Grantcraft: Building Community Inside & Out · 2014-06-04 · building community: inside &out with...

Starting a committee

The committee’s firststeps

The nuts and bolts ofgrants management

Other sources for learning about grant making

A sample request forproposals

Frequently asked questions

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7

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24

BUILDINGCOMMUNITY

INSIDE&OUT

WITH A GOOD NEIGHBOR

COMMITTEE

grantcraftP R A C T I C A L W I S D O M F O R G R A N T M A K E R S

www.grantcra f t .o rg

buildingcommunity:

inside&out

with a good neighbor

committee

further issues to settle: What’sthe definition of the “neigh-borhood”? What kinds ofactivities might they supportin the neighborhood, and howwill they learn about its needsand the organizations theymight fund? What duties willeach member be expected toperform, and how will thecommittee organize its work-load? Every committeeanswers these questions dif-ferently. This section offerssome ideas and examples.

P A G E 1 2Making GrantsCommittees will soon need todecide what kinds of propos-als they will consider, howthey will solicit and judgethose proposals, and how finaldecisions about grant awardswill be made. Making site vis-its, circulating Requests forProposals, and developing aprocedure for reviewing andselecting among the grantapplicants are essential ele-ments in most Good Neighborgrants programs. This sectionillustrates how they can work.

P A G E 2 0Afterword:TheNuts and Bolts ofGrants ManagementDesigning a program andselecting the grantees are themain creative challenges of a

P A G E 2IntroductionMany organizations — busi-nesses, civic groups, founda-tions, or otherwise — mightlike to have a regular vehiclefor supporting and participat-ing in community activities inthe neighborhood(s) wherethey operate. Forming a GoodNeighbor Committee can helpwith that goal, and can dosomething more: provide aleadership opportunity foremployees who are interestedin the organization’s relation-ship with its neighbors. TheFord Foundation’s GoodNeighbor Committee offers onemodel of how such committeeswork and what they canaccomplish.

P A G E 4Starting aCommitteeOrganizing the committeebegins with deciding on itsgoals, who should be mem-bers, how long they willserve, who will facilitate andlead the group, and what itsbudget will be. This sectionoffers ideas for how to start,and what issues may arise inthe early stages.

P A G E 7The Committee’s First StepsOnce a Good NeighborCommittee is formed, its mem-bers will have a number of

“For me personally,it was a great feeling of developing,

of growing. It’s given me a sense

of ownership of the foundation’s

mission. I now have a greater

appreciation for what we do, and

I feel like a bigger part of it.”

—Committee Member

“When we heard about

the Good Neighbor Committee and

their goals, instantly a light bulb

went off. We said, okay, this is an

opportunity for us to provide a new

resource and collaborate with a

credible organization with goals

similiar to ours. I think that for

what we were trying to do, it was

just perfect.”

—Community Member

Good Neighbor Committee — butthe important work doesn’t endthere. Grant decisions must beresponsibly documented,grantees must be notified of theconditions and responsibilitiesthat come with the grant, andcommittees usually want tomonitor and assess the grantsthey make. This section offerssome standard techniques forpursuing these objectives.

SPECIAL FEATURES

21 Other Sources forLearning aboutGrant Making

22 A Sample Requestfor Proposals

24 Frequently AskedQuestions

25 Other Ways To UseThis Guide

This guide was written by Kyle Reisand Mary Lampson. It is part of theGrantCraft series.

Underwriting for this guide was provided by the Ford Foundation.

Publications and videos in this seriesare not meant to give instructions orprescribe solutions; rather, they areintended to spark ideas, stimulatediscussion, and suggest possibilities.Comments about this guide or otherGrantCraft materials may be sent toJan Jaffe, project leader, [email protected].

To order copies or download .pdfversions of our publications, pleasevisit www.grantcraft.org.

You are welcome to excerpt, copy, or quote from GrantCraft materials,with attribution to GrantCraft andinclusion of the copyright.

© 2002, 2004 GrantCraft

B U I LDI NG COMM U N IT Y I N S I DE & OUT 1

contents

2 B U I LDI NG COMM U N IT Y I N S I DE & OUT

Introduction

Business or philanthropic organizationssometimes look for ways to be moreactive, constructive members of thecommunity where they are located.They may already make the occasionalgoodwill grant to a local civic organiza-tion or cultural institution, sponsor a lit-tle-league team, or send representativesto community events. But often, they’dlike to do more and to have a moreconsistent role addressing needs in thearea around their offices.

In other cases, corporations and founda-tions have also sought to cultivate closerelationships with communities far fromtheir headquarters, but where the orga-nization nonetheless has close ties ofhistory or family. In an increasinglymobile world, one’s “neighborhood”may be much farther away than thefront door, yet closely associated bysome form of kinship.

In all these cases, grant makers or cor-porate officers occasionally ask, “Howcan we work hand-in-hand with otherlocal organizations, residents, and lead-ers to improve a community that we feelpart of?”

To do that, a few companies and foun-dations have found it useful to form a“Good Neighbor Committee” — a teamof employees who live or spend time inthe community, interact with other res-idents and leaders, and help formulate

and propose grants for local benefit.Good Neighbor Committees (GNCs forshort) create an opportunity for morepersonal interaction between their hostorganization and other parts of thecommunity.

In the process, the activities of a GoodNeighbor Committee can also provideleadership opportunities for employeeswho are not grant makers or commu-nity-relations experts, but have usefulknowledge and concern about thecommunity, and talent they can share.The relationships that grow from thiskind of personal engagement canhave an independent value, aboveand beyond the monetary value of anygrants or projects they generate.

CASE IN POINT: The FordFoundation’s Good NeighborCommitteeThe Ford Foundation created its originalGood Neighbor Committee in 1996. Ingeneral, the foundation’s grant makingextends around the globe. But the GNCwas created to support organizationsand activities in the part of the worldthat our headquarters staff can literallysee and work in every day: the blocksbetween the Hudson and the EastRivers in easy walking distance fromour building on East 43rd Street inNew York City. Its other main purposewas to provide an opportunity for non-grant makers on the staff to take a

WHERE THE EXAMPLES COME FROMThis guide is based mainly on the experience of our own Good Neighbor Committees in Ford Foundation offices around

the world. It draws from the experiences and reflections of people who have served on those committees, and the

comments of members of the community with whom they’ve worked. This set of examples is meant not as a blueprint

or an ideal model, but as one body of experience from which some useful principles and possibilities might emerge.

What is a‘GoodNeighborCommittee’?


WHO ELSE HAS A GOODNEIGHBOR COMMITTEE?

The idea has also caught the interest

of a number of other institutions.

Other companies and organizations

with emerging Good Neighbor

Committees include Vassar College,

the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the

Rockefeller Foundation, and the

Alliance for Downtown New York.

direct role in the foundation’s mission. The work of the Good NeighborCommittee has lately sparked offshootswithin the foundation that reach farbeyond the boundaries of midtownManhattan. Five of our overseas offices(Beijing, Hanoi, Nairobi, Santiago, andRio de Janeiro) have also formed theirown versions of the GNC to address theparticular needs of their neighbors.

The New York GNC is made up of 10 to15 staff members who each volunteerfor an average of two years. Committeemembers come from all divisions of thefoundation, including administrative,investment, and grant making, but par-ticipation is limited to those whoseregular duties do not normally involverecommending grants.

Since its inception in 1996, this com-mittee has granted nearly $1.2 millionto more than 40 different organizations

serving midtown Manhattan. Grantsizes have been as small as $3,000and as large as $70,000. We now havean annual budget of $500,000.Grantees range from local communityorganizations that maintain parks inthe area, to providers of shelters andsocial services, to cultural organizationsthat put on art performances andexhibits.

A brochure and an audio-visual pro-gram on CD-ROM about the committeecan be found on the GrantCraft’s Website, including a brief history of thecommittee’s work, snapshots ofgrantees, and an explanation of themission and activities of the committeeas told in the voices of committeemembers.

