. The buck stops with the board, most specifically the committee that oversees financial and auditing matters. How could such a committee have allowed such a risky investment to be made? The answer is simple. Most nonprofit board members join boards with a lack of clarity about the role of the board or their own obligations. The larger the organization, the more a board becomes a fundraising engine and the less engaged it is in strategy and policy. In a big organization with a big staff, it’s easy for a board to detach from its critical role in providing real oversight of the resources of the organization. When that happens, it’s also easy for the CEO to let that board avoid taking responsibility. To turn things around, the board and CEO must acknowledge their mutual responsibility—and then work as partners to fix what’s broken. Be honest and transparent with your donors and staff members. The loss of $5.2-million is big for any organization. To restore confidence, you’ve got to put that amount into some context and be honest about what it means. Don’t say you can just move some “infrastructure funds” around. If you have to let some people go, say so. If you have to start a new fundraising drive or cut a program, say so. Being honest will give people confidence you’re actually taking action. Restore the board’s critical oversight capacity. Board members need to do more than raise money. They’ve got to create a structure for overseeing investment strategies and reviewing audits carefully to unearth any concerns about lax financial controls. That responsibility does not rest solely with the board treasurer. I’ve been at board meetings and watched the trustees fall asleep or check their email during reports on finances. If you’re on a board member and you’re serious about preventing another meltdown, put down your iPhone and pay attention. Communicate early and often—through both board and staff messengers. Don’t assume one statement or some bad press is the end of it. Remind everybody who has a stake in the organization as often as you can about the steps you’re taking to heal the situation and prevent it from happening again. At the same time, demonstrate your work is continuing and showcase your victories. Be sure those communications don’t come from one or two staff members alone.Donors must hear continuously from both the board (theultimate stewards) and the CEO (the day-to-day person in charge) that they’re fulfilling their oversight duties for the organization and concretely addressing what led to the crisis. Hearing the same message from both the board and the staff will reassure supporters that a dedicated team is at work. Let everyone know early and often that you’re collectively committed to rebuilding their trust—as committed as you are to your mission.

Joan Garry, a consultant to nonprofits and an adjunct professor at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, spent nearly a decade as executive director of Glaad, the gay-rights organization.