Grants

Ted Hart speaks with Michelle Greanias, executive director of the Grants Managers Network; Marcus McGrew, director of grants management for the Kresge Foundation and co-chair of Grants Managers Network; and Jessica Bearman, principal of Bearman Consulting, live from the Grants Managers Network Conference.

Garnering funder support, and long-term partnership, requires showing a return on social investment. Assessing and documenting collective impact also allows funders and nonprofits to learn from each other and establish meaningful measurements while working toward common objectives. The two key questions for grant-seekers are: (1) how do you know what you are doing is working (what is your level of evidence?); and (2) how is it innovative (how are you doing it differently with better results)?

During the session, "Who's Your BFF? Building Lasting Relationship With Grant Makers," at Blackbaud's bbcon earlier this month, Heather Stombaugh and Matthew Stombaugh from JustWrite Solutions provided a few resources fundraisers should utilize when seeking grants in order to find their "Best Fit Funder."

A group of the largest U.S. foundations have formally committed to release their grant information in a consistent, open and frequent manner, in an effort to more effectively address the issues facing our communities and our world. To date, 15 foundations have partnered with the Foundation Center and agreed to open up their grantmaking data in this initiative known as the "Reporting Commitment."

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors announced grants from the California Education Policy Fund to advance education reform efforts that can boost student achievement and college and career success in California, especially among disadvantaged students. Totaling $3.1 million, the grants will provide general operating support to eight well-established and newer organizations positioned to affect positive change in California’s education policies.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) announced the results of its third Social Innovation Fund competition, selecting four experienced grantmakers with strong track records of success in expanding the impact of high-performing organizations in improving the lives of people in low-income communities.

The four new awards total $8 million and will fund the initial two years of each grant. An additional $33.9 million was provided to seven existing grantees to continue their work based on consistent and compelling results.

The MacArthur Foundation, a supporter of independently produced film and video for more than 30 years, announced 13 grants totaling more than $1.6 million for documentary film projects. The documentaries address a range of important issues, including justice reform, global conservation and immigration.

As it looks to end its grantmaking by 2016 and close its doors by 2020, New York City-based Atlantic Philanthropies has announced its final grantmaking priorities.

The limited-life foundation, which was founded by Duty Free Shoppers co-founder Charles F. Feeney and is celebrating its 30th anniversary, will decide the timing of the end of its grantmaking in five program areas — aging, children and youth, population health, reconciliation and human rights, and the founding chair's initiatives — and seven regions based on several factors.

The Department of Homeland Security has allocated $9.7 million to Jewish organizations and facilities considered vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The funding, announced last Friday, came from the DHS’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which aids nonprofit organizations that are at risk of terrorist threats and helps those organizations coordinate with broader security initiatives.

Employee matching-gift and volunteer-grant programs are two underutilized sources of fundraising for many nonprofit organizations.