alice evans

Are you betting on the right grants? Let’s make a quick comparison between project grants and capacity-building grants. Nonprofits usually have their sights set on project or program grants. After all, they’re tangible and measurable, and funders love a good impact story. But taking a step back. What if the horse you’ve been betting on isn’t your best option? 🤔 1️⃣ Project/Program Grants ✨Pros: Funders love them because they’re tied to clear outcomes. You build something tangible, like a new program, and everyone feels good about the impact. ✨Cons: They often come with strings attached—narrowly defined uses, strict reporting requirements, and little flexibility for your organization’s broader needs. ✨Success Rate: 44% While project grants can drive immediate impact, they don’t always strengthen your nonprofit’s foundation. Think of them as the fuel for your car. They keep you moving but don’t upgrade your engine. 2️⃣ Capacity-Building Grants ✨Pros: These grants fund what often gets overlooked: leadership training, technology upgrades, and operational improvements. They equip your nonprofit to scale, adapt, and thrive in the long term. ✨Cons: Funders aren’t always clamoring to fund administrative improvements, and nonprofits are often too nervous to ask for them. ✨Success Rate: 46% Here’s the twist —-- We found training/capacity-building grants to have a slightly higher success rate (46%) than project grants (44%). Why? It’s tricky to answer, but it may have something to do with fewer nonprofits pursuing them or nonprofits preparing more for these applications because they’re more coveted. 🔗Explore the full analysis and findings in the comments. #Instrumentl #NonprofitSuccess #GrantFunding #GrantWriting

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Continuing the Climate Action Planning Webinar Series led by Cami Sockow. With the next set of webinars, we're diving deeper into crafting impactful Climate Action Plans. These sessions are designed to equip you with practical tools and insights to advance your institution's climate strategies and foster meaningful change in your community. Upcoming Webinars: - Strategic Integration of Offsets in Your Decarbonization Goals Oct 16 | 12 pm EST Explore how to effectively incorporate carbon offsets while prioritizing emissions reductions. It features insights from panelists Meredith Leigh, Second Nature, Emma F., Duke University, and Aaron Durnbaugh, Loyola University Chicago. Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gd6vrYkE - Utilizing VPPAs, PPAs & RECs in Climate Action Planning Nov 5 | 12 pm EST Learn to navigate the essentials of PPAs, VPPAs, and RECs to boost your energy goals with panelists Delicia Nahman, MBA, Lafayette College, and Svena Bhasin, Coho Climate. Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gZZ5e4yJ

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Up your climate literacy game with this newly updated resource!

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When rural and Indigenous communities apply for funding, they must often use language, processes, practices, and measures of outcomes that conform to the funders’ view of the problems and solutions. Recognizing this injustice, some funders are shifting their capacity by embracing communities’ language, processes, and practices. This enables more equitable partnerships and community-designed projects that better meet the needs of rural communities.  Chris Estes, Aspen CSG’s Co-Executive Director, facilitated a virtual discussion of rural leaders to explore this topic further. Below are some highlights from the conversation: 💡 Internal shifts: Michelle Uffertt of the Northland Foundation in Minnesota shared insight into their Maada’ookiing program. The Foundation supports this funding initiative, but it’s led by an advisory board made up of Indigenous and Tribal representatives. The advisory board makes consensus decisions on where to fund. Through their involvement in Maada’ookiing, the Northland Foundation board has increased its geographic and Indigenous cultural competency, which, in turn, supports the organization's focus and mission. 💡 Geographic realities: Participants were keen to discuss how rural geographies and low population density shape (in part) the funding opportunities available. In frontier geographies like Alaska, southern New Mexico, and southwest Colorado, there are few non-profit organizations with which larger funding entities can work. Participants shared that big funders should work regionally through rural development hubs and other rural-savvy organizations to get resources to these remote areas. A variation of this idea included supporting organizations through fiscal sponsorship and creating a state-funded role like New Mexico’s Rural and Frontier Ombudsman, who can lift up community voices and draw attention to opportunity areas for investment. 💡 Transforming relationships: The conversation also explored different styles of engagement between funders and grantee organizations. Grantee organizations emphasized that coaching or adding staff capacity was more helpful and productive than hiring consultants. Another participant shared how working with/investing in conservation orgs that have geographically based teams can help transform land conservation away from purely policy work into a holistic approach that sees human life and culture as part of the natural landscape. 💡 Shared Resources: The blog has all the resources shared during the conversation, but here's a preview of one: The Economic Recovery Corps is a new fellowship that aims to increase capacity in underserved and low-capacity communities. Our ROADS partner, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), is the lead partner in this effort, and more than 60% of the project sites are rural.  https://lnkd.in/dw8jH9dr  