A SAMPLE MISSION STATEMENT

To encapsulate its mission, the New York GNC adopted this statement:

“The committee supports organizations and activities that contribute to a posi-tive, nuturing environment in midtown Manhattan. We look for grantees whoseprincipal focus is on work that will contribute to the civic spirit, vitality, and live-liness of communities in this neighborhood. We serve as a resource by:

■ Providing grant support for innovative activities offered in the area

■ Encouraging emerging and established organizations to participate in this

grant program

■ Exploring opportunities for neighborhood-based organizations to get to

know each other and exchange ideas and resources”


Starting a Good Neighbor Committee

There are just a few basic componentsof a new committee:

■ A “lead” staff member or facilitator,who will call the group together andguide the meetings

■ Volunteers to serve on the committee

■ A budget for grant making

■ Whatever logistical provisions —space for meetings, administrativebudget, clerical support — may benecessary to help the group operate

The details will vary from organiza-tion to organization, but the followingare among the issues that will proba-bly need to be addressed early in theprocess.

DEFINING YOUR REASONS FORSTARTING A COMMITTEEYour efforts to build enthusiasm andrecruit volunteers for a Good NeighborCommittee will be more successful ifyou can clearly communicate the ideaand how it will advance your missionand benefit your organization.

The Ford Foundation’s GNC, for example,was established to give staff who werenot grant makers an opportunity to par-ticipate in the core function of the foun-dation; to create links with theneighboring community; to foster good-will about the foundation as a neighbor;and to make its worldwide mission bet-ter understood among those who liveand work nearby. The grant-makingwork of the committee adheres closelyto the foundation’s overall mission. Ingeneral, committees seem to work bestwhen they are closely related to the

day-to-day work of the whole organiza-tion, not an anomaly that departs signif-icantly from other civic or philanthropicactivities.

■ Internal goals. Among the mostcommon reasons for starting aGood Neighbor Committee is adesire to build a stronger sense of community within our owninstitution.

As one GNC member put it:“Ford’s Good Neighbor Committeesare diverse not only in terms of raceand gender, but also where peopleare within the organization. Our com-mittees include people from a broadrange of functions, including manag-ing the investment portfolio, greetingvisitors, and working in the libraryand on our intranet. People bringtheir talents from their work and theirpersonal life. They are talking to eachother for the first time, sometimeseven getting to know each other forthe first time. That’s been really use-ful for building new communitieswithin the organization.”

Among other things, the committeeprovides members with a leadershipopportunity that entails buildingexpertise, negotiating with others,and ironing out differences of per-spective. As one member put it:

“The discussions can be very lively,because there are times when thereare projects that you want to fund,and someone says, ‘no, this isn’tworth it; they can get funds fromother sources.’ So we have to bevery, very open and very democratic.Everyone has to have a say at the

BUILDING LEADERSHIPWITHIN ANORGANIZATION

At the Ford Foundation, committee

members take on the responsibility

of conducting research, meeting with

local leaders from around the com-

munity, and making decisions about

tangible ways to improve the com-

munity. That kind of participation can

lead to employees discovering

capacities both in themselves and in

their co-workers that were previously

unknown, unrecognized, and unex-

plored.

Most members of the committee

have found they get to use skills and

interests that are not always tapped

in their day-to-day jobs. In the pro-

cess, members get to know each

other and discover or share talents

that contribute to their job satisfac-

tion and the organization’s general

morale.


end of the day. And then we comeup with a consensus.”

■ External goals. Another commonreason for starting a Good NeighborCommittee is to build communitybeyond the organization’s walls —to involve the organization and itsemployees in the well-being of abroader community.

This is especially true for a large,international organization like theFord Foundation. Although we actu-ally made many grants in New YorkCity, we had not always been seenas a member of the local community— just a global institution that hap-pened to be located here.

FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE TOSERVE ON THE COMMITTEEAt first, it may be necessary to “market”the idea to a wide circle of employees,to be sure of recruiting people who aregenuinely interested in the project andcommitted to making it work. Once it’sestablished, though, enthusiasm islikely to build on its own.

“At Ford, we started by sending a masse-mail to our entire organization todescribe the project, and then workedwith the people who responded. Nowthat our committee has been operatingfor five years, we keep a running list ofpeople who, over time, have indepen-dently told us they might be interestedin taking part.”

And as one member put it:“It is a challenge, since it is somethingthat staff do on top of their regularwork. But the rewards are there. Itreally does open your mind both to

problems that exist and to the dedica-tion of people who are trying to helpsolve some of those problems.”

MORE ABOUT WHAT, HOW, WHEN,WHY, WHO?

■ Workload: “We try to meet duringlunch and hold site visits so that theytake only an hour or two of time.Members often attend grantee eventson their own time, but we try to makethe actual work of the committee takeplace during office hours.” Supervisorsapprove members’ attendance on thecommittee, and as part of thatapproval they recognize that mem-bers’ work performance is such thatthey can manage an extra activity.

■ Operational decisions: “We found itbest to leave as many decisionsabout the operations of the commit-tee — defining the neighborhood andparticular mission of the committee,deciding how often the group willmeet, setting the size of grants to begiven, organizing subcommittees —to the members themselves.”

Conducting the research and debateto answer these questions givescommittee members a greater own-ership of their role, and it mightlead to better answers than theorganizers could have conceivedbeforehand.”

■ Terms of service: “It has been help-ful, in our experience, for committeemembers to serve at least two years.That not only ensures continuity, but it provides enough time to buildreal experience and contacts in thecommunity.”

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPSIN YOUR COMMUNITY

Our committee has enabled us to be

more of a resource and a constituent

for nonprofit groups in our target

neighborhood. This participation

also helped to broker a community

of relationships among our nonprofit

neighbors themselves — many of

whom share similar values and

needs, but were previously unaware

of one another.

For example, the committee invited

all of its grantees to a luncheon at

our New York headquarters where

they could meet and talk informally

and share information with each

other, as well as meet foundation

officers and committee members.

This luncheon is now a regular event.


You may also find it beneficial tochoose members who have beenworking in your organization for atleast a year, to ensure that themembers know the organizationwell enough to speak and act on its behalf.

CHOOSING A FACILITATORAt least one relatively senior official isprobably the best choice to serve asthe committee’s advisor or facilitator —someone to whom its members canbring questions about the institution’smission and other policies. Ideally, thisperson should be senior enough toreview and approve each of the grantsbefore they are finally made.

In general, the facilitator should also beable to think strategically about thecommittee as an expression of thelarger organization, and to encouragenew and innovative ideas. Still, like allother members, the facilitator needs tobe able to function as a volunteer,without excessive demands on his orher regular workday, and be able toadvocate for your committee in budgetdiscussions.

In the Ford Foundation’s New YorkGNC, three people have taken on vari-ous levels of leadership as facilitators.One is a department director who is

able to make budgetary decisions.Another has been a part of the com-mittee since its inception, both as aregular member and as the commit-tee’s administrator, and thus is anadvisor and institutional memory forthe committee. A third is currently agrants administrator assigned to staffthe committee.

SETTING A BUDGETStart small. The committee’s budgetshould be proportionate to its size andyour institution’s ability to give. But atthe beginning, it should also take intoaccount the group’s relative lack ofexperience. Members will need timeto learn their new role, meet others inthe community, and formulate a plan.The allocation can always beincreased later.

Grants need not be large to be effec-tive. Even amounts of $1,000 or $2,000can make a big difference to a smallunder-funded organization in particularneed. Still, it’s wise to keep grantees’limited resources in mind. They willspend time preparing and applying forsupport, and later will report on howthey used your grant. Make sure youhave enough to give so that it’s worththe effort required of them. At the FordFoundation, our committee’s averagegrant is now $20,000.

