John McKnight, author of The Careless Society and co-founder of the Asset Based Community Development Institute, developed these five principles for fostering inclusion within communities. 1. Never do something for someone that they can do for themselves. 2. Seek out and find a place for the gifts, talents and capacities of others (especially those at the edge) in [...]
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, [...]
