December 17, 1998 | Read Time: 7 minutes
Arts Funding: An Update on Foundation Trends, Third Edition
By Loren Renz and Steven Lawrence
Foundations’ grant making to the arts increased by 24 per cent from 1992 to 1996, from $1.4-billion to $1.7-billion, according to this report from the Foundation Center and Grantmakers in the Arts.
However, when compared with all foundation giving, arts groups experienced a slight decrease, from 13.3 per cent of total giving in 1992 to 12.2 per cent in 1996.
The report analyzes giving trends based on a sample of 11,300 grants to arts organizations made by 849 large community, corporate, and private foundations in 1996. Bar charts, tables, and lists delineate support for the arts under such categories as grant size, geographic region, and type of group (i.e., communications, museums, performing arts, and visual arts).
Among the trends noted: Ten of the top 25 top arts supporters are new to that group since 1992, thanks to the rising endowments of foundations that consider arts a high priority; those same top 25 funds provide almost two-fifths of total foundation support for the arts; and corporate foundations have not kept pace with private and community funds in their share of support for arts-related activities.
The largest supporter of arts groups in 1996 was the Pew Charitable Trusts, in Philadelphia, which gave $28.5-million. The Houston Endowment ranked a close second at $23.7-million, bolstered by a $12-million grant awarded in 1996 to the University of Texas at Austin to construct an art museum.
For more information on this report, see a story in this issue.
Publisher: Foundation Center, Department NW24, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076; (212) 807-3690 or (800) 424-9836; fax (212) 807-3677; World-Wide Web http://fdncenter.org; 69 pages; $19.95 plus $4.50 postage and handling; I.S.B.N. 0-87954-813-4.
100 Best Nonprofits to Work For
By Leslie Hamilton and Robert Tragert
The authors of this book go against the collective grain somewhat by touting a job at a non-profit organization as a secure, financially rewarding alternative to a career in business.
“For many workers, the non-profit sector has turned out to be the answer to any number of vexing career questions having to do with long-term career stability, competitive levels of compensation, and a sense of meaning and personal fulfillment on the job,” write Ms. Hamilton and Mr. Tragert, who work as researchers and writers in Boston.
They profile 100 organizations, from the AIDS Project-Los Angeles to Zoo Atlanta, that meet three out of four standards: the groups employ more than 100 staff members, oversee an annual operating budget of more than $1-million, have existed a minimum of three years, and make their employees feel like they contribute to the organization’s mission.
The authors interviewed non-profit professionals and analyzed tax returns and other documents to arrive at their top picks.
Each entry includes an overview of the work done by the organization, the size of its staff and budget, a summary of its mission, and “words to the wise” for job seekers. For example, potential applicants to the International Rescue Committee, in New York, should possess multilingual skills and strong backgrounds in administration and public health, write the authors.
Publisher: Arco, an imprint of Macmillan General Reference, 201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis 46290; (317) 581-3500 or (800) 428-5331; fax (800) 822-8583; World-Wide Web http://www.arcotestprep.com; 282 pages; $16.95; I.S.B.N. 0-02-861840-8.
Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations: Seven Steps to Creating a Successful Plan
By Janel M. Radtke
This book stresses the importance of informing people of a non-profit group’s activities.
“Communications efforts cannot occur after the fact,” writes Ms. Radtke, the president of Radiant Communications, in Nyack, N.Y. “They must be woven into the fabric of the programs to which the organization and the foundation are committed.”
The seven steps of the title refer to clarifying the organization’s mission, identifying an audience, developing effective messages, choosing strategies, building a plan, implementing that plan, and evaluating the plan’s effects.
Ms. Radtke provides various worksheets to assist managers of non-profit groups and communications specialists in negotiating those seven steps. She provides case studies of fictional groups to illustrate her process: For example, she shows how the lobbying group “Planet 3000″ successfully informed small-business owners of the benefits of a clean-air bill so that they may sway their Congressional representatives to endorse it.
