November 7, 2005
Cameron Foundation announces new changes to grantmaking guidelines designed to foster capacity-building in the local nonprofit community
The board of the directors of The Cameron Foundation is pleased to announce several changes to its grantmaking programs that are aimed at helping nonprofits in the Tri-Cities and Southside region. According to Cleve Wright, President of the Foundation’s board of directors, “Our mission has always been to improve the health and quality of life in communities in the Tri-Cities and Southside region. As part of this, we feel the need to make our grantmaking more strategic to better ensure the growth and sustainability of 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations based here.”
Examining models of capacity-building across the country, The Cameron Foundation undertook a 9-month research and planning process around how to accomplish this goal. Handy Lindsey, the Foundation’s Executive Director notes, “Nationally, foundations and other funders are paying more attention to the issue of nonprofit capacity-building as part of their grantmaking experience.” Capacity-building, sometimes called organizational development, refers to a broad range of efforts designed to strengthen the management and governance of nonprofit organizations. Lindsey says, “The Cameron Foundation believes that strengthening the operations of area nonprofits is critical to improving the scope, delivery and quality of a variety of services to the community.”
The Cameron Foundation will continue to make grants for project, capital, technical assistance, and general operating purposes, but to achieve its capacity-building goals, several guidelines have been altered. Applicants for project grants may now include appropriate administrative and overhead costs in amounts proportional to the proposed activities, and applicants for capital grants may include related legal, architectural, and engineering services in their requests, subject to certain limitations. The Foundation will also expand its consideration of requests for technical assistance grants so that nonprofits may hire consultants to help with a broad array of activities, such as training in fundraising, marketing, financial management, program development, strategic planning, board development and staff development.
Staff and board members of the Foundation note that the most significant changes relate to grants for general operating support. Typically, such grants are intended to fund the on-going operations of an organization, including the regular personnel, administrative, fundraising, and office expenses of existing agency programs. Since its inception, the Foundation had limited the scope and scale of the general operation support provided to organizations, but after awarding over $5 million in grants to community organizations in the past year, the board felt that loosening some of the restrictions would allow the Foundation to serve even more organizations. Conaway Haskins, a Program Officer for the Foundation says, “Previously, grantees faced a number of restrictions on applying for general operating funds. With the new changes, local nonprofits will be able to apply for funds to help support their day-to-day operations, something that should help improve the services that they offer to the community.”
Under the new guidelines, the Foundation will provide general operating support for nonprofit organizations which: hold 501(c)(3) status; are headquartered in the Foundation’s service area; and a majority of the clients reside within the service area. Generally, the Foundation will not make general operating support grants to fund organizations based outside of its service region, nor will it provide such funds to government agencies or their departments.
Several additional stipulations accompany the new changes and more information is available from the Foundation. “The board wanted to be as helpful as possible to local nonprofits without creating a long-term dependency on The Cameron Foundation. We feel that the revised guidelines strike a good balance between helping groups expand their capacity and empowering them toward self-sufficiency,” says Cleve Wright. “We encourage all eligible nonprofits to review the new guidelines in more detail on our website, http://www.thecameronfoundation.org.”
Additional information about the changes will be provided in the Foundation’s upcoming workshops which are being held on December 1 and December 8 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and all interested organizations are encouraged to call 804-732-8900 to sign up for them. Additionally, please contact Conaway Haskins at the above phone number or via email at conawayh@thecameronfoundation.org for any further questions about the new guidelines.