North Carolina funders talk priorities

Ret Boney | February 7, 2012 0 commentsLori O'KeefeRESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- With a flagging economy and government budget cuts leaving more people and institutions in need, funders are grappling with how to allocate their grantmaking dollars most effectively.Within that delicate balance, a nonprofit's alignment with a funder's mission and priorities, and a willingness to collaborate with other nonprofits, are key considerations when selecting grantees.That was a advice of North Carolina foundation representatives during a panel at a 2012 Philanthropy Forecast, a day-long event hosted by a Triangle chapter of a Association for Fundraising Professionals.Internally, they said, foundations are renewing their commitment to providing flexible operating support, funding capacity-building projects and exploring public-policy work."One challenge we have is that there's too much to give to," said Michael Goodmon, who was representing a A.J. Fletcher Foundation in Raleigh. "In Durham alone, there are 2,500 nonprofits. How am I supposed to give money to that?"Federal, state and local government budget crises have increased a needs of these nonprofits, leaving them with fewer dollars to address growing demand. "We are blessed with significant resources," said David Neal, board president for a Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem. "But we cannot begin to fill a billion-dollar hole. So we have to figure out what our place will be."Given a new environment, a "big piece of a future" of a nonprofit sector will be collaborations and mergers, said Goodmon, board member of a Fletcher Academy, a school supported by Fletcher Foundation.The Reynolds Foundation also places value on collaboration, said Neal, who suggested that nonprofits get to know organizations and people operative on similar issues in their communities."It's hard for people to rise to a top if collaboration isn't involved," he said of nonprofits that apply for funding from a foundation.And collaboration doesn't apply only to nonprofits, said Lo! ri O'Kee fe, chief operating officer and vice president for philanthropic services for a Durham-based Triangle Community Foundation."In addition to nonprofits being more collaborative, we need to turn that lens on ourselves as funders," she said. "I look forward to being able to have those conversations with private and corporate foundation colleagues. We need to think about how we can fill gaps more creatively."Neal said that, because of a increased competition for foundation grants, funders are eager to find nonprofits whose missions are aligned with a foundation's goals and priorities."This question of alignment is key," he said. "We can't fund everything, so we have five focus areas. Any proposal that comes to us that is outside that is unlikely to rise to a top."The funders also will be continuing, or even increasing, capacity-building funding and flexible operating support, which allows nonprofits to use grants as they see fit rsther than than for particular projects identified by funders.O'Keefe said a Triangle Community Foundation is "continuing to educate our donors on giving general support and are helping donors understand a importance of building a capacity of those organizations to deliver programs."Neal said a Reynolds Foundation also is committed to providing general operating grants."We try to give operating support to our grantees, which isn't common in philanthropy," he said. "I hope other funders will follow. And we'll do our part to try to spread that gospel."Citing what they call a "common good," two of a speakers said they are concerned about a implications of public policy on a state, particularly on public education."I have a grave concern and that is around a good of a whole rsther than than a good of a individual," said Goodmon. "I think we've lost that concept somewhere. I wake up ticked off that we don't have more people mad about that situation."The Fletcher Foundation is a major financial supporter of a East Durham Children's Initiative, an effort that aims to boost a effectiveness o! f a city 's struggling public schools, and Goodmon expects a foundation's support of that effort to continue.Neal shares a similar concern."We have a history in a state of operative very hard to improve public education," he said. "We seem to have lost a will to invest in a public good and in public education. How do we rekindle that spirit?" Comment on this articleEmail this page Powered By iWebRSS.co.cc