DEFINING THEFACILITATOR’S ROLE

In addition to serving on at least

one subcommittee, facilitators may

take on these responsibilities:

■ Track all incoming proposals and

distribute them to the appropriate

subcommittee.

■ Set up training and information

sessions for new members.

■ Handle all grants administration,

once a grantee has been chosen

and a grant recommendation is

written up by a committee volun-

teer.

■ Set up regular meetings of the full

committee.

■ Organize idea-exchange meetings

between the committee and other

institutions interested in starting

their own GNC.


The Committee’s First Steps

ESTABLISHINGBOUNDARIES

As your committee takes shape, it’ll

help for them to:

■ Define the geographic area it will

serve.

■ Decide whether to focus on certain

topics.

■ Choose whether to emphasize

emerging organizations or more

experienced ones.

■ Decide whether to accept unso-

licited proposals.

■ Decide on a minimum and maxi-

mum grant size.

■ Choose between supporting pro-

jects only, or offering general sup-

port, or both.

■ Decide the length of support.

■ Form a policy about whether to

renew or supplement grants once

they’ve been made.

Before your committee can begin mak-ing grants, several decisions must bemade about how it will conduct itsbusiness. This section outlines thosestructural issues and offers some sug-gestions for how to proceed.

LEARNING MOREBesides this guide, you may find otherinformation about the FordFoundation’s GNC at it’s Web site:(www.fordfound.org), or at theGrantCraft site, (www.grantcraft.org).There, you can listen to a short audiorecording about the work of our com-mittee, told by the members andgrantees themselves. Members of ourNew York GNC are happy to take partin conference calls or meetings withothers interested in starting a commit-tee. You can also address specific ques-tions to our GNC members by e-mail, [email protected].

We also found several publications use-ful in forming or guiding our commit-tee’s work. (A list of these resourcesmay be found on page 21.)

CREATING A MISSION STATEMENTIn Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland,the Cheshire Cat says, “If you don’tknow where you’re going, it doesn’tmatter which way you go.” An effectivemission statement for your committeecan provide guidance in making deci-sions about its activity, guide its grantmaking, and help in communicatingthe nature of its work to outsiders. OurNew York Committee’s mission state-ment (quoted on page 3) relatesdirectly to the mission of the founda-tion as a whole: to be a resource forinnovative people and institutionsworldwide.

SETTING GRANT-MAKINGBOUNDARIESBased on the size of your grant-makingbudget, your challenge will be to seteligibility criteria and invite proposalsin such a way that they won’t over-whelm your committee by bringing intoo many, or defeat it by bringing intoo few. Criteria should set up clear,reasonable expectations amongprospective applicants, so that onlythose with some chance of success arelikely to apply. That prevents an abuseof their time, as well as that of commit-tee members — who are, after all, serv-ing as volunteers.

A clearly defined set of boundaries foryour committee’s work will not onlymake the work more efficient, butmake it easier to communicate thenature of its work within your institu-tion, with potential grantees, and therest of your community. Here are somesteps that may help make the processmost effective:

■ Define the geographic area youwant to serve. It may be necessaryto spend a lot of time at first think-ing about how to define a commu-nity that was large enough to bediverse in needs and services, andyet still anchored by our location —close enough so that committeevisits could be done at lunch hoursor while walking to or from work.

“With the New York Committee, wesettled on the blocks between 34thStreet and 50th Street, from theHudson River to the East River. Inthat 200-block area, there are morethan 1,800 nonprofit organizations.”


A committee with a much smallerbudget may need to target more nar-rowly. Then again, if you’re in acommunity that’s less dense thanmidtown Manhattan, you may needto draw your borders more widely.Still, it’s important to be able to visitgrantees and other organizations inthe target area without excessivetravel, if that’s possible.

“At the foundation’s Nairobi office, forinstance, committee members choseto limit their grant making to sitesthat were less than one hour’s traveltime away from the office. But in theBeijing office, due to serious floodingin both the south and north of China— separated by distances too vast forthe committee to cover — the com-mittee chose to make one large grantto an organization helping flood vic-tims across the country.”

■ Decide whether to focus on cer-tain topics. Will your GoodNeighbor Committee make grantsonly in a specific field (e.g.,youth development, education,the arts, etc.), or will you cast amore general net? For ideas onhow to answer this question, lookto your organization’s missionand what came up in the conver-sations around creating yourcommittee. It helps to have sub-jects that committee members arepassionate about.

“With our New York committee, theareas that emerged, not as an initialframework but only after we lookedback at early grants we had made,were Arts & Culture, Civic Vitality,

Education, and Human Services.”This decision may become easier asyou get to know your communitybetter. It helps to read local newspa-pers, magazines, and bulletins inyour neighborhood, to talk with community groups and residents,and to explore Web sites anddatabases. The most effective infor-mation source may well be conversa-tion. It helps to pound the pavement,ask what the hot topics are for yourarea, and what is already beingfunded or what is being overlooked.You’ll naturally broaden this research later, as you begin the actual grant-making process.

■ Choose whether to emphasizeemerging organizations, or moreexperienced ones. Limiting yourconsideration to established orga-nizations with a track record ofsuccess may provide safer bets foryour money. And even large orwell-established nonprofit organi-zations can benefit from discre-tionary funds to try a new orinnovative idea.

On the other hand, a small grantcould make a huge difference to anemerging organization that hasn’tyet had a chance to prove its suc-cess. “The New York Committeedecided not to limit itself either waybut to aim for a balance between the two.”

■ Will you accept unsolicited proposals?Depending on the size of yourneighborhood and the other limita-tions you have decided to place onyour grant making, you may wish


to accept only proposals that youhave asked organizations tosubmit.

Opening the process up to unso-licited proposals at the start couldbring more of a response than yourmembers can handle in the timeavailable. On the other hand, by limiting your work to only solicitedproposals, you may miss an extraor-dinary project with which yourmembers hadn’t yet come in contact.

“At first, the New York committeeaccepted only solicited proposals. Wedeveloped a Request for Proposalschecklist and sent it to organizationsthat we had discovered from walkingthe area and searching the Web.Now that the New York committeehas more experience and a presenceon the foundation’s Web site, weconsider all applications, and alsoask former grantees to recommendothers for consideration.”

■ Decide on minimum and maximumgrant size. Will your committeegive several small grants or a fewbig ones? This will depend first ofall on the size of your overall bud-get. But beyond that, you could tryto benefit many organizations withsmall contributions, or make a bigdifference with fewer grantees.

The New York committee, with afairly substantial budget, initiallyinvited potential grantees to applyfor grants up to $20,000. A differentapproach might be to invite appli-cants to say what they might dowith “X” amount of money and alter-natively what they would do with

“Y” amount. That would give you anopportunity to weigh the trade-offbetween allocating a larger orsmaller amount to each organization.

■ How long will you support a givengrantee? Our Committee grantsare for one- to two-year periods,with an option to consider arenewal for a second period.

After that, we normally considerfuture applications from a granteeonly if they are designed to promotemore effective collaboration amongmultiple nonprofits in the community.We also have created the option ofproviding smaller amounts of annualsupport specifically to supportfundraising activities by nonprofits inthe neighborhood.

“We want to build relationships withour grantees so that together we cansupport the community effectively. Atthe same time we want to havefunds in our budget available to sup-port new organizations and activitiesas they come along. So far, we havefound that grantees appreciate ourcandor about the length of the fund-ing stream, they benefit from whatwe do provide, and they often helpus find related organizations to con-sider for future support.”

■ Renewed or supplemental grants.Before making grant commitments,it helps to decide in advance aboutthe expected length of the fundingrelationships you create. Willgrantees be welcome to apply forcontinued or supplemental supportfor the same activities? Fordifferent activities? For how long?

