BIG News: Funding Opportunities eNewsletter
Volume 5: Issue 10: December 2002
Welcome to BIG News
We’ve developed a new look and feel for BIG News – BIG Online’s funding opportunities eNewsletter – in the interests of providing easy to read, timely, and valuable information to our readers. Each month, BIG News will profile successful non-profit organizations and reveal fresh funding opportunities. We'll also deliver powerful intelligence on trends within the industry and provide advice on how to get more out of your fundraising efforts. We hope you enjoy this new format.
Success Story
VANCOUVER’S JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINES ALL THE OPTIONS IN EFFORT TO SECURE PERMANENT HOME
The concept of a permanently established Jewish High School never took hold in Western Canada the way it did in other Jewish communities across the country. After 53 years of trying, Vancouver’s Talmud Torah High School (VTTHS) is two-thirds closer to its goal of establishing a permanent home, successfully raising $12 million in an overall capital campaign valued at $18 million.
The VTTHS, which currently resides on leased property, lives with the ever present threat that once their lease expires, the future of the high school may also be in jeopardy. Population growth within the local Jewish community is also a factor, with the school simply outgrowing existing infrastructure and facilities.
“This community has been promised things in the past that haven’t materialized and this time we are going to do it absolutely right,” comments Ari Shiff, one of the driving forces behind the initiative. “We’re not allowing any backsliding.”
Although their early fundraising efforts showed promise, Shiff and his compatriots soon recognized that the VTTHC needed to broaden its horizons. A connection with the BIG Online Fundraising Support Centre led him directly to a local consultancy with considerable experience in Jewish community donations and culture. They helped VTTHS craft a focused strategy, while BIG Online assisted in the effort to identify and source new opportunities.
Besides employing professional consultants and adopting powerful electronic tools, Shiff began to look at US foundations as a source of financing, a tactic he believes is often overlooked by Canadian-based charities.
“I suspect there are many US foundations that can and would give in Canada if the project was presented in such a way that it was of interest to them,” he notes. “Unless it states in their bylaws that they can only give in the United States, they’re free to give anywhere. It’s also worthwhile remembering that U.S. dollars go further in Canada.”
Shiff doesn’t restrict his efforts either, approaching foundations in different cities and with different donation backgrounds. “We’re not just speaking of Jewish foundations. There are many foundations that support education as well.”
Another opportunity, suggests Shiff, stems from geography and Talmud Torah’s promise to become the only permanently established Jewish high school west of Winnipeg.
“Vancouver is at the edge of the country, but there are a lot of institutions in the East that we could develop connections with. We simply have to uncover what those connections are and make a case for why we should be supported.”
In addition to targeting foundations, the VTTHS campaign focuses on major donors, but with a twist. “Traditionally, most campaigns in the Jewish community heavily targeted the big donors only …We wanted one that came from grassroots support and treated the average member of the Jewish community, or the community at large, with respect.”
GENESIS OF A HIGH SCHOOL
In early 2001, Vancouver Talmud Torah merged with the Vancouver Jewish High School, creating a combined facility offering a complete Jewish education from preschool to Grade 12.
Shiff’s strong desire to see this temporary arrangement become permanent evolved from personal experience. His wife went to elementary school in Vancouver, but when she reached high school age was forced to attend an institution in California to continue her Jewish studies. The Shiff’s didn’t want their four children to experience that same type of dislocation.
“We took up the challenge that week and initiated a campaign to prove that there was indeed a strong interest in establishing a permanent Jewish high school in Vancouver.”
Shiff, his wife, and their colleagues began searching for quantifiable support for the initiative by conducting a school wide survey of students and parents. The effort helped determine just how many families wanted their children to receive a high school level Jewish education. Almost 75% of students surveyed – from nursery school through grade 7 – demonstrated overwhelming support and interest in the project.
One of the other ways in which Shiff and his colleagues proved out long-term support was to launch a campaign encouraging every member of the community to make a donation, no matter how small. With an impressive 84% backing of the parent body, this pilot campaign raised approximately $300,000.
