May 1, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Community Visions, Community Solutions: Grantmaking for Comprehensive Impact
by Joseph A. Connor and Stephanie Kadel-Taras
Grant makers are especially well positioned to get nonprofit organizations to work together on common problems in their communities, write Joseph A. Connor and Stephanie Kadel-Taras, chief executive officer and director of research, respectively, at the Collaboratory for Community Support, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Because charities are eager to please their donors, the authors explain, foundations are often able to entice them to become involved in broad, collaborative efforts.
Foundations can help cities tackle large problems, the authors say, by getting them to look at the big picture and to draw on the expertise of groups that work on different aspects of those problems. For example, communities often rely entirely on shelters as a response to homelessness. Instead, the authors say, foundations might encourage charities that provide low-cost housing, vocational training, and substance-abuse counseling to integrate their programs with those of the shelters, reducing the number of people who need temporary housing.
Foundations can promote this more holistic approach, Mr. Connor and Ms. Kadel-Taras suggest, by either leading a collaboration of several groups, or by making grants to third-party organizations to do so. “Community-support organizations,” as the authors call such third-party groups, organize meetings of local charities and communicate regularly with them. They might also compile a database of information from local nonprofit groups to check for duplicated services, track progress, and watch for emerging problems. The book offers examples of grant makers that have used such organizations or have themselves provided the services to help such collaborations work.
Publisher: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 919 Lafond Avenue, St. Paul, Minn. 55104-2108; (651) 659-6024 or (800) 274-6024; fax (651) 642-2061; books@wilder.org; http://www.wilder.org; 136 pages; $35; I.S.B.N. 0-940069-30-X.