PROJECT SUPPORTVS. GENERAL SUPPORT

Will your committee make grants

only for a specific project an orga-

nization is undertaking, or will you

be willing to contribute to its gen-

eral operating budget? A grant for

a specific project is easier to evalu-

ate after the grant is finished,

whereas it’s harder to track the

specific effect of a contribution for

general operating purposes.

Yet nonprofit organizations —

especially small ones — find gen-

eral operating expenses and over-

head the hardest things to cover.

This may be an especially impor-

tant point to consider if you decide

you want to help such organiza-

tions to build their management

and administrative strength. When

making general-support grants, it’s

wise to be as clear as possible

about what those funds will allow

the grantee to do.

“We keep our criteria open on this

topic. Since our mission is to be a

resource in the community, this

openness allows us to be more

responsive to what nonprofits say

they need.”


What additional criteria, if any,will you apply to future proposalsfrom current grantees?

When making an initial grant to anorganization, it helps to give thegrantee some indication of whetheryour committee will consider futurerequests, and on what terms. AtFord, we explain that our committeewill consider one additional request,after which we are willing to con-sider further support to activitiesdone in collaboration with othergrantees. Beyond that, our subcom-mittees set their own rules forwhether they are willing to continuefunding to grantees beyond the first grant.

“With the New York Committee,grantees can also be eligible forpost-grant support of up to $5,000 tohelp with the grantee’s annualfundraising drive. That allows theorganization to continue to list theFord Foundation as a sponsor fortheir public relations purposes, and itpermits a smoother transition to end-ing the funding relationship.”

ORGANIZING THE COMMITTEE’SWORK AND ASSIGNINGRESPONSIBILITIESIn recruiting members for your commit-tee, it’s helpful to give prospective par-ticipants an idea of how much timewill be required, for what kind of work,and for how long a term. We do this byletting potential members sit in onsome committee meetings, and wehave created a list of general commit-tee responsibilities.

■ Subcommittees and individualduties. Depending on the size ofyour budget and the number ofgrants you expect to make, it maybe worthwhile to set up subcom-mittees to specialize in certainareas of activity or parts of thecommunity. In that case, each sub-committee should have its ownfacilitator or chair to make surethat it’s functioning smoothly andthat it fulfills its responsibilities tothe rest of the Good NeighborCommittee.

If you decide to use subcommittees,you may find it useful to apportionthe full committee’s budget amongthem.

“At Ford, each subcommittee receivesthe same amount of money, but anadditional portion of the budget isset aside in case a subcommitteecomes upon an unusual opportunityand requests a little extra for a spe-cial, larger grant.”

Another way to apportion the moneymight be to divide it by the numberof members, rather than by the num-ber of subcommittees. In that case, asubcommittee with four membersmight be allotted a budget twice aslarge as one with two members.

■ Terms of service and time commit-ment. Setting a definite length ofservice and a regular schedule ofmeetings can help potential newcommittee members evaluatewhether they are able to make thecommitment to serve.

WHAT THEY DID/HOW THEY DID IT

“When first started at our New

York office, the committee was

made up of eight people, and we

did all of the work as a single

body. Since then, both the budget

and size of the committee have

increased, and the Committee has

been divided into subcommittees,

one for each of our four subject

areas. Members join whichever

one suits their personal interests.”

“As proposals come in, they are

assigned to a subcommittee, and

each subcommittee then assigns

one of its members to be the pri-

mary grant maker for that pro-

posal. This member becomes the

point person for following the pro-

posal through the process, includ-

ing coordinating site visits,

informing the applicant about the

committee’s decisions, writing the

grant recommendation if the pro-

posal is accepted, and maintaining

the grantor-grantee relationship

throughout the life of the grant.”


“With the New York Committee,members typically serve for twoyears, with regular meetings onceevery two months — but more fre-quently when funding decisions arebeing made.”

To ensure some continuity on thecommittee, it may help to stagger theterms, so that no more than half the

committee leaves at the end of anygiven year. One way to make thathappen would be for half of the firstcommittee’s members to have athree-year term, instead of two.Thereafter, a normal two-year termfor everyone — or whatever lengthyou decide on — will ensure that atleast half the members stay on thecommittee at the end of each year.

HOW MUCH TIME DOES SERVING ON THECOMMITTEE TAKE?

Setting a regular meeting day and time will help people decide whether they can

join, and plan their schedules accordingly. It also helps to estimate how much work

will need to be done outside of the committee meeting — including time spent on

subcommittees, if any.

“Our meetings take place at lunch time. Between meetings, members learn about

and establish contacts with nonprofit organizations in the target area, conduct site

visits, respond to grant proposals, and prepare grant recommendations for review by

the full committee.”

“Members also communicate frequently with each other by email. All told, members

of the New York committee typically spend a few hours a week on committee duties.

Most of the work can take place over lunch or on a member’s way to or from the

office.”

Making Grants

Once procedures and responsibilitiesare set, it’s time to get to the businessat hand: making well-thought-outgrants that genuinely benefit yourcommunity. It may help to think ofthis work as taking place in the following phases.

LEARNING ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITYOne member described this preliminaryfact-finding stage as humbling: “It wasa real surprise that there were so manyorganizations out there. It looks on thesurface that there is not that much goingon in a neighborhood, and it is onlywhen you start to dig deeper that youbegin to see all the things that peopleare doing to support each other. And it’shumbling; it was very humbling to every-body. Also, we knew we could work for along time before we ever got to the endof the list. So that was very encouraging.”

In earlier sections, we’ve discussed thevalue of spending time in the commu-nity and encouraging members to getto know who’s doing what, what theneeds are, and how your organizationcan help. That’s a continuing activity,well worth keeping up throughout theyear. But in preparation for a round ofgrant making, it may be wise to under-take a more thorough, organized recon-naissance, in which membersdeliberately seek out as many localleaders and organizations as possibleto gather ideas about how to shapeand focus the grant-making effort. Your neighborhood inventory will growand change constantly, and membersshould be encouraged to add informa-

tion to it regularly as they reconnoiter.But even if the list is never perfectlycomplete, it can be useful to try to cap-ture as good a picture of the local uni-verse as possible. That’s one good wayof deciding on subject areas for grantmaking, dividing up responsibilitiesamong members, and soliciting propos-als from eligible recipients.

REQUESTING PROPOSALSOne of the early grantees of the FordFoundation’s New York committeedescribes her first encounter with thecommittee this way: “We operate fivesenior centers in New York, and we areone of the few agencies that does havea significant number of homelessseniors. I almost fell off my chair whenI got this letter from the FordFoundation saying, ‘Would you like toapply for some money?’ I was like,‘Yes! I’d like to do that! That would bean excellent thing to do!’ ”

The letter this grantee received was aRequest for Proposals, or RFP1

, whichwe mailed to a number of local organi-zations culled from the “universe” ofnames on our inventory list. You maydecide to contact prospective granteesas we did, as part of a large generalmailing, or you may be able to seekthem out one-by-one. Either way, theobjective is to let them know that youare considering proposals. Give themthe general guidelines and criteria youplan to use for your selection, and letthem know when and in what formproposals should be submitted.

THE COMMITTEE’SCHECKLIST:

■ Learn about the community

■ Request proposals

■ Review and respond to proposals

■ Conduct site visits

■ Select grantees

■ Carry on an effective grants

program

BUILDING A KNOWLEDGEBASE

It may help to compile a running

inventory of nonprofit and commu-

nity groups in the area, culled from

newspapers and magazines, conver-

sations with active residents and

known leaders, even listings in tele-

phone directories. If there are other

foundations making grants in the

area, they can be an excellent

resource.

So is the Internet: You can search

the Web for stories about organiza-

tions in your area, or consult

online directories. For example,

GuideStar (www.guidestar.org) is a

comprehensive online directory of

nonprofit organizations in the

United States, which you can search

geographically.

