Blog

Dream Big

Michelle Cash, VP Grants & Programs — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Dreaming Big

“If you received a “transformative” gift tomorrow (one big enough to change your organization or the way you work), what would it transform? What size gift would that be, and how do you think you would use it? Would you build a building, change a program, make a key hire? Dream big! We would like to know what you think it would take to move your organization to a new level of impact.”

This is the question the Community Foundation asked of our Spring 2009 grantees in their final reports. The responses were exciting. Some organizations said they had already been having this conversation with their staff and board. Some answers were short, some were long, and all reflected the energy and passion that people in the nonprofit sector bring to their everyday work.

The answers intrigued us and we decided we wanted to hear from more people. So tell us - whether you are the CEO, a program staffer, a board member, a volunteer, an interested onlooker – what is your dream? What would it take to move your nonprofit to a new level? What would it take to solve the problems you address every day?

Share your thoughts in the comments below, or – if you prefer – send them to me as an email at mcash@pacf.org. Please indicate your organization’s name and your role, and whether or not we have permission to share your thoughts.

Let’s take a few minutes to dream about what it would take to change our communities forever.

Tales of Social Capital

Eric Maywar, Classics Bookstore owner, Trenton, NJ — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Social capital is a measure of the connections between members of a community. It is a measure not of just do you know your neighbors, but do you hang out with them. Do you bowl alone, or do you bowl in a league? It is the community equivalent of business networking events. Business people understand the power of networking–community people need to harness the same power.

Social capital is not just important in a touchy feely kumbaya way–fostering social capital produces tangible results. In communities where social capital is high, kids do better in school, more people volunteer, more people vote and other wise care about their city and there is less crime–all the things we in Trenton want to have happen. By hanging out in casual settings (not just at rallies, for example, but at a regular spades game), people increase their networks and when a problem arises, whether it is personal or community-wide, solutions are easier because there are more people to help solve it. The more diverse the group (by religion, by race, by age, by socio-economic class) the better, as it more dramatically expands the resources of the group.

For example, Classics Books has a Scrabble Club on Warren Street in Trenton. In 2009, 138 people played there, but there are 20-30 regulars. When one of the regulars was unemployed, another one of the other regulars was able to get her a job at his company. This happened twice. When the mural on Warren Street was vandalized, the club took up a collection. Several of the members noticed the need for a Trenton-focused literary magazine, and the Trenton Review was born. One of the members of the club starting a knit and stitch group at Classics, which in turn knitted and donated skull caps to the troops in Afghanistan. Whether personal or national, this group is able to pool their resources to address problems.

I know people who are frustrated in Trenton. They think they have great ideas, but nobody listens to them. Not coincidentally, they haven’t spent time developing social capital, getting to know the diverse groups in Trenton. They haven’t attended churches in each of the four wards. They haven’t socialized with people outside of their narrow group of acquaintances – people who might see things differently, who might disagree. Without developed social capital bridging these diverse groups, these people haven’t developed the credibility they need to be listened to.

If increasing social capital is the building block for solving Trenton’s most complained-about problems (education, crime, civic involvement), you know what you need to do. Join a choir, a knitting club, a book club, a dinner club, a Scrabble Club. And join a group where you get to meet new and diverse people. Fixing Trenton couldn’t be more fun.

(editor's note: The Princeton Area Community Foundation granted $734,000 to community building activities in Trenton between 2006 and 2009.)

Join a Circle of Philanthropists Supporting Girls and the Women Who Raise Them

Michele Minter — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

In my role as a former trustee of the Community Foundation, I have had the unique opportunity to serve on the Fund for Women and Girls grants committee, a very small group of people tasked with making decisions that help to change the lives of girls and the women who raise them across Central New Jersey.

I remember reading grant proposals, and puzzling over how to use the dollars most strategically. Aware of the compelling needs of girls and women in our region, I often regretted that we could not fund more of the excellent projects that would have supported their health, education and well-being.

That experience taught me a lot about philanthropy. I had the chance to consider what to look for in a grant and what makes a project sustainable. I learned about local nonprofit organizations that I might never have encountered otherwise. I had to develop a long-term, outcome-oriented perspective. I took those experiences home, and they helped my husband and me to become more self aware and strategic about our philanthropy (and yes, we can all be philanthropists).

Because of that grant-making experience, I am thrilled that the Community Foundation has made a commitment to convert the Fund for Women and Girls into a giving circle, which will allow many more donors to join me as grant-makers.

