Philanthropy Front and Center-Cleveland

October 31 - November 4 at the Foundation Center

Monday, October 31
Introduction to Fundraising Planning, 10:00 - 11:30am
This session provides an overview of the process of strategically thinking through the components of a fundraising plan.

Wednesday, November 2
Proposal Writing Basics, 6:00 - 7:30pm
Come to our special evening session and learn the process for creating a grant proposal from initial contact to follow-up.

Thursday, November 3
Proposal Writing Basics, 300 - 4:30pm
in Canton, OH
This session at our Canton Cooperating Collection will take you through the proposal writing process step-by-step.

Hours:
Monday:  12:00 - 4:30pm
Tuesday:  9:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday:  12:00 - 8:00pm Extended hours!
Thursday:  9:30am - 4:30pm
Friday:  12:00 - 4:30pm

What do you do When Your Fundraising is Flatlining?

We recently wrote about a new report released by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) showing that fundraising levels of more than half of reporting nonprofits have flatlined or decreased compared to 2010. What's a nonprofit to do? 

Some of the strategies being employed by the nonprofits in the NRC survey are fairly standard: direct mail, special events, online campaigns, and major gifts.  Almost half are currently involved in or are planning a capital or fundraising campaign. We absolutely recommend these tried-and-true fundraising strategies.

However, one of the statistics in the NRC report makes me a little nervous: 28 percent of the nonprofits surveyed said foundation and corporate support is the potentially biggest growth area. Before you put all of your organizations' proverbial eggs in this basket, consider this. Year after year, the total of charitable giving in the US that comes from foundations and corporations hovers around 20 percent. And, even though we are expecting foundation giving to grow modestly in 2011 and 2012, the ongoing economic crisis has increased the funding needs of nonprofits and created an extremely competitive grantseeking environment.

Are we saying nonprofits should forget about grant funding?  Not at all. We are saying that it's important for nonprofits to know that grant funding should be just one part of an overall fundraising strategy and you need to have a balanced fund development plan that includes diverse sources of revenue and support. If you need to get a fundraising plan in place but don't know where to begin, our class and seminar can help.

Need more advice? Be sure to check out some of these resources:

• Where can I find advice and information about fundraising in times of economic downturn?
• Fieldstone Alliance “20 Emergency Funding Sources for Nonprofits”
• Grassroots Fundraising Journal “How to Prepare Your Nonprofit for an Economic Recession” 

Also, don’t miss Lauren Steiner’s year-end fundraising tips in a previous post .

Do you have advice? Please leave a comment.

Last Week for Funding for Arts Month

Funding for Arts Month may be in its last week, but we're far from winding down. Join us online for these four programs in the next seven days. All times shown are Eastern Time (ET); click on a program name for more details and to register:

Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts. Webinar: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Learn to create a step-by-step plan to find funding for your needs as an individual grantseeker.

Arts Funding in Uncertain Times. Webinar: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Steven Lawrence, the Foundation Center's director of research, will discuss how foundation arts funding fared during the recent economic downturn, current trends in arts grantmaking, and the outlook for arts giving going forward.

Meet the Author: Gigi Rosenberg, The Artist's Guide to Grant Writing. Webinar: Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Hear some of the author’s key takeaways from her book, The Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing: How to Find Funds and Write Foolproof Proposals for the Visual, Literary, and Performing Artist, and ask questions about the grantseeking process from an individual artist’s perspective. Rosenberg's insights are gleaned from her extensive personal experience seeking grants for her writing projects, and from years of teaching professional development workshops on grantseeking for artists across the country.

The Artist as Entrepreneur. Live Chat: Monday, October 31, 2011 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Get answers to your most pressing questions about the knowledge and skills you need to market, price, and sell your work, so you can build a successful artistic enterprise, with Rebecca Posey, co-founder of Addo Games in Atlanta, GA, and Matthew Charboneau, Arts Network Leader for the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) in Cleveland, OH. 

