Rhode Island Foundation revamps its grantmaking as a key part of "Attaining Vibrant Communities"

	for more information… One Union Station Providence, RI 02903 401.274.4564 www.rifoundation.org
	The Foundation’s beautiful publication Attaining Vibrant Communities: A Partnership with Rhode Island is available in PDF form at www.rifoundation.org.

Late this year the reviews on The Rhode Island Foundation’s new grantmaking program will begin rolling in — probably minutes after the grants are announced — and the board, staff, and nonprofits will all be paying close attention.

A second revision
Ten years ago, The Rhode Island Foundation was typical of most community foundations in that its grantmaking was largely reactive.

When then-new President Ron Gallo took the reins, he brought from his previous job a private foundation’s perspective: target funding to fewer strategies, but go deeper. Thus, the Foundation established foci on children and families, economic development, education, and later the arts.

The results have been impressive. The Foundation seeded the local (and award-winning) Kids Count effort, pioneered a dental program for immigrant children in the public schools, co-funded an historic commitment to building and upgrading child care centers, bolstered youth advocacy, and secured a guarantee of health insurance for every child in Rhode Island.

Adopting a mission for the Foundation
Foundation friends nonetheless began telling program officers that innovative programs seldom fit neatly into funding categories. Advocacy for youth might well mean working on affordable housing, for example.

Thus was born “Attaining Vibrant Communities,” a goal for the Foundation as a whole that says, “Vibrant communities are diverse places where individuals are supported and encouraged to realize their personal and collective potential… opportunities and services are available and distributed equitably… they are the home for collaboration and innovation, participation, and a deep sense of belonging.”

“Attaining Vibrant Communities gives us clarity — always a good thing — and crystallizes exactly what the Foundation’s true purpose is,” says Gallo, now well into his tenth year.

Requires a new approach in grantmaking
An essential task of adopting “Attaining Vibrant Communities” was changing the Foundation’s grantmaking to reflect a more integrated agenda.

On the one hand, much remains the same. A dozen initiatives — from fellowships and support to soup kitchens — are still in place throughout the year. But the major grants, for which the Foundation is best known, renamed Strategy Grants, went through big changes.

“We had four square holes…and dozens of projects turned out to be round pegs,” Gallo admits. “Cross-disciplinary projects, especially, had a hard time fitting in. Yet, we found that these were often the projects that proved most effective.”

In place of the four issue areas, the Foundation adopted three strategies:

• Policy, Advocacy and Systems Reform — funds projects that involve research and analysis on pressing issues; advocacy and organizing give voice to underrepresented groups and views.
  
  
• Organizational and Leadership Development — increases nonprofit capacity, with special emphasis on the identification and training of leaders from minority, new immigrant, and youth communities.
  
  
• Innovative Models and Proven Programs — supports best practices and projects that push boundaries.

The Foundation now accepts applications for Strategy Grants just once a year, allowing it to compare all the year’s applications and choose the best ideas regardless of their focus. It also frees Foundation staff to spend less time processing applications and more time consulting with agencies.

Waiting for results
To ease the transition, The Rhode Island Foundation made available lots of “minigrants” and technical assistance to grantee organizations.

That need to proceed somewhat conservatively and the reality that change takes time tempered the expectations of everyone involved — especially board and staff — but all were heartened when more than 300 Strategy Grant letters of intent arrived in the office by the April 1 deadline, close to the usual annual figure. Half of those were of sufficient quality to warrant full applications and consideration, and many of the best ideas were old friends from the four focus areas, suggesting that earlier work had been useful.

So while it may not be reasonable to expect the world to change in December after the board’s grants meeting, the Rhode Island Foundation is hopeful that it is taking the first step to Attaining Vibrant Communities.