1For a fuller discussion about RFPs and ways of conducting grant competitions, you mightalso want to consult the separate GrantCraft guide “Using Competitions and RFPs,”available from the Ford Foundation or on the web at www.grantcraft.org.



“We do a lot of work up-front to findout about organizations that seem to fitour mission. When we contact them,we try to be realistic and not to createundue expectations. The last thing wewant to do is to contact a lot of organi-zations and raise their hopes, only toturn them down in the end. That’s onereason for encouraging organizations tocontact us first, before they prepare aformal proposal.”

(We’ve included a sample RFP on page22 of this guide.)

REVIEWING AND RESPONDING TOPROPOSALSReflecting on this stage of work, onecommittee member said: “It’s almostlike a dance, you’re engaging people ina relationship where you obviouslyhave most of the cards and you have tobe respectful of that. It becomes a veryintense relationship.”

Most organizations that received ourRFP did ultimately decide to submit arequest for funding. As the proposalscame in, we routed them in groups ofthree to five to each committee mem-ber for review. To allow plenty of timefor careful reading and reviewing, wescheduled our next meeting to occurseveral weeks after the proposals hadbeen distributed. Over a period ofroughly six months, we made itthrough a thorough review of all theproposals and managed to answeralmost all the questions and concernsraised.

Reviewing a proposal can seem like adaunting responsibility at first. You may

not, for example, find all the informa-tion you need to make a decision, andthere may be sections that you simplydon’t understand. That’s to beexpected; you will hardly ever make agrant decision based solely on theinformation in a proposal. Most of thetime you will need to ask follow-upquestions, and if the proposal seemsstrong, you probably will want to visitthe organization and ask your ques-tions face-to-face.

In any case, it’s essential to have a clearunderstanding of the projects that youfund, even if that takes some probing.We’ve learned to avoid any temptationto fund projects that the committee isambivalent about supporting.

Most of all, we find it crucial to replypromptly to every proposal. We quicklysend applicants a postcard informingthem that we have received their appli-cation and reminding them of the time-line on which they can expect to havean answer. We try to put ourselves inthe shoes of the applicant: Nothing isworse than submitting a proposal andthen hearing nothing in response.

Once proposals are in hand, they cangenerally be divided into three maincategories:

■ No match with the committee’sobjectives (therefore, a decline).

■ A possible match, but needs furtherinvestigation.

■ A definite match.

USING REQUESTS FORPROPOSALS

RFPs, as they’re often called, can

come in many forms, from simple

one-page information sheets to elab-

orate formal documents many pages

long.

“Our committee’s preference is to

keep them short, simple, and infor-

mal, so that busy people in local

nonprofit organizations can deter-

mine quickly and easily whether to

contact us and learn more about sub-

mitting a proposal, and how to do

so. We give potential applicants a

one-page description of our mission

and a short list of the documents

they will need to send us in order to

be considered for a grant.”

“We encourage organizations to con-

tact us first, before sending a full

application, so they don’t do unnec-

essary work. We also outline impor-

tant information about our

committee’s process: a date by

which applicants can expect to hear

back from us, the fact that we will

conduct a site visit to meet with

potential grantees, and so forth.”


If you’ve managed to make your objec-tives clear in the RFP and in prelimi-nary conversations with localorganizations, then the first categoryshould be small. The third one is likelyto be small too — it will probably con-tain only organizations that are alreadywell known to committee members,and whose needs clearly connect withyour program goals. The majority ofapplications usually land in the middle— category two.

A letter conveying your preliminarydecision should be sent as soon aspossible. Those who are not going tobe considered further will obviously bedisappointed, but they will likelyappreciate a prompt declination thatexplains why their proposal didn’t fitthe committee’s specific mission orobjectives. The letter can make clearthat this decision is not necessarily areflection on the quality of the organi-zation’s work or on the committeemembers’ appreciation of its value. It’salways hard to say No, but a negativedecision is generally easier to take if itarrives in a timely fashion with a clearexplanation of what the Committeedoes fund.

If the applicant’s proposal is a possibleor definite match with your objectives,the letter will naturally be easier andmore satisfying to write. It shouldinform applicants that, based on theirinitial proposal, you would like to dis-cuss the matter further, and will becontacting them for an appointment. Ifthere is additional written informationyou need, the letter can ask for thatinformation with or without promisinga follow-up appointment.

CONDUCTING SITE VISITSOne longtime member recalls a firstexperience with site visits: “It is notsurprising to feel a little nervous aboutbeing in the new role of grant maker.One way to orient yourself is to putyourself in the shoes of the applicantand imagine how you would like to betreated. Often, puzzles about what tosay or how to say it will becomeimmediately clear.”

First and foremost, the business ofmaking grants involves establishing arelationship between the grantor andthe grantee. Talking at length and indepth with applicants and making cer-tain they understand the fundamentalpurposes of the Good NeighborCommittee can sometimes lead toexciting new ideas.

Keep in mind that, most of the time,organizations form Good NeighborCommittees precisely so they candevelop firsthand relationships withthe leaders and organizations in theirneighborhood. In those cases, it’s prob-ably a mistake to think about a sitevisit as if it were a one-time, discretepart of the grant-making process.Rather, site visits and one-to-one con-versations are likely to be a continuingactivity for committee members, atleast with organizations directlyinvolved in the program areas you’vechosen to focus on.

Consequently, you may decide to makeyour first site visit to some organiza-tions before you circulate your RFP, justas a get-acquainted step, or as part ofyour overall reconnaissance of theneighborhood. Later, another such visit

WHY ARE SITE VISITSIMPORTANT?

The site visit is one of the most

important tools to use in determin-

ing your ultimate funding decisions.

An in-person look at a potential

grantee’s activities, along with a con-

versation about the committee’s

most pressing questions, can com-

plement a written proposal to give a

thorough portrait of the applicant’s

request. The visits are often the most

interesting part of the process; they

are open-ended interviews with peo-

ple about what they love to do.


may be part of your consideration ofthe group’s proposal. Then, if youdecide to award a grant, there arelikely to be other visits down the road,within reason, either for monitoring thegrant or just for good relations.

That said, it’s important to rememberthat very few organizations ever turndown a request from a funder for ameeting. They may be in the midst oftheir busiest season, hustling to pre-pare a proposal for another funder, orjust overwhelmed with work — butthey’ll probably set aside two hours tosee you anyway. So, as valuable as sitevisits can be, it’s also worthwhile tomake sure you’re not unduly imposingon the organization’s time or distract-ing its staff from other work. Remember: they’re not likely to tell you— at least at first — that your requestfor a meeting is coming at a bad time.You’ll just need to be alert and sensi-tive, and hope they’ll feel freer to becandid with you as time goes on.

■ When the site visit is a first con-tact. Prior to making the visit, it’sbest to do some homework. If youhave not yet received a proposalfrom the organization to be visited,you can still read up on the institu-tion, visit their Web site, andresearch their area of work.

By doing this, you will be able to usethe time you spend with the poten-tial grantee efficiently by asking per-tinent, informed questions and byreally zeroing in on what they’re try-ing to accomplish.

■ Before the visit. Remember that asite visit is a very important event

to a potential grantee, who willquite likely put a lot of energy intoplanning the visit.

Explain to the potential grantee thatyou want to learn more about theirwork by visiting with them, and askwhat they think would be the bestthing to do. Let them know howmuch time you have, and whetherthere are particular people or thingsyou would like to see. You mighteven suggest that the organizationdevelop an agenda for the site visitahead of time and let you knowwhat it will be.

“If possible, we schedule our site vis-its at times when there is some typeof program activity going on at thesite — something that visitors fromour committee can observe. It reallyhelps to be able to experience thework of the potential grantee first-hand, in addition to meeting withthem. Also we schedule the visit at atime when two or three committeemembers can attend.”

