Philanthropy Front and Center - Washington, DC

Application Period Open for 2010 Echoing Green Fellowships

Echoing Green invests in and supports outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions. Each year, Echoing Green awards 12-15 two-year fellowships to social entrepreneurs. The Echoing Green Fellowship provides up to $90,000 in seed funding and support. Echoing Green has provided support to social entrepreneurs like Wendy Kopp of Teach For America, John Alford of NOLA 180 and Karen Tse of International Bridges to Justice.

The deadline for submissions is December 2, 2009. Click here to apply - or visit http://application.echoinggreen.org.

Find out whether you qualify: http://www.echoinggreen.org/shouldyouapply.

Questions? Contact Deva Jones, Recruitment Associate, at deva@echoinggreen.org.

Thanks to Charlotte Dion, Director, Foundation Center's New York Library, for sharing this post.

The deadline for submissions is December 2, 2009. Click here to apply - or visit http://application.echoinggreen.org.

Find out whether you qualify: http://www.echoinggreen.org/shouldyouapply.

Questions? Contact Deva Jones, Recruitment Associate, at deva@echoinggreen.org.

Thanks to Charlotte Dion, Director, Foundation Center's New York Library, for sharing this post.

Funding Information for Artists and Arts Organizations

October is Funding for the Arts Month at the Foundation Center, so we have put together information to help artists and arts organizations find funding, which has become a real challenge in the current economy.

Individual Artists

You might want to begin by reviewing our reference guides listing resources specifically for artists, video and filmmakers, musicians, and writers. These guides list both books and web sites with funding information, such as:

• Funding lists for different disciplines | Women Arts
  This site brings together resources for funding for female artists of all disciplines, including links to emergency funding.
• Grants - International Documentary Association
  Provides a listing of grants with and without deadlines and information on fiscal sponsorship.
• Music Grants
  Michigan State University Library's comprehensive listing of funding opportunities including web sites, databases, books, and announcements.
• Grants and Awards Database | Poets & Writers
  Interactive and searchable details of writing contests and awards published in Poets & Writers magazine during the past year. Entries include information about deadlines and application requirements and procedures.

You can look for artist grants from foundations using our database Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, which is available for free use at Foundation Center libraries and our partner Funding Information Centers. You can also subscribe to this database yourself for a low monthly fee.

Arts Organizations

Those working with arts organizations may want to start by reviewing the information resources offered on our special web portal, Focus on Funding for the Arts. Here you will find a map showing arts funders by state and by categories like performing arts, visual arts, and museums. You will also find reports on arts in the nonprofit sector, interviews with art leaders, and a link to sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter, Arts Funding Watch.

To get more details on arts funders, like their application guidelines, or to search for funders by the types of support they offer, try Foundation Directory Online, which has information on almost 100,000 US grantmakers, including over 17,000 with an interest in the arts. You can subscribe to this database, or visit one of our locations to use it for free.

Both Artists and Arts Organizations

You can learn about current Requests for Proposals (or RFPs) in the Philanthropy News Digest section of our web site. Some foundations publish RFPs when they have set aside funds for a special program or topic and are inviting applications or proposals. You can browse by the subject Arts and Culture to find open grants for both artists and arts groups. You can also register to receive our weekly RFP Bulletin to find out about new RFPs.

If you are looking for information on local art support, a list of DC area organizations that provide funding for individual artists and/or art nonprofits is available on our web site.

Nominations for Leadership Awards Are Open

The Washington Area Women's Foundation is now accepting nominations for its annual Leadership Awards.

This year's program, called Between the Cracks & At the Intersections, is seeking emerging and innovative nonprofit organizations in the Washington metro area that are working to positively impact the lives of women and girls from underresourced, oppressed, or marginalized communities or through innovative work at the intersection of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and ability in their communities.

The Leadership Awards Committee will make awards of $10,000 each to ten nonprofits selected through a process of nomination reviews, interviews, and site visits. In addition, an online vote will be open to the public and will result in an additional award of $5,000 to one of the ten award recipients.

Nominated organizations must have 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and a board of directors in place, have been in operation for at least two years, have an annual budget of no more than $2 million, and primarily serve women and/or girls in the areas of this year's chosen theme.

Anyone in the Washington metro area can make a nomination, and you can even nominate your own organization. The deadline for submitting nominations is November 3, 2009. Learn more on the Women's Foundation web site. 

Turnaround Advice for Struggling Arts Organizations

Arts organizations are facing difficult times in the present economy. They are losing donors as well as revenue from ticket sales. October is Funding for the Arts Month at the Foundation Center, so we thought we'd offer some resources for these struggling groups.

Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and author of The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations (available in Foundation Center libraries), is an expert on successfully leading arts organizations out of crisis.

