Join us in celebrating our 20th anniversary by perusing our new website. I am sure that you will spot evidence of the growing reach of our network and the impressive resource base that has been generated by grassroots grantmaking practitioners over these two decades in the stories, tools and resources that you will find. You [...]
Join us in experiencing Grassroots Grantmakers’ On the Ground in Atlanta by viewing this photo journal from the gathering. Photos courtesy of Shannon Dixon, Grassroots Grantmakers’ Research Associate. Thanks again to the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and Atlanta’s Place-Based Funders for so generously serving as our hosts for this memorable On the Ground learning [...]
In the summer of 2011, Grassroots Grantmakers conducted a survey that asked the funders in Grassroots Grantmakers’ extended network to share information about how they are working to strengthen grassroots leadership. This survey was initiated in response to questions that one funder in Grassroots Grantmakers network was asking, but also responds to questions that have [...]
In partnership with The Denver Foundation/Strengthening Neighborhoods. Click the PowerPoint icon below for a visual recap of our fabulous On the Ground experience in Denver. Thanks to Shannon Dixon, Grassroots Grantmakers’ Research Associate, for her wonderful photography that captured the spirit of the gathering. After OTG Denver report 6-3-2011.Final
From the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation‘s Public Engagement Principles Project Principle High quality engagement What to avoid PLANNING & PREPARATION Plan, design, and convene the engagement to serve the purpose of the effort and the people who will participate. Participation begins when stakeholders, convenors, and process experts engage together in the planning and [...]
The Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation’s First Step for Community Engagement A Special Publication from Grassroots Grantmakers One way that Grassroots Grantmakers connects and strengthens funders who are working from a “we begin with residents” perspective is to share innovative practices and learning from their on the ground work. This is our premiere edition of a [...]
Introducing a Peer Coaching Program for New or Renewing Grassroots Grantmakers Are you looking to map out the possibilities for grassroots grantmaking in your organization? Keep your current program on solid ground? Bring it to a higher level? Now you can connect with experienced practitioners who can help you begin, improve, or expand your grassroots [...]
Grassroots grantmaking often requires funders to shift how think about and approach work with grantees and community groups to shift how they think about their own work and the role of funders. Shifts for Funders Shifts for Community Groups From defining neighborhoods and residents by their needs to neighborhoods as communities of people who have [...]
Principle 1: Support People & Groups in Finding Their Own Way Excerpts from Helping Neighborhood Groups and Leaders Grow Stronger by David M. Scheie Like muscles, capacities grow primarily through use. The goal of community capacity building is to increase the community’s ability to solve problems and create an excellent quality of life. The best [...]
Principle 2: Capitalize on “learning moments” Excerpts from Helping Neighborhood Groups and Leaders Grow Stronger by David M. Scheie. There are two parts to this principle. First, would-be assistance providers should stay in touch with the groups and leaders they would help. They should become knowledgeable and stay up-to-date about the group’s situation, its story, [...]
The health of the environment is a significant concern today, where global policy change might seem like the only road to a solution. But Cheryl King Fischer, Executive Director of the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund (NEGEF), knows that individuals are an important key to improving the environment. In the 14 years that NEGEF has [...]
“It was at a fancy office in a beautiful building. I wore a tie and tried to squeeze into a suit. I was really nervous. I remember sitting right across from the funder and I had a pen with a cap on it that I kept flicking. The cap flew off and went right in [...]
Residents in a Calgary, Alberta suburb were tired of all the trash in their local green spaces. So they decided to seek a small grassroots grant through The Calgary Foundation to buy a sign to invite their neighbors to join them in a Sunday trash clean up. Each month, they moved the sign to a [...]
In response to a recent “question of the week”: What have you found to be a good way to demonstrate the potential and power of relatively small amounts of money – and to change the focus from the amount of money to the strategic investment of money? Lisa LeveretteThe Resident review panel recently funded a [...]