While it’s helpful to have more thanone member’s perspective on a givenapplicant, too many people can makeit hard to have an informative,relaxed conversation.

■ During the visit. Most of the time,you’ll probably want the visit toresult in the kind of creative, livelyconversation — an opportunity notjust for information, but for“excitement.”

But that takes time. It often takesmore than an hour — and sometimesmore than a single visit — to establish

WHAT THEY DID/HOW THEY DID IT

Before making a site visit it’s impor-

tant to take the time to prepare your-

self, and the grantee.

“In advance of the visit, our subcom-

mittee meets as a group, talks about

the proposal and the potential

grantee, and formulates some pre-

liminary questions about the organi-

zation. We normally come up with a

long list, but try to narrow it down to

the three most important ones to

ask, so as not to overwhelm the visit

with questions. We then notify the

potential grantee of our questions

ahead of time.”


a relationship of trust and open dis-cussion in which a real exchange ofideas can take place. Don’t worry toomuch if the first visit or two start offa bit stiffly, as people getacquainted.

One longstanding member of Ford’sNew York committee relates sometelling experiences about things thatcan happen at site visits:

“I remember one meeting when,after about an hour and a half oftalk and examination of thepremises, the prospective granteedeferred going to a meeting so hecould fill us in on his ideas for sev-eral different possible grants. It wasa lively discussion, and I think cur-tailing it would have curtailed themaking of the grant. So you have tomake room for excitement. I alsoremember another time when oneof our team had to leave after a halfan hour. It wasn’t disrespectful, itwas just someone juggling a toughworking schedule. But it seemed asthough perhaps we weren’t reallythat interested in what [the organi-zation] did. So schedules are trickyall around.”

Finally, don’t forget to use the visit asan opportunity to expand your knowl-edge of the broader community. You canask applicants if they have suggestionsabout other possible grantees or activi-ties that your Good Neighbor Committeemight support, or other people youshould get to know.

SELECTING GRANTEESWhen the information-gathering is done,you will need some process for evaluat-ing and ranking applications — maybeeven a system of numerical scoring, tomake different members’ judgmentsabout applications comparable.

There is no single, right way to do this —both the process and the criteria you usewill depend on what you want to accom-plish, the number of applications andgrants you’re dealing with, and theneeds and preferences of the committee’smembers.

The challenge is to make the process fairand open, giving members plenty ofopportunity to share their views, but alsoto keep it as simple as possible (to avoidmaking excessive demands on members’time) and to keep it focused on the issuesyou really care about.

■ Connecting grantees. In additionto making grants to single organi-zations in a given topic area, wealso look for opportunities to helpgrantees connect with one anotherfor mutual benefit.

This often involves literally introduc-ing grantees to each other, so thatthey’re sharing their information andgoals and bringing their varied tal-ents to bear on a problem in a way

KEEPING THE GRANTEE INFORMED

Before ending a site visit, you may find it helps to summarize with the potential

grantees what the next steps in your committee’s process will be, including the time

frame in which they can expect you to make a final decision. It might help to ask if

they have questions or comments about your selection process. Explain also that the

decision about whether to make a grant is not yours alone, but that your report on

this visit will go back as a recommendation to a committee or senior staff person.

They will probably appreciate knowing that you will call them as soon as a decision

has been made.

SITE VISIT TIPS

It can’t hurt to begin by reminding

the people you’re meeting of the

reason for your visit, your role on

the committee, the committee’s

role in your bigger organization,

and the fact that you are acting in

a volunteer role. You may have

explained those things in earlier

correspondence, but many non-

profit organizations play host to

frequent visitors, and might not

necessarily remember exactly

what you told them.

In any case, you’ll probably want to

be sure they understand that you’re

not there just as an interested indi-

vidual, but that you’re representing

the organization you work for. Since

everyone’s time is scarce, you may

want to focus your questions on the

things you most need to know to

make a good grant, and on matters

that call for the prospective

grantee’s impressions, interpreta-

tions, and personal reflection.

In other words, the site visit usually

isn’t the best time for small,

detailed questions that may require

the applicant to do research or

analysis. It’s an opportunity to

get to know the organization in a

more personal way than is possible

on paper.


that moves the issue further than itwould if the institutions were work-ing separately from one another.One way to accomplish that is tocreate general, untargeted occasionsfor grantees to get to know oneanother and share information aboutthe community. For instance, at aluncheon we organized for NewYork committee grantees, two for-merly unrelated organizationsstarted a discussion that led to aremarkable collaboration. One orga-nization provides social services toseniors, the other arranges horticul-tural therapy for medical patients.Together, they designed a garden-

ing therapy program for homelessseniors — a service that hadn’texisted before, and an expansionthat advanced both organizations’goals.

■ Starting the grant. Within yourorganization, you will need someprocedure by which a grant isapproved and funds can be dis-bursed.

“At Ford, once a subcommittee rec-ommends a grant, the grant makerassigned to that subcommitteewrites a memo to the committee’sadviser, who has authority to

SAMPLE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING GRANTEES AND REVIEWING PROPOSALS

With the Ford Foundation’s committee, we concentrate on three main questions:

■ What does the applicant hope to accomplish through the proposed project or program?

■ What is the capacity of the applicant to carry out the proposed project?

■ What will the project or program accomplish?

By these standards, the strongest proposals are those whose goals are the most compelling (and consistent with

those of the committee), whose sponsoring organizations have the clearest ability to achieve those goals, and whose

eventual results will be the most tangible and lasting.

We also pay special attention to the proposed budget supplied by the grantee, asking some of the following questions:

■ Is the budget clear and justifiable?

■ What percentage of the project budget, or if relevant, the organization’s annual budget, is the applicant requesting?

■ If the applicant is only requesting partial support, what is the likelihood of raising the balance from other donors?

In this case, the strongest proposals are those with a clear, disciplined budget that draws support from more than just one

source, especially if the other sources are clearly committed to the project or are highly likely to make a commitment.


approve the release of funds. A file iscreated in the grantee’s name, andall communication and informationon the grantee is kept there.”

CARRYING ON AN EFFECTIVEGRANTS PROGRAMOnce grants are awarded, the mosttime-consuming work is finished. Still,it takes continued effort from the com-mittee to ensure that the grant projectwill be effective. In some ways, in fact,the follow-through effort can be themost satisfying part of serving on aGood Neighbor Committee. Particularlyfor those who are new to grant mak-ing, it can take a while to sort throughthese ongoing responsibilities anddecide on next steps.

During the life of the grant, and possi-bly beyond, the grantees may call uponyou for advice, to answer questions,and possibly to attend grantee functionsor otherwise to show support for theirwork. As a representative of your insti-tution, you have many opportunities toinfluence what goes on in the commu-nity, but those opportunities carry somecorresponding responsibilities.

■ Knowledge-building for the com-mittee. Most committees will wantsome way of continuing to add totheir information about the com-munity, the performance of thecommittee’s grantees, and theopportunities for future grants.

As members monitor the already-approved grants, they will accumu-late valuable information, and thecommittee can benefit from regularmeetings where this information canbe collected and shared.

■ Knowledge-building for the com-munity. Some of the informationyou gather in organizing the com-mittee’s work may be worth pub-lishing, as an asset to the rest ofthe community.

“For example, we helped create adirectory of all past and currentorganizations to which our commit-tee has given grant support. Itincludes a brief statement about theorganization’s mission as well ascontact information and details aboutresources that the organization hasagreed it would like to share withother nonprofits. In one such case,an institution had a large conferenceroom that other local organizationscould use.”

SUPPORTING REALCOLLABORATION:ASK YOUR GRANTEES

Your grantees will probably be your

best guides in deciding how far to go

in encouraging grantee partnerships.

While it may appear on paper or in

theory that a group of organizations

should work well together to accom-

plish a great goal, be very careful

about “forcing” a fit. A bad marriage

is likely to be more harmful than

helpful — both to the grantee and to

your own credibility. The balance

usually lies in creating opportunities

for grantees to cooperate and com-

bine talents, but not compelling

them to do so.


