Last year, the Greater Toledo Community Foundation — a pillar of philanthropy in northwest Ohio for nearly 50 years — launched an equity and access initiative designed to fulfill more requests from grassroots and minority-led nonprofits.
Foundation board member Pariss Coleman II said that one of the greatest obstacles to obtaining grant funding is undergoing the series of formalities necessary to apply.
Mr. Coleman identified incorporation, 501c3 status, and establishing a board of directors as prerequisites for grant funding in the philanthropic world.
Now, the foundation is launching the second round of its equity and access application process.
Foundation leaders plan to troubleshoot and reflect on the initiative’s first year as they invite local nonprofits to apply for grant funding and the educational programming that comes with E&A — that is, learning to obtain grant money in a field saturated with more experienced, much larger entities.
“[Large nonprofits such as] hospitals [have] hundreds or thousands of employees and a very sophisticated understanding of the funding process, they know the soft skills,” Mr. Coleman said. “[A smaller nonprofit can be] on its face ineligible despite doing extraordinary work. We’d like to reach out to those smaller entities in minority communities, do the marketing, provide education and resources to position themselves to become eligible for funding.”
The foundation’s hope is that these smaller nonprofits not only become eligible for funding, but also understand what helps advance their grant applications, Mr. Coleman said.
In the initiative’s first year, the foundation received 30 requests for funding amounting to $1.9 million.
Mr. Coleman said he hopes to grow the number of applications by three or four times.
Artisha Lawson’s job as a program officer at the foundation is facilitating just that.
“We learned that there is a need for this particular fund and that we needed to get the word out there,” Ms. Lawson said. “Can we be more specific and intentional about what we are attempting to do with this investment? [We learned that] we need to listen to community priorities … that's how we shape a lot of our work, receiving applications and discussing what common trends appear.”
Ms. Lawson said she would like to see more applications from small organizations, such as those with an all-volunteer work force or a meager budget.
Jumpstart is a national nonprofit that was among the first to receive funding from the first run of the equity and access initiative last year.
Haley Burk, Jumpstart in Ohio senior manager for advancement, said that group received $50,000 in funding last year to launch a collaborative which encourages growth among small businesses.
Members of the collaborative will be able to recommend clients for small amounts of grant capital, she said.
“We are aligning it very well with the foundation’s intentions,” Ms. Burk said. “One of the focuses of the E&A initiative is economic development … This was a way to really take the foundation's desire to support small businesses, combine that with our relationships, leverage all of that to make sure that small businesses get the support that they need during this time.”
The foundation will host an information session for the public at 5 p.m. on July 7. Go to bit.ly/3wlkqax to register.
The Greater Toledo Community Foundation has allocated $202,150 for this year’s equity and access initiative.
First Published June 13, 2021, 6:46 p.m.