(Looking for a calendar of our in-person programs? Click here.)

October 24 - 28 at the Foundation Center

Tuesday, October 25
How to Approach a Foundation, 10:30 - 11:30am
Learn how to build relationships with foundation prospects and prepare for calls and meetings with funders.

Proposal Writing Basics, 1:30 - 3:00pm
Get the basics of creating a grant request to a foundation or a corporation, from initial contact, through writing, to follow-up activities.

Thursday, October 27
Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts, 10:00 - 11:30am
at Akron-Summit County Public Library, Akron, OH
Visit our Cooperating Collection in Akron and gain an overview of foundation fundraising for individuals working in the arts; the presentation will be followed by information from a panel of experts.

Finding Foundation Support for Your Education and Getting Started with Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, 6:00 - 7:30pm
at Licking County Library, Newark, OH
Learn about tools and techniques for seeking financial support for higher education and meet representatives from the Licking County Foundation at our Cooperating Collection in Newark, OH;

Hours:
Monday:  12:00 - 4:30pm
Tuesday:  9:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday:  12:00 - 4:30pm
Thursday:  9:30am - 4:30pm
Friday:  12:00 - 4:30pm

Live Coverage! The Next Generation of American Giving

What are the charitable habits and multichannel preferences of Gen X and Y, Boomers, and Matures? Chas Offutt, Senior Strategy Consultant for Convio, will use data from his company’s March 2010 white paper to describe:

• key generational differences between donor groups
• implications for nonprofits trying to reach these distinct age segments
• how to navigate the many online tactics available to target different age segments

Today’s session is sponsored by Convio and is hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Atlanta Chapter as part of their monthly breakfast meeting series.

Is Your Fundraising at a Stand Still (or Worse)?

You're not alone.  According to a new report recently released (September 2011) by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative* (NRC) fewer than half of surveyed nonprofits reported fundraising increases during the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. Overall:

• 44% reported increases in charitable contributions received through June
• 25% said giving was the same as in the same period in 2010
• 30% reported a decline in charitable contributions during the first half of 2011

These numbers are barely changed from the NRC 2010 year-end survey, when 43 percent of respondents indicated they raised more money in 2010 than they did in 2009. At that time, almost a quarter (24 percent) saw giving remaining level, and 33 percent raised less.

The news is not all bad—some organizations are reporting fundraising increases.  Most notably, 50 percent of human services organizations and 57 percent of larger organization with budgets of $3 million or greater are doing better than last year.  However, international charities and small charities (budgets of less than $250,000) are faring the worst, with only 20 percent and 34 percent respectively reporting increases over 2010.

So, what fundraising strategies are organizations banking on for the remainder of 2011? Of those in the NRC study:

• 67% reported efforts said some method that reaches a large number of donors, often with relatively small gifts like direct mail, special events, and online campaigns
• 45% said they would focus on larger gifts
• 28% pointed to work with institutional donors like foundations and corporations
• 12% are currently involved in a capital or other fundraising campaign, while 34% are in the planning stages

What strategies is your organization trying? What's working? What's not? Talk to us. 

*The NRC is composed of seven organizations: Association of Fundraising Professionals, Blackbaud, Inc., the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, the Foundation Center, Giving USA Foundation, GuideStar USA, Inc., and the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute.

Are You Eating Your Way to a Better Cleveland? #BAD11

Let me introduce myself. I’m Nicole Born-Crow, a new staff member at the Foundation Center – Cleveland.  I’m a Cleveland boomerang, born and raised here, and recently repatriated after 10 years away. I readily admit I was unsure of what fate awaited me in regards to employment opportunities in Cleveland, not to mention my fears of where I was going to get my seasonal produce, the local food I took for granted in the city I was leaving. Imagine my surprise to find that Cleveland is not merely hanging on, but reinventing itself in ways previously unimaginable, especially in the realm of local food.