In his book, Mr. Kaiser outlines 10 tips for reviving financially distressed arts groups:

1. Someone must lead.
2. The leader must have a plan.
3. You cannot "save" your way to health.
4. Focus on today and tomorrow, not yesterday.
5. Extend your programming planning calendar.
6. Marketing is more than brochures and advertisements.
7. There must be only one spokesman and the message must be positive.
8. Fundraising must focus on the larger donor, but don't aim too high.
9. The board must allow itself to be restructured.
10. The organization must have the discipline to follow each of these rules.

Earlier this year, Mr. Kaiser started a special initiative through the Kennedy Center called Arts in Crisis. This program offers free counseling to arts-related nonprofits from the Kennedy Center executive staff on fundraising, building more effective boards of trustees, budgeting, marketing, technology, and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization during a troubled economy. You can access the form to request services on the Kennedy Center web site.

You can find more useful information using our special web portal, Focus on Funding for the Arts. This portal will guide you to a wealth of resources, including a map listing arts funders by state, stories on the arts from Philanthropy News Digest, and current funding opportunities for arts organizations.

Arts organizations are facing difficult times in the present economy. They are losing donors as well as revenue from ticket sales. October is Funding for the Arts Month at the Foundation Center, so we thought we'd offer some resources for these struggling groups.

Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and author of The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations (available in Foundation Center libraries), is an expert on successfully leading arts organizations out of crisis.

In his book, Mr. Kaiser outlines 10 tips for reviving financially distressed arts groups:

1. Someone must lead.
2. The leader must have a plan.
3. You cannot "save" your way to health.
4. Focus on today and tomorrow, not yesterday.
5. Extend your programming planning calendar.
6. Marketing is more than brochures and advertisements.
7. There must be only one spokesman and the message must be positive.
8. Fundraising must focus on the larger donor, but don't aim too high.
9. The board must allow itself to be restructured.
10. The organization must have the discipline to follow each of these rules.

Earlier this year, Mr. Kaiser started a special initiative through the Kennedy Center called Arts in Crisis. This program offers free counseling to arts-related nonprofits from the Kennedy Center executive staff on fundraising, building more effective boards of trustees, budgeting, marketing, technology, and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital performing arts organization during a troubled economy. You can access the form to request services on the Kennedy Center web site.

You can find more useful information using our special web portal, Focus on Funding for the Arts. This portal will guide you to a wealth of resources, including a map listing arts funders by state, stories on the arts from Philanthropy News Digest, and current funding opportunities for arts organizations.

Free Shipping in October on Foundation Grants to Individuals Directory

October is Funding for Arts Month at the Foundation Center, and to help celebrate, we're offering free shipping on the current edition of our Foundation Grants to Individuals directory.

The 18^th edition of our popular directory includes profiles of over 8,300 foundations that support artists, authors, researchers, performers, students or other individuals through grants, scholarships, fellowships, residencies, awards, and other forms of funding.

Profiles include the funder name, address, contact information, program description, grant amount, application guidelines, and more. The directory is also fully indexed by geographic focus, school or company name, type of support, and subject.

Visit the Marketplace section of our web site for more information on this publication or to view a sample profile. Foundation Grants to Individuals is available for just $75 with free shipping online this month.
Order your copy today! >>

DC Community Foundation Funds Local Safety Net Programs

In response to the greatest need for emergency services in its 36-year history, the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region recently announced that it will be awarding $714,300 in new grants to DC area safety net organizations as part of its Neighbors in Need Fund.

This initiative is aimed at providing much-needed support to organizations that offer direct services to vulnerable residents throughout the greater Washington region, such as food, clothing, shelter, emergency financial assistance, and foreclosure prevention.

The Neighbors in Need (NIN) Fund was started in October 2008 to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our region during the current economic crisis. In March 2009 the first 29 recipients of NIN grants totaling $455,000 were announced. A list of these initial grant recipients is available online.

The application period for this new round of funding is already open, and the deadline for submissions is October 5, 2009. More details are available on the Community Foundation web site, and you also can download the guidelines and application form.

Next month, The Community Foundation will begin a new fundraising campaign to raise an additional $2 million to provide further assistance through the NIN Fund. The Foundation has also streamlined its grantmaking process to help put the funds to work out in the community more quickly.

Free Shipping in September on National Directory of Corporate Giving

This September, the Foundation Center is offering free shipping on the newly-released 15^th edition of our National Directory of Corporate Giving when you order online.

The updated 15^th edition includes comprehensive profiles of more than 2,800 company-sponsored foundations and over 1,200 corporate giving programs. Each profile contains vital information on giving priorities and funding guidelines, including:

• Program descriptions
• Fields of interest
• Annual giving amounts
• Average size of grants awarded
• Giving limitations
• Key contacts - including officers, donors, and trustees
• Application procedures

The National Directory is also fully indexed by company name, subject, and geographic focus for quick access to funder profiles.

