Tools

A Getting Ready Roadmap for Grassroots Grantmaking

Jul 31, 2011 Comments Off

Grassroots grantmaking programs are most effective when they are strategically designed with careful consideration of a local community’s civic engagement and neighborhood development infrastructure and an honest assessment of the funding organization’s culture and available resources. This Getting Ready Roadmap is designed to guide a funding organization in their initial assessment of the external and internal [...]

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Upcoming Webinars

Supporting Leadership Development at the Grassroots

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 3:00 ET/2:00 CT/1:00 MT/12:00 PT/10:00 HT (90 minutes) Nurturing and strengthening grassroots leadership is a key component of grassroots grantmaking. The “how and what” of grassroots leadership programs, however, are being approached in a variety of ways across our network. This webinar will feature three different organizations with three different approaches: [...]

Rachel’s Reflections

Rachel’s Reflections: The Little Guy

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 [...]

Rachel’s Reflections: The Gray Zone

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 [...]

Rachel’s Reflections: The Final Report Party

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, [...]