In This Issue:
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Ten Questions to Ask Yourself When Seeking Program Grants |
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Update Your Profile! |
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2003 CARE Act Passes Senate Without Faith-Based Elements; House to Consider Soon |
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Foundation Giving Stable in 2002, but Trouble Ahead |
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National United Way Reduces Staff; Set to Announce Low Fund Raising Totals for 2002-2003 |
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Pleasant Surprise: IBM Ex-CEO on Corporate Philanthropy |
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Featured Links:
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Ten Questions to Ask Yourself When Seeking Program Grants
Applying for a grant involves more than finding a funding source and sitting down at a keyboard. Experienced grants professionals ask questions of their own organization before they start to write. A couple of examples:
1. Is there a fit with our mission?
Every organization has a reason for being. The more well-defined that purpose is, the more likely it is to be able to identify projects that are appropriate for it. This knowledge helps in knowing what funds (and funding sources) to seek for what purposes. Being able to communicate your mission to a funding source also helps the funding source know that your organization is worthy of their support.
3. Is the timetable of the proposed funding sufficient to initiate, stabilize, and evaluate the program design?
"You can't save the world in one week for a dollar and a half." There must be a reasonable relationship between what your organization proposes to do, on the one hand, and the timeframe and resources to do it, on the other. For your program, and your organization, to be successful in the long term, you must be able to establish and demonstrate that success. Be sure you secure the resources to build a solid record of achievement and avoid a "flash in the pan" failure.
Sumption & Wyland has developed an evaluation checklist and point values based on the ten questions. We believe that higher quality applications and more successful programs come from well-prepared applicants. Let us help you focus your efforts, plan your work, and become more "ready to write."
Update Your Profile!
At the very bottom of this e-mail is a link that invites you to "update your profile." All that means is that we'd like to know a little about you so we can serve you better and make this e-newsletter more relevant in your work.
As you've learned over the past several months, we DO NOT sell, rent, lend, or otherwise share this information with ANYONE. Also, we DO NOT deluge your "In" box with advertising, solicitations, or other stuff.
So, please follow the "Update Your Profile" link at the very bottom of this newsletter and take 30 seconds to help us serve you better. Thanks!
2003 CARE Act Passes Senate Without Faith-Based Elements; House to Consider Soon
In late March, the U.S. Senate passed, by a 95-5 vote, the Charities Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act of 2003. The bill includes several tax incentives for charitable giving.
The bill passed easily after prime sponsor Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) agreed to
droop certain provisions relating to "charitable choice," or access to Federal grants by faith-based organizations, and provisions protecting the rights of religious organizations receiving Federal grants to
continue to consider religion as a factor in employment decisions.
The U.S. House is scheduled to take up similar legislation later in April.
The provisions dropped from the Senate version of the bill are similar to those in two
Executive Orders signed by President Bush last December. Those Orders will remain in effect.
Independent Sector has a lot of information on the CARE Act of 2003
Foundation Giving Stable in 2002, but Trouble Ahead
The Foundation Center released a study indicating that foundation giving remained stable at about $30 billion in 2002, when compared with 2001 levels.
In an economic downturn, this might be seen as good news. Unfortunately, several multi-billion foundations curtailed or halted all grantmaking for the time being. In addition, many foundations base giving on a 2-year or 3-year rolling
average of investment returns. Using these rolling averages, 2002 was probably the last year affected by the stock market run-up of the late '90s. These foundations will have to change
their formulas to avoid reducing their giving for the next two to three years.
National United Way Reduces Staff; Set to Announce Low Fund Raising Totals for 2002-2003
The United Way of America and its 1,400 chapters are feeling the pinch of economic recession, increased competition for workplace giving, and negative publicity on issues ranging from support (or lack of support) for Boy Scouts in a few communities to recent financial & governance scandals in Washington, D.C. and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
According to a Washington Post story, United Way chapters once accounted for 3.2% of all charitable giving. However, in recent years, collections have not grown when adjusted for inflation; United Ways currently collect less than 2% of all charitable gifts in the U.S.
Pleasant Surprise: IBM Ex-CEO on Corporate Philanthropy
Michael is an avid reader, as you can tell from the book reviews on our web site. He just finished reading Louis Gerstner's book, "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?" In the book, Mr. Gerstner discusses his career, with emphasis on his tenure as IBM's turnaround CEO in the 1990's.
The next-to-last chapter of the book is devoted to Mr. Gerstner's views on corporate philanthropy. He rightly identifies the relatively small amount of money distributed to charity by US corporations each year (about 1% of pretax profits and 5% of all US annual giving).
He makes a case that corporations should care about the communities in which they do business, and that corporate philanthropy is a good idea worth pursuing. But he goes on to denigrate "checkbook philanthropy" and call for corporations to give that which they have the most and best of: leadership, managerial, and technical expertise. He also advocates for corporate CEOs to become actively involved -- and involve their companies -- in public policy advocacy on such broad-based issues as K-12 education. Expertise and corporate clout, Mr. Gerstner argues, are more important than the dollars given out by businesses each year.
A pleasant surprise to read in a book written by a corporate CEO. Did you know that 10,000 IBM employees serve on nonprofit boards?
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