Visit the Marketplace section of our web site for more information on this publication or to view a sample company entry. The National Directory of Corporate Giving is available for just $195 with free shipping online. Order your copy today! >>

Capacity Building Program for DC Nonprofits

The Washington, DC Office of Partnerships and Grant Services is seeking up to 30 nonprofit and/or faith-based organizations to participate in its year-long capacity building program, the Strengthening Partners Initiative (SPI).

This 12-month intensive training program will help you and your organization acquire skills and resources to respond to complex obstacles and opportunities encountered by nonprofits. Topics and activities include:

• Implementing successful fundraising plans
• Improving administrative and program operations
• collaborating with similar nonprofit organizations

This program is open to 501(c)(3) organizations incorporated in DC and serving DC residents. Over 175 nonprofit and faith-based organizations have successfully completed the SPI program since it began in 2002.

If you are interested in being part of the 2009-2010 SPI class, you can learn more about the program, review all eligibility requirements, and download the application here. The deadline for applying is August 28, 2009.

Free Grants Workshop for NoVA Nonprofits

Each year Congressman Jim Moran (8th District, VA) sponsors a free workshop for nonprofits located in Northern Virginia. This year's event will be held in Arlington on July 21 from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and will provide information on how to access federal grant resources, including stimulus funding, along with other sources of grant support and related nonprofit topics.

The keynote speaker for this workshop will be Michele Jolin, White House Senior Advisor on Social Innovation. She will talk about the new web site Serve.gov, established by the Obama administration to help people find volunteer opportunities, as well as other innovations encouraging Americans to get involved in their communities.

Other speakers include representatives from the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Justice, talking about their agencies' grant programs. Representatives from the Northern Virginia Community Foundation, Volunteer Fairfax, Arlington Interfaith, and the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce will participate in a panel discussion on nonprofit issues. The director of the Foundation Center-Washington, DC, our own Pat Pasqual, will also give a presentation on finding foundation grants.

The event will be held at the National Rural Electric Cooperative, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. For more information or to register for the workshop, contact Congressman Moran's Alexandria office by phone at (703) 971-4700, or you can register online. Don't miss this great opportunity to learn and network with other NoVA nonprofit leaders!

Would You Like Your College Loan Forgiven?

Debt does not appear to deter graduates from seeking and securing jobs in the nonprofit sector, according to a 2005 report by the Building Movement Project. Although that’s good news for the sector, the impact of education debt is a source of financial hardship for many nonprofit employees, especially since nonprofit workers earn 21.5% less than private sector workers and 10.9% less than public sector employees.

Yet there is hope for debt-laden nonprofit workers. There are two major types of publicly-financed debt relief programs currently benefiting nonprofit workers. One is the education reward provided by
Americorps, for which only Americorps participants are eligible.

Another debt relief program is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program [PDF]. This program was created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) and is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue in full-time public service employment by forgiving the remaining balance of their eligible Federal loans.

Many nonprofit workers can take advantage of this opportunity, so here’s what you can do to qualify:

1. Make 120 monthly payments on your loan after October 1, 2007.
2. Be employed by a “public service organization” at the time that loan forgiveness is requested and granted, as well as during the period you make the required 120 monthly payments.
3. Ensure your loan is not in default at the time of the request.

To learn more about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, contact the Department of Education at 1-800-4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

The best defense against costly student loans, however, is a good offense of scholarship awards and grant money. To help you avoid education debt, the Foundation Center has Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, a database to quickly search through detailed descriptions of more than 6,000 foundations and other grantmakers that offer funding to students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers. 

You can also register for our free class, Finding Foundation Support for Your Education, which is available as an online webinar or as an in-person class.

(Thanks to Asia Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta, for sharing this post.)

Yet there is hope for debt-laden nonprofit workers. There are two major types of publicly-financed debt relief programs currently benefiting nonprofit workers. One is the education reward provided by
Americorps, for which only Americorps participants are eligible.

Another debt relief program is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program [PDF]. This program was created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) and is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue in full-time public service employment by forgiving the remaining balance of their eligible Federal loans.

Many nonprofit workers can take advantage of this opportunity, so here’s what you can do to qualify:

1. Make 120 monthly payments on your loan after October 1, 2007.
2. Be employed by a “public service organization” at the time that loan forgiveness is requested and granted, as well as during the period you make the required 120 monthly payments.
3. Ensure your loan is not in default at the time of the request.

To learn more about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, contact the Department of Education at 1-800-4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

The best defense against costly student loans, however, is a good offense of scholarship awards and grant money. To help you avoid education debt, the Foundation Center has Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, a database to quickly search through detailed descriptions of more than 6,000 foundations and other grantmakers that offer funding to students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers. 

You can also register for our free class, Finding Foundation Support for Your Education, which is available as an online webinar or as an in-person class.

(Thanks to Asia Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta, for sharing this post.)