According to Shiff the money raised from this particular initiative was secondary to the overriding objective of engaging the local Jewish community and demonstrating to at least one prospective donor that demand for the project was high. “The point of that campaign wasn’t about the money – it was about active participation.”
With another six million dollars to go in their capital fundraising campaign, Shiff expects to continue using BIG Online as one of his main resources. “BIG Online contains a comprehensive North American database of funding sources and we will be looking into every possible source of funding. Current efforts have already produced results, with several foundations making generous donations.”
BIG Lessons: Canadian non-profits and charities would be well advised to look to the United States as a potential source of funding. Think hard about how you can make a case for funding from U.S.-based donors and make a trial effort. You’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain.
Foundation Watch
ARTS STABILIZATION FUND HELPS MANITOBA’S CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS ACT LIKE BUSINESSES
The line outside Harold Buchwald’s office gets longer everyday. But it’s no wonder he’s so popular. Buchwald is the first Executive Director of the newly established Arts Stabilization Manitoba Inc., a $6-million program designed to improve the business practices and financial status of arts and cultural organizations throughout the province.
According to Buchwald, the bulk of not-for-profit cultural organizations remain “marginal businesses”, which have a hard time just balancing their budgets and breaking even. Unfortunately, merely surviving from year to year is not good enough in today’s world.
“Funders were getting tired of bailing these organizations out,” notes Buchwald. Increasingly, private donors began turning to stabilization foundations to ensure local cultural institutions could develop greater business discipline.
Buchwald says his primary job is twofold: to encourage local arts and culture organizations to adopt solid business practices and then advance them the working capital they need to be successful. The actual funds dispersed by Arts Stabilization Manitoba are “incidental” to the overall goal of whipping cultural institutions into shape and ensuring recipients can operate within a balanced budget.
“We’re a business program first and a funding program second,” he suggests.
Any arts or cultural organization in Manitoba is eligible to apply for the program. There is, however, one catch. Prospective applicants must first prove that their accumulated deficit is no more than 25% of their overall operating budget. They must also demonstrate a surplus of funds in the previous calendar year. “Pretty much anyone can apply as long as they can make the business case.”
Any cultural organization accepted into Buchwald’s program must first undergo a thorough assessment and evaluation of their operations by a firm of business consultants appointed and paid for by Arts Stabilization Manitoba. Once an audit has been completed, the consultants will recommend basic business improvements and implementation of some proven business practices.
Participants must then develop a long term business plan and present this to the Arts Stabilization fund for review. The business plan will contain details about how the prospective organization plans to operate more effectively and efficiently in the future. Successful applicants will then be issued with a working capital grant of as much as $500,000 spread over four years.
“At this point we haven’t made any donations,” added Buchwald. “Our clients are still undergoing an analysis by business consultants.”
The Manitoba Arts Stabilization fund is supported by major contributions from three levels of government: $1-million from the Feds, a matching contribution from the province, and $500,000 from the City of Winnipeg. Private foundations and corporate donors – like the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and local player the Investors Group – also play a major role.
The Manitoba Museum and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet are among the first arts and cultural organization to qualify for the Manitoba Arts Stabilization program. But many others are clawing and scratching at Buchwald’s door in the hopes of getting in.
“We’ve got a bit of a lineup. But they have to qualify first.”
ARTS STABILIZATION PROGRAMS ON THE GROW
Launched in January of this year, Arts Stabilization Manitoba is the newest member in a growing list of provincial institutions dedicated to promoting cultural “stability and sustainability”, notes Buchwald.
Arts Stabilization Manitoba is simply building on the proven records of other well-established foundations in Alberta, Vancouver, Nova Scotia, and Hamilton’s Bay Area. These arts stabilization groups reach back as far as 1995, with new funds – like one in Saskatchewan – coming on the scene steadily.
The evolution of these cultural support organizations stems from the dynamics and nature of the cultural and arts sector. To paraphrase Buchwald, they’re too much the artist to function precisely like a regular business. But they’re also businesses, whose product just happens to be cultural or artistic in nature.