In its heyday, Cleveland was known for its extensive network of school gardens and landmarks such as the West Side Market. Though the West Side Market is still flourishing, the school gardens have almost completely disappeared. In their place, hundreds of community gardens and urban farms are springing up, putting Cleveland on the map for the movement that’s building around local food, a movement I’m happy to be part of. As a result of the subprime mortgage/foreclosure meltdown and a changing economy in which Cleveland manufacturing jobs have gone elsewhere, we have thousands of vacant lots in Cleveland. True to our scrappy reputation for digging in and getting things done, that dirt under our nails these days is from harvesting the straw that we’re spinning into gold. Our so-called blighted urban neighborhoods are literally blossoming into lush urban farms. Is  "urban" becoming what was traditionally the domain of rural? Hey, why not? We're living with the "new normal." Why not the "new rural"?

We’ve all heard the reasons why we should buy local food. It’s more nutritious. It’s better for the planet. It tastes better. Even if you aren’t moved by any of those reasons, consider this. According to the Northeast Ohio Food Assessment and Plan, The 25% SHIFT: The Benefits of Food Localization for Northeast Ohio & How to Realize Them, completed in 2010 by Michal Shuman, Brad Masi, and Leslie Schaller, a 25 percent shift in food purchasing that supports local farms and food businesses has the potential to create 27,664 new jobs and increase the annual regional economic output by $4.2 billion. So while I’m sure the billions we’re betting on building medical marts and casinos will boost Cleveland’s economy in the long haul, it seems like investing in Northeast Ohio’s food economy is another safe bet to be taken seriously.

What will it take to build up our regional food system? In my semi-novice opinion, we need to:

1. Get local farmers growing. We need farmers, farmers and more farmers.
2. Replicate success and offer local food in the same places as California and Mexico – everywhere! Grocery stores, restaurants, schools…
3. Provide affordable places for small farms to process and distribute their food and opportunity to add value to it by producing things we love to eat like pie, bread, and jam. These things exist for big farms, but small ones need extra support to compete.
4. Enact local food policies and support active collaborations across sectors that are constantly brainstorming, innovating, and leveraging what works.

Many of these things are already happening all over Northeast Ohio. Urban farms and farmer’s markets continue to pop up. Our First Lady is bringing national attention to the importance of what we eat. And, there are great restaurants throughout the region that are buying locally and also doing the growing.

I had a recent sit-down with Saul Kliorys from Great Lakes Brewing Company to talk about their stake in local food. Great Lakes is a prime example of a small business that not only buys food from local farmers, but is a champion for sustainability. Listen:

Audio: Great Lakes Brewing Company's Saul Kliorys
(3 minutes, 28 seconds. Try right clicking and choosing "open" if audio won't play)

To close, I encourage you to support our region’s farmers and to eat seasonally. Together we can enjoy the bounty that local food can bring to our economy.

It's Blog Action Day 2011! Tell your friends.

Want to be a Host Site for a Cleveland Foundation Summer Intern?

(This post is from Nelson Beckford, program officer, The Cleveland Foundation.)

The Cleveland chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) recently released a report called Building a Career in Nonprofit Cleveland. The report is the result of a survey and focus group of YNPN members. Job satisfaction, career advancement opportunities, and burn out were the key issues that rose to the surface during this process. The report also found that Cleveland’s young nonprofit professionals are well educated, eager for a challenge, and attracted to the nonprofit sector because of a commitment to a cause, or by a desire to “give back.” YNPN suggests that if Cleveland’s nonprofit community leads the way in taking steps to define, support, and promote nonprofit work as a viable career choice for its young professionals, they may be more likely to stay in the region. Here's one way to start.

Are you a nonprofit that would like to help promote nonprofit work and increase your organization’s capacity to implement an important project? The Cleveland Foundation’s Summer Internship Program is now accepting applications for host site organizations for the summer of 2012. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2011. The Cleveland Foundation provides funding to pay the intern’s salary. In addition, the foundation handles the heavy lifting, such as recruiting intern applicants, initial screenings of applications, and conducting the first round of interviews. Get more information and apply. Read about the projects the 2011 intern class worked on.

