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FEBRUARY 2005: SPECIAL FEATURE
Fundraising for Refugee-Serving Agencies - Part 3
FOUNDATIONS: GIVING TO REFUGEE &
IMMIGRANT SERVICES
The
December 2004
Special Feature opened our ongoing discussion of “Fundraising
for Refugee-Serving Agencies”, providing an overview of recent
funding trends for U.S. nonprofit organizations. These trends bode
well for refugee-serving organizations seeking grant funding in the
areas of education, health, and human services, where the share of
foundation grant dollars rank high. Serving as one of several
sources of revenue, foundation grants can provide an important
contribution to your organization’s balanced funding mix.
Types of foundations include: smaller family and community
foundations, larger private and company-sponsored foundations, and
grantmaking public charities. Learn more about the differences among
foundations on the
Foundation Center’s Web site at
http://fdncenter.org/funders/grantmaker/index.html.
To search for information on which foundations offer grants for
organizations like yours, there are a number of options, including:
- Visit your local public library.
Many local libraries carry one or more hard-copy or on-line
versions of major foundation directories. Organizations can
search for a foundation funding match according to the following
categories of information:
- field of activity (subject or program area)
- type of recipient organization (museum, school, etc.)
- population groups served (minorities, children, etc.)
- type of support awarded (general, capital, etc.)
- geographic focus (domestic, foreign or international).
For more on grants classification, see
http://fdncenter.org/research/grants_class/index.html.
- Visit a nearby Foundation Center
Library. They will have the most up-to-date information possible
concerning foundation programs via their extensive hard-copy
library and cutting edge, on-line search tools. Foundation
Center Libraries are located in:
Visit a Foundation Center
Cooperating Collection that could be closer to home. Cooperating
Collections are greater in number than the Foundation Center
Libraries, and they are located all across the United States.
Cooperating Collections serve as free funding information
centers and are located in libraries, community foundations, and
other nonprofit resource centers. They provide a core collection
of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary
materials and services in areas useful to grantseekers. You can
find out more about the
Foundation Center Cooperating
Collections at
http://fdncenter.org/collections/.
Search the Internet for on-line directories of funding
sources. For example, the
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants
and Refugees (GCIR) has “a core focus on the United States,
[and] provides grantmakers with opportunities for learning,
networking, and collaboration. GCIR seeks to move the
philanthropic field to advance the contributions and address the
needs of the world's growing and increasingly diverse immigrant
and refugee populations.” The organization's Web site
http://www.gcir.org/index.htm
offers many resources for organizations seeking funding to serve
refugees and immigrants including a listserv with related news
and resources and the searchable Directory of Funders Supporting
Immigrant and Refugee Issues which can be found at
http://www.gcir.org/resources/funding_directory/index.htm.
The following list is a sample of
foundations that have funded programs for refugee and immigrant
families, especially in the areas of parenting education, child
care, and family literacy. These foundation names and descriptive
Web site excerpts are listed by foundation type. Remember that it is
usually best to begin your search with local foundations - those who
are invested in your geographic area and with whom you can develop a
personal, on-going relationship.
Private Foundations
Public Welfare Foundation: “The Public Welfare Foundation is a
non-governmental grant-making organization dedicated to supporting
organizations that provide services to disadvantaged populations and
work for lasting improvements in the delivery of services that meet
basic human needs. Grants have been awarded in the areas of criminal
justice, disadvantaged elderly and youth, environment, population,
health, community and economic development, human rights and
technology assistance.” From the foundation’s Web site at
http://www.publicwelfare.org/grants/grants/2004_grants.asp.
Knight Foundation: In 2004, the Miami-based John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation announced an initiative to help immigrants in 26
communities where the foundation has an established presence become
citizens, vote, and play an active role in community civic life
(http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=/ventures/iii/backgrounder.html).
The foundation is working with national nonprofits as well as local
organizations in these communities to support efforts to increase
rates of naturalization, improve English-language education, and
strengthen the local and national network of immigrant-serving
organizations. The foundation also will support the establishment of
an American Dream Fund to provide operating support to local
organizations working on immigrant integration. In addition to its
own initiative, the Knight Foundation is working with the Ford
Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Open Society
Institute, and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation to pool resources to
strengthen organizations that serve immigrants and to revise public
policy on citizenship.
The Knight Foundation has several on-going funding priorities. One,
the
Community Partners Program (http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=cpp/index.asp),
targets Knight’s 26 communities, each of which has developed its own
funding priorities, including education and the well-being of
children and families. Recently, the foundation funded the Cambodian
Association of America’s Family Literacy Program in Long Beach, CA,
“which targets low-income Cambodian families with children ages 0 to
7 years... The program includes English-as-a-second-language (ESL)
classes for adults, early childhood education, parenting, and time
for parents and children to learn together.” See http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=news_at_knight/releases/2004/2004_08_27_caa.html
for a description of the program. Visit the foundation’s Web site at
http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp.
Rosie’s For All Kids Foundation: “Rosie O'Donnell established her
For All Kids Foundation, Inc. in 1997 to provide financial support
to nonprofit programs serving economically disadvantaged and at-risk
children and their families. Since its inception, the foundation has
helped thousands of children across the country through grant awards
to child care, after-school, education and other essential programs.
The foundation's main focus is center-based child care, and first
priority is given to programs serving low-income, urban areas, where
many families struggle to find quality child care and early
childhood education programs.” From the foundation’s Web site at
http://www.forallkids.org.
