On January 21st of this year, President Obama issued a memorandum calling for the creation of an “Open Government Directive,” instructing executive
by Luther Snow “Building on assets” is a popular concept and terminology among both grantmakers and grassroots groups. Now 14 years after McKnight and Kretzmann’s seminal work on Asset-Based Community Development, more folks are coming to understand that asset building is more than just counting up businesses or parks, it’s a change in mindset that [...]
Does your grassroots grantmaking program often hear from community groups that want to build a playground or create more fun activities for neighborhood children? If so, you need to know about KaBoom! KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Celebrating ten [...]
Hi Janis, And greetings to all of our friends in Grassroots Grantmakers. Many of you are familiar with the basic tenets of Asset Based Community Development, and are aware that during the last decade these simple but powerful ideas–start community building with resources and strengths rather than needs and deficiencies, and connect the capacities of [...]
The Neighborhood Connections staff at The Cleveland Foundation will tell you that of the 150-200 grant applications they receive per round about half get funded. They will also tell you that of the half that gets funded, very few are first-time applicants. For a grants program that was created for the grassroots community, for the [...]
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, [...]