The book includes an IBM-PC compatible floppy disk that contains the worksheets, as well as exercises intended to help build a better communications program. System requirements are Windows 3.1 or higher, and Microsoft Word for Windows Version 6.0 or later.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York 10158-0012; (800) 879-4539; fax (212) 850-6135; World-Wide Web http://www.wiley.com; 234 pages; $49.95; I.S.B.N. 0-471-17464-5.
200 Terrific Web Sites for Nonprofit Organizations
Edited by Brownie S. Hamilton
The compilers of this guide explored the Internet to flag 200 Web sites that they consider to be useful for grant seekers.
Employees at the Grantsmanship Service list corporations, government agencies and units, and private foundations that have a presence on the World-Wide Web. Each entry reproduces the site’s “welcome” page, gives its Web address, and contains a brief paragraph that explains the organization’s mission and what kinds of grant-related information the site provides to its visitors — such as giving priorities and limitations, application guidelines, and lists of recent grant recipients.
Other sections showcase the sites of publications geared to non-profit groups and fund raisers; sites to help to identify potential sources of grants; and the sites of organizations devoted to philanthropy, such as the Foundation Center and GuideStar.
The book also includes sites deemed to be of related interest to grant seekers, such as one designed to sharpen writing skills. Sites that provide services that highlight grant opportunities for their patrons also warrant attention from the compilers: the FEDIX Opportunity Alert, for example, sends subscribers e-mail updates on announcements of grants available for science and technology programs.
The guide also includes information tailored to those people who are getting their first glimpse of cyberspace. Sections provide Internet-search tips, e-mail addresses where one may join “listservs” related to fund raising and non-profit management, and summaries of 10 “search engines” that comb the Internet for information. Publisher: The Grantsmanship Service, 2318 Page Court, Virginia Beach 23451-1150; (757) 496-9143 or (800) 532-7934; fax (757) 496-6591; e-mail brownie@norfolk.infi.net; World-Wide Web http://www.grantsmanship.com; 57 pages; $35; I.S.B.N. 0-9655864-4-8.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
The Intelligent Donor’s Guide to College Giving, by Jerry L. Martin and Anne D. Neal, is designed to help prospective donors to higher education maintain control over how their gifts are spent. “Do not let the college convince you that it is their money, that you have to let them decide what to do with it,” advise Mr. Martin and Ms. Neal, president and vice-president, respectively, of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. They offer 15 steps aimed at helping donors insure that their gifts are spent wisely. Among the authors’ guidelines for giving: Dig deeply to discover the institution’s top-notch departments, and give to those; discuss the gift with a friend who is a faculty member at the institution (or make one fast); steer clear of unrestricted bequests, as they can potentially support mediocre programs (with donors’ names attached to them for eternity); and, if planning to give to one’s alma mater, don’t be swayed by nostalgia if the institution doesn’t measure up to its glory days. Publisher: American Council of Trustees and Alumni, 1625 K Street, N.W., Suite 310, Washington 20006-1604; World-Wide Web http://www.naf.org; (202) 467-6787 or (888) 258-6648; fax (202) 467-6784; 75 pages; free.
1999-2000 Colorado Grants Guide, edited by Del Bomberger, Jr., lists more than 250 grant makers in Colorado and elsewhere that award funds to organizations in the state. The guide profiles foundations, corporations, state-government agencies, and religious institutions that gave more than $400-million last year to causes in Colorado. A typical profile contains contact information, deadlines, areas of interest, grant-making restrictions, application information, recent grants, financial information, and the number of grants the organization made in Colorado. The guide also includes sample grant proposals and a bibliography of resources for fund raisers. Publisher: Community Resource Center, 1245 East Colfax Avenue, Suite 205, Denver 80218-2218; (303) 860-7711; fax (303) 860-7723; World-Wide Web http://www.crcamerica.org; 500 pages; $115; also available on CD-ROM for $115; book and CD-ROM available for $150.