“We also host a grantee fair everyother year, where grantees can set uptables and exchange information, suchas requests for volunteers, with oneanother and with the all the staff.These efforts not only help local orga-nizations find resources and expandtheir circle of communication. Theyalso contribute to the broader commit-tee goal of building partnershipsamong neighborhood nonprofits.”

■ Sustaining members’ interestand participation. After grantawards are made, there can be adip in energy and enthusiasmfrom some members.

This is a time when it’s importantto re-focus energies and remind

members of the broader purpose ofthe committee — which is not justto make grants, but to bring theirindividual and collective talents tobear in improving the community.

Without making needless demandson people’s time, it can help forthe committee to make sure itsmembers stay in touch with oneanother, with grantees, and withthe wider community betweenfunding cycles, to ensure that eachround of grant making is betterinformed and more effective thanthe last. This point is also a goodtime to evaluate the overall struc-ture of your committee and makeany necessary course changes.


Afterword: The Nuts and Bolts of GrantManagement

This section contains specifics on someof the documents and techniques thatthe Ford Foundation Good NeighborCommittees use to track and managetheir grant making. As with the rest ofthis guide, we include this informationnot as the last word on how a commit-tee’s work should be done, but as suc-cessful examples from which you mayglean ideas for your own committee.

GRANT RECOMMENDATION MEMOAND GRANT LETTERIn our system, the memo conveying asubcommittee’s recommendation of agrant is drafted by a committee memberand approved by a senior advisor.Whatever process you design, it willprobably be useful to have a single doc-ument that contains the committee’srecommendation, a summary of itsrationale, and the terms and conditionsthat apply to the proposed grant. For us,the memo serves as a succinct record(no more than two pages) of the grantmaker’s understanding of the grantee’sproject and overall work, and should bethorough enough so that another inter-ested party could read it to learn theessentials of the grant. The memo istypically drawn from the grantee’s pro-posal, other background informationabout the organization, supporting doc-umentation gathered during considera-tion of the proposal, and the grantmaker’s site visit experience.

The letter from the committee to thegrantee should likewise contain a syn-opsis of the grant’s amount, term, pur-poses, conditions, and a schedule forwhatever reports the grantee will beexpected to submit. The letter should

include the approved budget as well.Grantees sign the letter to indicatetheir acceptance of the terms, andreturn a signed copy to the committee.(In our system, the funds are trans-ferred electronically, so grantees alsogive their electronic deposit informa-tion with their signature.) Once thecountersigned agreement is received,funds are deposited into the grantee’saccount.

GRANT STATUS REPORTSAt a minimum, grantees of Ford’s com-mittee normally are expected to submitan annual narrative and financialreport on their grant activities, cen-tered on the benchmarks that were setforth in the grant memo and letter. Thecommittee’s grants administratorreviews these reports to see whetherbenchmarked activities were completedand budgets met. After reviewing thereports, the grants administrator gener-ates a grant status report for the grantmaker’s review and for inclusion in thegrant file.

The point of these reports is not neces-sarily to raise an alarm if the granteedoesn’t satisfy all the benchmarks dueto unforeseen circumstances. The realpoint is simply for the committee tostay informed about what is happeningwith the grant, and to learn moreabout what to expect when supportingthis kind of activity in the future.Sometimes, of course, the grant condi-tions and expectations may need to berevisited, if conditions or performanceexpectations change significantly afterthe grant is made.

GRANT TRACKING TOOLS

As time goes on and your list of

active grants grows, you may need

some formal systems for keeping

track of all your activity — the status

of various grants, funding decisions

yet to be made, and other upcoming

committee responsibilities related to

renewals, expirations, or future fund-

ing rounds. These are some tools

we’ve devised to keep the work flow-

ing smoothly:

■ Proposals and grant activities are

tracked on a computer spread-

sheet program, for at-a-glance

knowledge of where each appli-

cant or grantee stands in its grant

cycle.

■ We have set a deadline of

responding to all proposals within

30 days of receipt, so our spread-

sheet tracks the age and status of

every incoming proposal.

■ When a grant is completed, and

satisfactory narrative and financial

reports have been received, a let-

ter is sent to the organization

thanking them for giving us the

opportunity to work with them and

wishing them well for the future.


OTHER SOURCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT GRANT MAKING

Grantmaking Basics Online: This Web site is both a guide and an interactive learning tool for those involved in the day-to-day

grant-making processes of a foundation or corporation. On this site, you’ll find practical knowledge, guidance, and tips to help you

along your journey as a grant-making professional, from advice on conducting site visits to examining nonprofits’ financials, to

reviewing grant proposals. New chapters are added to the site regularly. It also contains sample documents, study guides, and

quizzes (www.cof.org/grantmakingbasics).

Best Practices in Grants Management: A team of foundation grants-management professionals spent four years fine-tuning this

definitive guide to administering grant-making programs. The book includes detailed procedures — plus the forms to implement

them — for all phases of grants management, from initial application to closeout. Bonus: The text is included on disk, so founda-

tions can easily create or update their own grants-management manuals. Available from the Council on Foundations (www.cof.org).

The Foundation Center is an independent nonprofit clearinghouse of information on foundations, corporate giving, and related sub-

jects. They publish dozens of directories, guides, research reports, and books on nonprofit management annually, and maintain

databases of more than 50,000 grant makers and 240,000 grants. Many of their resources are available at the center’s Web site

(www.fdncenter.org).


A SAMPLE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALSThe Good Neighbor Committee uses the following text, in the form of a letter, to solicit proposals. There is noth-ing here that’s carved in stone — you should feel free to adjust it to the aims of your committee, the interests oforganizations in your community, and (just as important) the personality of your parent organization. Althoughthis text specifically fits the Ford Foundation’s style, mission, and goals, it may give you a starting point fromwhich to formulate your own RFP:

BACKGROUNDThe Ford Foundation is an international grant-making organization with offices in New York and 14 overseas locations.Our mission is to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, andadvance human achievement by serving as a resource to innovative people and institutions worldwide. The founda-tion’s Good Neighbor Committee supports organizations and activities that contribute to a nurturing environment in theneighborhoods surrounding the foundation, specifically 34th to 50th St. from river to river. The committee is run bystaff volunteers. We are interested in strengthening our ties to neighborhood organizations working on problemsrelated to our mission. The committee serves as a resource by:

■ Providing grant support for ongoing and new, innovative activities offered within this area;■ Encouraging emerging and established organizations to participate in this grant program; and,■ Exploring opportunities for neighborhood-based organizations to become more collaborative in their efforts and

association with each other.

We invite your organization to submit a proposal for activities or events that will contribute to the civic spirit, vitality,and liveliness of these neighborhoods. We will also accept requests for general operating support.

The total amount requested should not exceed $___________. If you would like us to consider a larger project in collab-oration with other organizations, please contact us about such ideas prior to submitting your proposal. You will receivean acknowledgement of your proposal within a week, and a notice within six weeks of whether we can offer support.

Whether or not your organization decides to apply, we are interested in your ideas and reflections about our goals andthis RFP process and encourage feedback by contacting _____________.

GRANT APPLICATION GUIDELINES/CHECKLISTWe want to keep this process simple and at the same time learn more about your organization and what you would dowith these funds. To review your proposal, we ask you to send us specific materials. Please follow these guidelinescarefully. Please submit the following materials within a month of receipt of this letter, or contact us if this deadlinepresents a problem. No application will be considered complete without all of the information requested below.

❏ Cover Letter. This should be a brief letter that transmits the proposal and is addressed to _____________, facilitatorof the Good Neighbor Committee. Please include the amount of your request and the starting and ending dates forthe proposed grant. The letter must be signed by the president or the executive director of your organization.

