25 senior Community Network Builders’ from around the country converged in Miami this past fall to generate what they called “actionable knowledge” about what they do, how they do it and why they think this work is distinctive and impactful and needed now in struggling American communities. This 2 day convening was sponsored by the [...]
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending my first Neighborhood Connections Final Report Party. What is a Final Report Party, you ask? Well, at the close of a grantee’s project year they have the option to complete their final report in several different ways. The first is to write a traditional, [...]
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 [...]
Lynda ParmelyLynda Parmely knows that she’s only got a certain amount of time to “plant seeds” of change for parents and families in Long Island. As a Program Director for the Hagedorn Foundation (HF) – a family foundation operating on a “spend down” with plans to end their work in eight years – the finite [...]
Peter Block, author of Community: The Structure of Belonging, believes that there are five questions that
It’s the weekly ritual for Fay Harris – get up on Saturday morning, drive down to Ohio City’s neighborhood farmers market for some fresh produce, and then slowly return home, “canvassing the neighborhood” as she makes her way. If she sees a house that needs painting, she’ll stop and tell the owner about a program [...]
by Joel Ratner, President & CEO, Neighborhood Progress, Inc. Cleveland, OH The arts play a major role in the development of any community. As an opportunity for self-expression, arts activities are critical for struggling communities. However, for these communities, perhaps as important or even more important than the chance for individual expression, the arts provide [...]
The tricky thing about grassroots grantmaking is that it operates in the nebulous gray space of the funding world. Behind the foundation walls are dollars and cents that add up very neatly, accounts receivable records coming through humming fax machines, and proof of non-profit status reports in piles across cubicle desks. On the streets ofClevelandCity’s [...]
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending my first Neighborhood Connections Final Report Party. What is a Final Report Party, you ask? Well, at the close of a grantee’s project year they have the option to complete their final report in several different ways. The first is to write a traditional, [...]