The goal of these groups is – essentially – to ensure the long-term viability of leading arts organizations by helping them help themselves. The ability of arts and cultural institutions to reach new audiences, improve their governance and management structures, and diversify funding sources are imperative to survival. Through the arts stabilization foundations, these important groups are provided with the time and resources necessary to embark on a rigorous exercise of revitalization.
Like Buchwald’s Manitoba Arts Stabilization Fund and their more established compatriots in Alberta and Vancouver, the activities of Canada’s cultural stabilization foundations, “start from the premise that arts organizations are enterprises”.
BIG Lesson: Arts stabilization groups can help your cultural organization to function more efficiently and effectively. Arts stabilization groups are proliferating across Canada. One may even be open for business near you.
Canada’s arts stabilization funds: Vancouver Arts Stabilization Team, Alberta Performing Arts Stabilization Fund, Bay Area Arts and Heritage Stabilization Program, Foundation for Heritage and the Arts (Halifax); Arts Stabilization Manitoba Inc.
User Spotlight
WHO NEEDS BIG ONLINE? THIS MONTH’S USER SPOTLIGHT: FIRST NATIONS
A lot of First Nations non-profit and charitable organizations are stuck in a Catch 22. While the pool of funding from traditional donors in government is frozen – or even shrinking – demand for their services continues to rise.
Whether you’re a First Nations charity looking for funding for programs dealing with at risk youth, adult re-training, economic development, capital funding, arts and culture, education, or healthcare, there’s over $2-billion currently available from Canada’s private foundations.
Private sector funding is a huge – but still largely unrealized – source of support for the majority of First Nations charities and non-profits. Take the Royal Bank’s Financial Group Foundation as just one example. Established in 1993, the Financial Group Foundation has over $33 million in assets and gives to a wide variety of organizations (including many in the First Nations community) dedicated to the arts, education, health care, and social services. In 2002, the foundation will disburse up to $2-million for after school programs alone.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE CLINIC TURNS TO PRIVATE SECTOR
Poundmaker’s Lodge of Edmonton is one First Nation’s group that clearly recognizes the value of private sector funding and is working hard to cultivate relationships in the sector.
“We are an aboriginal organization and indigenous treatment centre and there is a growing need for addictions treatment across the country and in our community,” says Andrew Hanon, Research and Communications Officer. “But government funding is limited and we have to find that funding.”
Poundmaker’s currently treats over 600 aboriginal adults and 100 adolescents a year. But every time they want to increase their capacity or initiate a new program, they have to find a way to pay for it. “And we have to be creative to find that funding.”
To get at that mountain of private financing, Poundmaker’s uses BIG Online in two significant ways: to generate new leads and conduct detailed background research on prospective donors. Hanon believes that BIG Online’s ability to find new funding opportunities is its strongest feature. “I just can’t stress that enough.”
Poundmaker’s has also started employing BIG Online’s grantwriting templates, resources, and tools. “The whole idea of grant writing is a brand new thing for us and BIG Online makes it a lot easier. You don’t have to be an experienced grantwriter to benefit.”
There are currently over 500 First Nations users employing BIG Online to source and secure funding, increase program capacity, promote economic development, health care projects, training programs, youth programs, and to build capital funds.
Poundmaker’s Lodge has been given a three month trial subscription of FoundationSearch for their participation in this article.
For more information about Poundmaker’s, visit www.poundmaker.org
BIG Lesson: The pool of funding from private and corporate foundations is virtually limitless and most are obligated to give away budgeted funds before the end of each fiscal year. If you don’t make an application for their funds, someone else will. By closely examining which causes a specific private foundation or corporation donates to, you may uncover a valuable new stream of funding.
Market View
CANADIAN HOUSEHOLDS CONTINUE TO GIVE GENEROUSLY
The numbers are in. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian households gave over $5.5 billion to charity in 2001, with an average donation of approximately $250 per household. While this figure represents growth of just 1% over the previous year, it’s clear that even in relatively tough economic times, Canadians remain committed to the non-profit sector.