October 17 - 21 at the Foundation Center

Thursday, October 20
Electronic Resources for Finding Funders, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Join us for this hands-on class in our computer lab and learn to find information on individual donors and foundation grants through the Internet, our websites, and our powerful grantmakers database,The Foundation Directory Online.

Friday, October 21
Coffee and Conversation, 9:30 - 10:30am
at the Idea Center
Come meet Dr. William Hiller, Executive Director, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, and learn about the foundation's priorities and the landscape for education funding in Ohio.

Hours:
Monday:  12:00 - 4:30pm
Tuesday:  9:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday:  12:00 - 4:30pm
Thursday:  9:30am - 4:30pm
Friday:  12:00 - 4:30pm

Steve Jobs and Occupy Wall Street: Two Ways to Disrupt Philanthropy

(Bradford K. Smith is the president of the Foundation Center.  This post first appeared October 10, 2011, in PhilanTopic, a blog of opinion and commentary from Philanthropy News Digest.)

In the fifty-six impossibly creative years he spent on the planet, Steve Jobs did far more to disrupt philanthropy than any of us who write, think, live, and breathe it as a profession or avocation. By taking the hulking mainframe computers pioneered by the likes of IBM, Honeywell, and Control Data and putting them first on our desktops and then in our ears and in the palm of our hands, he connected us 24/7 to information and to each other. Perhaps because he never seemed that interested in philanthropy, we never fully grasped -- and may not still -- how profoundly he was changing our industry.

Far more radical than the sleek design and tactile interface of the company's inventions, however, was the profound way in which they democratized the control of and access to information. Philanthropy, a cumbersome latecomer field that is only beginning to operate in the digital world, cannot ignore what this means for social change and the way we do business. People, causes, organizations, governments, businesses, and everything in between are becoming networked in ways that bring into question our notions of "grantmaker," "grantee," "not-for-profit," and "for-profit." This kind of disruption, so competently explored by Lucy Bernholz, compels us to re-imagine, re-position, re-tool, and aspire to a future in which we can and must do far more to make the world a better place than we've done to date. Still, this is disruption philanthropy can live with: even as Jobs' innovations challenged us, many a foundation prospered by hitching their endowments to the upward spiral of Apple's geometrically expanding market cap.

Then there is Occupy Wall Street, a "leaderless resistance movement" that claims it is "the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%" and employs "the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic" to achieve its ends. When it comes to disruption, this is more like a fist to the solar plexus. No matter how you slice it, philanthropy is driven by asset-based wealth; indeed, large organized philanthropy of the foundation variety is fueled by the top 1 percent of the population that holds 23.5 percent of national income -- and whose "greed and corruption" the Occupy Wall Street movement is protesting. For foundations, Wall Street is not some distant exotic land, given that their investments are often entrusted to some of the biggest financial firms; nor is it unheard of for foundation presidents and executives from some of those firms to sit on each other's boards.

On the heels of a brutal recession caused, in large part, by an orgy of financial excess, it is dangerously easy to tar everyone in the top 1 percent with the same brush, even those who might have made their money the old-fashioned way and are giving something back through their philanthropy.

Occupy Wall Street has no Steve Jobs to personify it, yet the thousands who are swelling its ranks use his iPhones and iPads to document, communicate, organize, and network. A visionary business leader that saw a connected world beyond anything most of us could have imagined and a burgeoning social movement that refuses to accept the accumulation of vast wealth without the exercise of social responsibility: as philanthropy is disrupted, those of us who work in the field will have to adapt and change. And foundations will need to do a far better job of connecting themselves to the digital world, being transparent, and telling one big, overriding story: every day foundations strive to use the immense privilege and freedom of action that comes with wealth to fill the world with justice, beauty, and opportunity for all.

(Photo: Getty Images)

-- Brad Smith

via blog.glasspockets.org