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Struggling to find the right grants? We’re here to help! Discover GrantStation Membership, your ultimate toolkit for finding and securing the right grants! ✅ Access a "hot list" of grantmakers eager to fund projects just like yours. ✅ Browse examples of real, winning grant proposals for inspiration. ✅ Stay organized with our user-friendly GS Dashboard. ✅ Use our Decision Matrix to pinpoint the perfect grants for your organization! Join GrantStation today and take a step toward lasting impact and financial sustainability. Get your annual Membership for only $199, or two-year Membership for $299. 👉 Ready to take the leap? Click here to learn more! https://buff.ly/40IAViX

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Let's Talk About What's Next on The Rural Boundary and Split Oak Forest! Event Title: Virtual Town Hall: Rural Boundary Updates & Save Split Oak Forest Campaign Date: August 12th Time: 6:00 PM Register: https://lnkd.in/ePZcR5Xg Description: Join us for a virtual town hall featuring special guests Kelly Semrad, initiator of the rural boundary and Vice Chair of Save Orange County and candidate for Orange County District 5 Commissioner, and Lee Perry, leader of the Save Split Oak Forest campaign. This event will provide crucial updates on the rural boundary initiative and the Save Split Oak Forest campaign. What's Happening: Rural Boundary Updates: Exciting news! Previously, the state legislature preempted the rural boundary from being placed on our ballot, allowing it only through the charter review process. This meant the only way to establish the boundary was through the Board of County Commission in Orange County. On July 30th, the Mayor and Commissioners unanimously voted to allow the rural boundary to be placed on the November ballot. Additionally, on August 13th, there will be a vote for an extra layer of protection against City Annexation, a loophole developers use to perpetuate harmful urban sprawl without paying their fair share of long-term costs. Impact on Split Oak Forest: The new protections against sprawl will significantly impact the ongoing fight to preserve Split Oak Forest. The city of Orlando has been making moves to annex land, and the Central Florida Expressway Authority has included new toll roads in their master plan, far outside the urban corridor. These developments are set to facilitate urban sprawl, costing taxpayers in the long term. This town hall will be streamed on Facebook, but to participate and ask questions on Zoom, please register for the link here. If you have already registered, the Zoom link will be sent to you automatically. For More Information: Please email us at [email protected]. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and engaged in the fight against urban sprawl and for the preservation of our natural resources. Join us and be part of the change! Mark your calendars for August 13th! This date marks the final vote to place annexation protections on the ballot as a separate amendment. If successful, we'll not only have secured a Rural Boundary definition in our Charter with a majority +1 vote (passed July 30th) but also added layers of protection against cities using annexation as a legal loophole for less regulated urban sprawl. Stay tuned for the public hearing on August 13th!

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How many names have you heard used for community engagement? Co-production, public engagement... the list goes on and on. What if the what doesn't matter, as much as the how you practice, why, and where you're heading with it? If you're working in this space, I'd love to hear more about your journey with community engagement, and what your next steps are in relaising its potential.... https://lnkd.in/ekSfzqMS

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Ecosystems are complex, interrelated systems where every organism plays a valuable role. 🔄🌱 Across the country, we are seeing funders embrace the power of ecosystems. Philanthropy is embodying a powerful shift from being the center of social change efforts to working in close partnership with the broader ecosystem of stakeholders necessary to sustain lasting change. ➡️ Check out our latest piece about how funders are increasingly acting as a facilitator, connector, and learner in a larger ecosystem of actors working to create lasting, systems-level change. #philanthropy #foundation #socialimpact #strategy

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ReD Perspective // The case for equitable philanthropy While plenty of philanthropic foundations are aware of the call for more equitable philanthropy, many of them don’t exactly know what to do about it – they lack a toolbox. In their piece "On the Journey to Equitable Philanthropy" in Alliance magazine, ReD's Charlotte Vangsgaard and Ujjwal Gupta take a nuanced look at some of the barriers to equitable philanthropy – in terms of philanthropic identity, purpose, risk, outcomes, and operating models – to foster a more open discussion about solving these long term. "There are no market incentives for building a practical roadmap to this change," they write. "Philanthropists have to fund and deploy it, and those who do will emerge as the philanthropic role models of tomorrow. Those who don’t, risk their goodwill, a public backlash, and at worst, perpetuating, not solving, inequities." Read the full article below at Alliance magazine. #strategy #philanthropy https://lnkd.in/e-kr_FpU