Corporate Foundations
Hasbro Children's Foundation: “The Hasbro Children's Foundation and
its board of
national experts and advisors work together to uncover and help
resolve some of the toughest issues facing children today. The
foundation's three levels of funding help to provide the support
children need to grow up healthy and strong, bring innovative
programs to children throughout the nation, and strive to resolve
the issues that put children at risk in the first place:
- Innovative Programs with Local Impact -- Small grants are
available to direct service programs that meet a need of
disadvantaged children in a local community in an innovative way.
- National Replication/Adaptation/Expansion of Innovations -- Larger
and sometimes multiyear grants are available for direct service
programs that have the ability to bring their successful programs to
other communities.
- Innovative Programs with National Impact -- Seed grants are
available for programs that propose to meet the needs of vulnerable
children and their families in a new way and have the potential for
improving the quality of life for these children in every community
across the nation.”
Most often, local grants for model community programs range from
$500 to $35,000. From the foundation’s Web site at
http://www.hasbro.org/pl/page.index/dn/hcf/default.cfm.
The UPS Foundation: “The UPS Foundation will consider high impact
philanthropic programs and projects from organizations recognized as
tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service
code. … The UPS Foundation focuses on Hunger, Literacy and
Volunteerism. By making grants and contributing other resources,
like volunteers, technical assistance and our expertise, The
Foundation enables not-for-profit organizations to serve communities
more effectively around the world.” UPS has funded National Center
for Family Literacy projects, focusing on literacy for job and
career development for the entire family.
Visit the foundation’s Web site at
http://www.community.ups.com/philanthropy/main.html.
The William Randolph Hearst Foundations: “Social Service” is one of
four funding priorities. “The Hearst Foundations support human
service agencies that foster effective solutions to social and
economic problems. Preference is given to well-established
organizations that provide comprehensive, direct-service programs
that share one or more of the following goals:
- Helping individuals move from welfare dependence to economic
independence
- Strengthening families and ensuring healthy childhood development
- Addressing the frequently interrelated problems of homelessness,
drug addiction, and mental illness
- Fostering youth leadership
- Increasing access to affordable housing
- Creating socio-economic opportunities for women and girls
- Promoting literacy
- Capacity building for social service organizations
While the Foundations tend to favor organizations that work with
large constituencies, we recognize that the demographics and
service-delivery infrastructures of rural America are significantly
different from those of the nation's urban and suburban regions.
Therefore, those factors are considered when the Foundations review
requests from rural organizations.” From the foundation’s Web site
at
http://www.hearstfdn.org/fp_socialservice.html.
Public Charities
United Way Community Grants: These grants are administered locally
and may not be available in all United Way communities. For example:
-
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: “United Way's Community
Investment Fund provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 to fund
grass-roots projects in the Twin Cities Metro Area. Grants are given
to groups that help people in distinct communities (community is
defined as a geographic neighborhood or common focus).” From the
Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul United Way Web site at
http://www.unitedwaytwincities.org/services/grants.cfm.
-
San Luis Obispo County, CA: “In order to achieve the greatest
community impact through its investment of the Community Impact
Fund, United Way supports programs that address targeted Community
Investment Strategies, including Meeting Life's Basic Needs,
Promoting Healthy Lives, Investing in Children and Youth, Supporting
Work and Self-Sufficiency and Strengthening Our Community. Through
these strategic initiatives and objectives, United Way utilizes the
information provided in the ACTION for Healthy Communities
assessment and other supporting information to effectuate positive
change and increase the quality of life for San Luis Obispo County
residents.” From the San Luis Obispo County United Way Web site at
http://www.unitedwayslo.org/CommFundGrants.htm.
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United Way of Broward County, FL: “The Sun-Sentinel Diversity
Venture Fund celebrates our diverse community by encouraging
applications for effective programs that provide significant
benefits to diverse communities. Diverse communities differ
functionally, historically and culturally. In the Sun-Sentinel
Diversity Venture Fund, the term diversity broadly refers to many
demographic variables, including but not limited to: Gender, Age,
Ethnicity, Race, National Origin, Geographic Origin, Sexual
Orientation, Skills Characteristics, Educational Background,
Religion, Physical/Mental Ability, Military/Veteran Status,
Lifestyle, Immigrant Status, Language Facility, etc. The term
venture refers to an undertaking that is risky and bold; something
on which a gamble is taken, an investment; to take a chance.” From
the United Way of Broward County Web site at
http://www.unitedwaybroward.org/script/content.asp?contentID=38.
Soliciting grantmakers such as those listed above involves a careful
process of learning more about the potential foundation then
contacting the foundation personally in a variety of ways.
Grant-seeking organizations should:
- Research the prospective donor foundations
- Analyze foundation guidelines
- Approach a foundation through personal contacts
- Write a letter of inquiry
- Make an actual request for support, i.e. the proposal.
For those interested in learning more about these and other
foundation solicitation, or cultivation, techniques, consider
enrolling in the
“First Course on Fund Raising”, offered by the
Association of Fundraising Professionals:
http://www.afpnet.org/education_and_career_development/first_course_in_fundraising.
Learn more about how to plan and write a proposal for foundation
funding in next month’s Special Feature titled “Proposals 101”.
This
featured
search provides additional
resources about fundraising.
Read
more in the fourth part
of BRYCS special feature on fundraising. The complete BRYCS series
on fundraising is also available
as a PDF.
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