Giving circles are a structure for collaborative giving that has become increasingly popular over the last decade, and there are wonderful examples all over the country. Usually created around a common interest, giving circles educate donors, train philanthropists, and engage the community in the process of grant-making. The Fund for Women and Girls Giving Circle will be the first in central New Jersey.

The process is simple. Every donor who makes an annual gift of $100 or more becomes a Giving Circle member, with both the privileges and responsibilities of membership. Members have access to events and special communications including site visits, donor training, and educational programs focused on issues of concern to women and girls. All members will have the chance to review grant summaries, and provide informal feedback. There is a special voting member category for donors who give $1,000 a year. Voting members will be responsible for the final decisions on grants, based on the input of the total membership. Everyone will have the chance to meet grantees, help to set priorities, participate in planning programs, and celebrate successes.

I'm deeply excited by this opportunity. The Fund for Women and Girls Giving Circle will draw new attention to the challenges facing women and girls, and I can't wait to have the chance to meet and collaborate with other women - and men - who care about the same issues. I'm confident that the Giving Circle will get us all talking, thinking, and acting together.

For more information about the Fund for Women and Girls Giving Circle, please download the brochure from the Community Foundation's website at www.pacf.org or contact Deborah Aubert Thomas, Director of Grants and Programs at 609-210-1800 ext. 7 or daubert-thomas@pacf.org.

Reflections on Operating Grants

Barbara Rambo, Grants Committee Chair — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Faced with an unsettled economic environment and concerns in both the foundation and nonprofit communities, the Princeton Area Community Foundation decided to use a portion of our community grantmaking dollars to focus on an area that other grantmakers often fail to support -- the critical costs of running an organization and strengthening its ability to deliver services that help low income people.

Obtaining this support requires answering tough questions about current operations and future plans. We are looking for organizations that can demonstrate solid management, keen strategic thinking about their current capacity, and contingency plans for conducting their business in uncertain economic times. We saw some common themes.

Recession Impacts:

A loss of revenue from major funding sources including foundation, corporate and government grants; endowment income, and individual gifts. In some cases the number of donors has increased, but the dollar amount of donations has decreased.
A significant increase in the number of individuals and families requesting help, including more who previously maintained a middle-class lifestyle

We also saw similarities in coping strategies:

An increase in budget monitoring by management and board leadership
A review of, and in some cases renegotiated, vendor contracts to save costs
Central and shared purchasing, and new recycle and reuse policies
Compensation adjustments, including salary freezes and cuts, lay-offs, furloughs, health benefits reductions, retirement contribution reductions, and new staffing patterns
Facility use and lease review
Revised strategic plans
Engaging volunteers to reduce staffing
Communications with key donors and clients to reassure them

Congratulations to our community nonprofit organizations for their tenacious and diligent approach to strong management and mission delivery. The Grants Committee of the Community Foundation is now reviewing 52 applications will announce new awards in mid-December. The Fall cycle follows a robust spring round of Greater Mercer Grants which resulted in 34 grants totaling $534,500.

What should it cost?

Nancy Kieling, President — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

What should it cost?

The question of what it should cost to run a nonprofit organization is much on my mind these days both because I run one, and because the Community Foundation now offers operating support to organizations that work with low-income people. As you might imagine, I spend a lot of time reading financials and pondering this question.

Ask an executive director and you’ll hear a big sigh, maybe some frustration, often concern bordering on fear – it all rolls up to one of, if not the biggest, challenges of running an organization.

Ask a donor and they may tell you that they like to see “efficiency” but how that’s defined gets a little diffuse. And nonprofit accounting is so variable that the numbers don’t even begin to provide a consistent picture.

Into the mix came two excellent articles that provide some comfort along with challenges.

Sean Stannard-Stockton writes regularly for the Chronicle of Philanthropy and talks in his recent op-ed (Charities should be held to ‘philanthropic equity’ standards) about “equity funding” which he defines as “…cash flow delivered to an organization for the purpose of building the organization….Unfortunately nonprofit groups are systematically starved for equity capital.”

The most recent issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review includes a great article called “The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle” which asserts that nonprofits don’t spend enough on overhead, and points the finger at “funders” (foundations, government, individuals) who have unrealistic expectations about what it really costs to do great work. The authors don’t let nonprofits off the hook, suggesting they need to standardize the reporting of overhead costs, focus on outcomes, and recognize the risks of underinvesting in their infrastructures and settling into a “low pay, make do, and do without culture.” Read the full article here

Let’s think about these issues. The health and well-being of our communities rests on the work of the region’s nonprofits. There is too much at stake to ignore the good thinking offered here.

Let me know what you think.