Stanford Social Innovation on Capacity-building

http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/the_limited_returns_on_fundraising_support_for_nonprofits/

Looking forward to next phase

Hello all,

I'm off on vacation soon, but wanted to share a few thoughts before I leave. As you may or may not know, I've been proofing for content, guiding changes and diligently wading knee deep into each and every one of your smARTscope reports over the last few months. While a few of you are awaiting your final presentations, all but two of the reports are now completed.

As you begin work on your SMART Growth plans and your first year grant proposals, remember to rely on the excellent work of your smARTscope consultants and the findings of your smARTscope self-assessments.

I look forward to working with all of you in August/September.

Best,
Andrew Micheli
Director of Programs
A&BC

A question has been asked regarding amount requested..

Regarding how much should be requested within the grant proposal, the grant request should be between $20,000 and $50,000. The request should be based on budget size, program/project requirements, history etc. Ultimately, the Trust will determine the final grant amount based on the total distribution of funds allocated to the program.

Hints for Good Grantwriting

I wouldn't blame anyone for spending more time by the lake than the
computer, but in case you're working on your grant proposal, here's a couple of
tips to keep in mind:

• Please try to minimize or avoid the use of acronyms. There are no
  character limits to inhibit you, so err on the side of clarity. For Trust
  staff and Board members that will be reading about 31 organizations, an alphabet
  soup of organizations and programs will merely dilute your identity and make you
  less memorable.
  


• Omit superlatives (see my earlier post); state facts, figures, and awards
  with specificity, rather than "...thousands
  of...numerous...high-quality...".
  


• Remember to update your Board list and your demographic info.
  


• Complete your IL Cultural Data Project in plenty of time so that it can be
  reviewed by the Help Desk at CDP. Please try to give accurate information
  regarding participation figures because it will be used as a baseline and
  if you're guessing wildly or overestimating (we marched in a parade..." it will
  be very hard to measure incremental growth.
  


• If your fiscal year ends June 30, we understand that you
  may not have your audit completed by Sept. 15; however, we will need to have it
  by Dec. 15, 2011, so that it can be reviewed before the final vote by our
  Board in January.

Making changes to a blog follower's account

Good afternoon,

A couple blogger technical questions...

Is it possible for more than one person from an organization to access the SMART Growth blog? Ideally, both our Executive Director and Development Manager would like to directly follow. When I emailed the most recent blog to our Executive Director, the email he received included a link that took him to a message that denied access to the blog entry I was trying to forward.

Unfortunately, I also initially accessed this blog from my personal account (a gmail account). If it's not possible to have more than one person from each organization follow the blog, can we go back to square one and reset to a work email?

Thanks,

Denise McCracken

Development Manager

People's Music School

Now that your smARTscope process is complete, what next?

Now it’s time to start on your 3-Year SMART Growth Plan and your first year SMART Growth proposal to the Chicago Community Trust.

You’ll remember from your smARTscope final presentation and the accompanying report that there’s a page near the end titled: “Developing Your 3-Year SMART Growth Plan.”

Once you’ve completed your 3-year SMART Growth Plan, you’re ready to start on your year one proposal. Download the proposal and take a look at the format and what it’s asking. You’ll notice that it may seem slightly different then other CCT proposals you’ve completed. You’ll be working closely with your smARTscope report to think about and propose the outcomes and measures you’re planning on working on during the Smart Growth program.

Remember that your smARTscope report will NOT be shared with the Chicago Community Trust. With that in mind, once you have a draft of your proposal, you’ll be working with Andrew Micheli, Director of Programs at A&BC, to review your proposal and your 3-year SMART Growth Plan before you submit them to CCT.

The deadline for submission to CCT is September 15, 2011.

In order to review your drafts in time for the CCT’s deadline, you will need to submit your drafts to A&BC by August 15, 2011.

It will be a good idea to get started on your 3-Year SMART Growth Plan and first year report as soon as you have your final smARTscope report in hand. This will give you ample time to work with A&BC to finalize your work before submitting to CCT.

If you have any questions regarding the process, post them to the blog and the person most able to help will respond. Both A&BC and the Trust will be actively monitoring the blog.

Once you have a draft of your 3-Year SMART Growth Plan and first year report, email them to Alex at A&BC. From there, Andrew will schedule a time to work with you to review your plan and proposal.

Click here to download the proposal

Update from The Chicago Community Trust

Hello, smARTies! We are meeting with the Arts & Business Council this week to review progress on the smARTscope assessment because it looks like many of you are finished and eager to move on to the next step. This blog will remain your source of information for the SMART Growth Plan and the proposal process, rather than the Trust website, because the SMART Growth program is available only to you and it is disappointing for other organizations to see the proposal info on our website and then be told that they aren't eligible.

The SMART Growth proposal template will be posted on June 23rd and must be submitted to the Trust by Sept. 15, 2011.

We will also be posting resources from time to time. Today, I want to remind you that the Trust offers a Fellowship award to individuals who are either an emerging or experienced leader in any nonprofit. This is a personal award, so you may apply in addition to receiving a SMART Growth grant. The deadline is almost upon us, so visit our website to learn more.
Suzanne