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Grantmaking isn’t just about writing checks — it’s about building trust, promoting transparency, and ensuring funding reaches those who need it most. Yet, for many non-profits and community initiatives, the complex and unclear nature of funding processes can be a huge barrier, sometimes even preventing these projects from happening in the first place. Enter choice architecture, a behavioral science-backed approach that puts grantees at the center of the process. By thoughtfully designing grant applications and decision-making pathways, grantmakers can reduce friction, build trust, and foster more equitable outcomes. In our latest piece, our contributors Anjali Chainani-Jha, PhD, MPH, MSW and Henry Feinstein from Anavi Strategies share insights on how to streamline grantmaking and highlight a powerful, real-world example from the Philadelphia Activities Fund that can inspire change across the philanthropic sector. Discover how small shifts can transform grantmaking here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eiqGtvYs #Grantmaking #BehavioralScience #ChoiceArchitecture #Philanthropy

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ICYMI: Our new Community Engaged Grantmaking guide offers a structured approach to democratizing philanthropy by outlining a spectrum of community engagement — from informing communities of grantmaking opportunities to community-driven decision-making through democratic participation. In this guide, we explore five distinct models of community engagement that help donors and foundations ensure that the voices of those most impacted by social challenges are central to the grantmaking process. We also share real-world case studies, such as how the Shift Health Accelerator Collaborative Fund and other leading organizations are already advancing equity and community involvement in their work. Read the full guide: https://lnkd.in/g7zdtSyx #participatorygrantmaking #communityengagedgrantmaking #Philanthropy #SocialImpact #alltogetherbold #ChangePhilanthropyBoldly

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Adler Planetarium seeks a Senior Director of Development to implement its annual development plan, including identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for principal giving, major giving, planned giving, and corporate and foundation relations. With a deep appreciation for social impact and the Adler's mission, the Senior Director will bring a careful, deliberate approach to scaling development efforts while maintaining a strong connection to the Adler’s core values. The Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium on the western hemisphere, is located on Chicago’s lakeshore and has been connecting people to the universe and each other since 1930. Whether it is introducing a guest to a Ring Nebula, a neighborhood school to a community partner, a research team to a network of citizen scientists, or one staff member to another, the Adler’s focus on meaningful connections dates back nearly a century. The Adler connects people, communities, and institutions to one another through the wonder of space science so they can explore the universe and use collective knowledge and skills to create a better world for everyone. With the Adler’s support, people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities gain the confidence to explore their universe together and return to their communities ready to think critically and creatively about any challenge that comes their way. "𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 1930, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘈𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, '𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.' 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭-𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺." — Ryu Mizuno, 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿 To learn more or apply, visit: https://lnkd.in/eH__TvkH #science #leadership #careers #hiring

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🌍 Tackling Climate Talk Over Turkey 🦃 The holidays are here, and so are those "spirited" family dinner debates. If you're wondering how to introduce climate change into the conversation without turning the cranberry sauce into a battleground, I’ve got you covered. From finding common ground to sprinkling in fun facts (and knowing when to pivot to dessert), this guide has tips for turning climate chats into something productive—and maybe even enjoyable! 👉  https://lnkd.in/gNbgAmNq Let’s make this season one of connection, positivity, and a little planet-saving action! 🌟

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For too long, community development finance has fallen prey to market conservatism, prioritizing scale over social mission and uniformity over community-tailored solutions. But a different model is sprouting up that empowers community voice, prioritizes equity, and responds flexibly to local needs. Community development experts David Fukuzawa, Nancy Andrews, and Rebecca Steinitz take readers from Appalachia to Coachella to understand this dawning revolution: “Taking community development impacts to scale requires high-volume capital deployment and the conservative risk thresholds that attract and retain private, public, and philanthropic investors. The result is a virtuous cycle of expanding capital, expanding deployment, and broader reach. Yet it is increasingly clear that to achieve the impacts it seeks, community investment needs to better address the roadblocks of structural and systemic racism, local complexities, and overly restrictive views of philanthropic leverage and investment.” Read the full story in SSIR’s new winter issue: https://lnkd.in/eaYGbpgk

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Participatory grantmaking breaks down the harmful hierarchies, top-down dynamics, and funder-vs-grantee binaries that dominate traditional philanthropy. Mama Cash’s entire grantmaking portfolio is fully participatory because self-led communities know best what works, and self-determination is radical change. Find out how and why grantmaking can and should become participatory: https://bit.ly/3TzPCQ1 participatory #ParticipatoryGrantmaking #FeministActivismWorks

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How can philanthropy actively participate in transformative systems change? EGA member, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) shares key takeaways from its 2023 Evaluation of the Shifting Systems Initiative Report. This evaluation stems from RPA’s “Shifting The System’s Initiative,” launched in 2016. The report highlights the discrepancy between extensive grantmaker discussions on systems change and the execution of transformative practices, including internal reform and addressing power imbalances. 💡 Read more on RPA’s recommendations on how to philanthropy can create systems change with “more walk, and less talk”: https://lnkd.in/d4MugmbB

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