❏ Proposal. Whether you are requesting general operating support or funds for a particular activity or event, pleasetell us what your organization’s goals are, how they relate to the committee’s mission, and what you think therequested funds would help your organization accomplish. Please describe your outreach at the level of neighbor-hood participation and how you work in any of the neighborhoods in this designated area. The proposal may besingle-spaced but no more than two pages. If you have brochures, an annual report, or other printed matter aboutyour organization, you may attach those to the proposal.


❏ Résumé(s). Copies of the résumé(s) of the president/executive director and, if appropriate, the project director(s).

❏ Budgets. Please include a list of your current sources of funds, a current operating budget, and the percentage ofyour total budget that the proposed grant would cover. If you have year-end financial statements, please alsoinclude them. If you are requesting support for an event or project, include a line-item budget of no more than fivelines for all personnel and non-personnel costs for which you are seeking support. Note:■ The total amount requested should not exceed $____________.■ The foundation will not provide more than two-thirds of any individual’s full-time salary.

❏ Tax Information. A copy of the letter from the IRS which states: your organization is tax exempt under Section501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; your organization is not a private foundation because it is an organizationdescribed in Section 509(a)(1) or Section 509(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.

❏ Organizational Profile. Briefly describe the principal work of your organization as well as noteworthy past organi-zational accomplishments. Please also provide the following information: ■ When the organization was founded■ The organization’s director■ The project director, where applicable.

❏ Board of Directors. List, including their names and primary institutional affiliations.

❏ Diversity Table. The foundation seeks to promote pluralism and equal opportunity and to end discrimination basedon race, ethnicity, and gender. When foundation staff consider grant applications, they include in that considerationhow applicants have provided opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups within their organizations. Tohelp us make that assessment, we ask you to submit the Diversity Table found below. We are interested in learningabout the challenges and opportunities that diversification of your board and staff has posed for your organization.Please include your comments along with the following format.

The proposal should be sent to: (name and address)

If you have any questions regarding this proposal process, please contact: (name and address)

M I N O R I T Y N O N - M I N O R I T Y

Female Male Female Male TOTAL

Board

Professional Staff

Support Staff


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do you determine the legitimacy and legality — e.g., the (501(c)(3) status — of an organization as well asthe quality of its work?

If you are a part of a grant-making organization, follow the guidelines already in place at your institution, andconsult with your legal department. If you do not belong to a grant-making organization, contact a few of them,and get an idea of how they do this. At Ford, an organization is considered an eligible nonprofit if it is tax exemptunder Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (or is in the process of obtaining this status) and it is not aprivate foundation because it is an organization described in Section 509 of the Internal Revenue Code. Look atthe institution’s financial audits, ask about their board and governance, talk to their leadership, and visit them asthey do their work. Find out who else funds them.

How do you find a balance between wanting to meet and learn about organizations as an individual, but alsoremembering that you are representing your organization or company when you go on a site visit and wantingto act appropriately?

Most of our applicants don’t initially understand the Good Neighbor Committee, or that committee members arevolunteers working on the project. Although you may be very clear that the committee is its own entity, mostorganizations are going to see you mostly as a representative of your organization. The best way to avoid the ini-tial confusion is to be clear about why you are contacting them and what you hope to learn, and to be consis-tently honest and direct. We give the applicants a copy of the committee brochure for their information. We startsite visits by saying a few things about the committee, why the Ford Foundation does this, who the members are,and what they do at the foundation. It humanizes the process and usually makes the interview more authentic.

How do you determine whether or not a grant can be considered “successful”? What steps can be taken to prevent “unsuccessful” grants?

The best place to start for creating a “successful” grant is at the very beginning. Formulate your objectives hand-in-hand with the organization you expect to fund. The grant maker and the grantee work together up front to clarifythe goals of the grant and together decide on how they will report back to measure success in reaching those goals.Write into the grant notification letter what you expect to see accomplished with the funds, and review those objec-tives when the grant is finished and the final report is turned in. Be aware, however, that things do happen andunexpected circumstances may cause the organization to have to shift focus or not be able to complete all activitiesin the time committed. Allow for this, either by setting up a timeline extension or a review committee for changes inthe purpose of the grant.

How do you orient new members to committee activities?It is useful to have a protocol in place for at least semi-formally introducing new committee members. Setting alength of service is helpful for potential new members in their consideration of making the commitment. It is alsohelpful to have a protocol in place for saying good-bye to members as they step down. Allow for flexibility whereuseful, and set boundaries where necessary in terms of rotations of subcommittee memberships. Direct them tothis document!

How can you avoid having your committee activities infringe on or undermine the activities of other departmentsin your organization?

It’s important to communicate the activities of your committee to the rest of your organization. If your organization isa grant-making foundation, be sure to connect with others at your organization who might also be working withyour potential grantee. At Ford, we do not fund organizations that are currently funded by other parts of the founda-tion, unless a grant maker approaches us to join him or her in collaborative support that fits with our mission.


OTHER WAYS TO USE THIS GUIDE ...This guide was written with several audiences in mind — not Good Neighbor Committees alone, but also themany other people with whom they make decisions and formulate goals. As you work through the issues raisedin this guide, you might find it useful to distribute copies to others who can be important to your success. Forexample:

■ WITH EXECUTIVES OR BOARD MEMBERS OF YOUR PARENT ORGANIZATION …Besides being an outreach to the community, committees are also a leadership program for their members. Assuch, they need wide latitude to make decisions from the earliest possible stages of their creation. So it’s impor-tant, when considering whether to create a committee, that leaders of the organization understand how the com-mittee will work and what it’s meant to achieve. You may find it useful to share this guide with senior members ofyour organization, even though they will probably mostly be involved only through the beginning stages of thework, and then later in opportunities to meet the grantees from time to time. This guide can help them understandhow they can help make the committee effective, provide guidance and leadership for the group when it’s appro-priate, and be available to handle sensitive issues as they arise. The introduction and first chapter are particularlywritten with senior leaders in mind, describing how the committee fits overall into the structure and mission of anorganization.

■ WITH THE FIRST SET OF MEMBERS OF A NEW COMMITTEE …The first members of a committee must make a number of initial decisions about how the committee’s work willbe done: How frequently will it meet? What will be the specific mission that guides its work? How will the com-mittee make its final funding decisions? These start-up issues are addressed specifically in the second chapter.

■ WITH NEW MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OVER TIME …Although you’ll probably develop your own initiation materials as time goes on, this guide might still be helpful,either as a source of information to include in those materials, or as a supplement. You should feel free to excerptinformation from this document if you find it useful.

■ IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS NEW TO GRANT MAKING …This brief guide obviously can’t provide all the information you may needto create a grant-making program, though it points you to several sourcesof information that can fill in the details (see “Other Sources for LearningAbout Grant Making”). If you’re new to grant making, you may find it help-ful to pay special attention to the third and fourth chapters of this guide,as they describe the tools necessary to begin and operate your committeeand answer many questions about how to be an effective grant maker.

■ IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS ALREADY INVOLVED IN GRANT MAKING …If your organization is a foundation or a company with an establishedgrant-making program, you will no doubt already have in place a set ofprocedures for determining how grants are formally approved, what kindof progress reporting is required, and the like. Scattered sections through-out this guide and all of the fourth chapter describe the set of specificgrant-making documents and processes that are used by the FordFoundation’s committee. While you may wish to skip over these sections,you may also find it interesting to compare these methods with your own.

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

We wish to thank the grantmakers and grantees whogenerously shared theirexperiences and insights, aswell as those whose contribu-tions of time, talent andperspective have helped tomake this guide possible.Underwriting for this guidewas provided by the FordFoundation.

For additional guides and other materials in the GrantCraft series, see www.grantcraft.org.

grantcraftP R A C T I C A L W I S D O M F O R G R A N T M A K E R S

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