Monday, April 11, 2005: Volume #2, Issue #69
The VERB Weekly Email Digest
Edited by Sophy Pich, VERB Project Associate

Note: Documents on this page or in this section may be in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. In order to read them, you require Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is downloadable free from Adobe.

In This Week's Issue

1. Announcements
• LEAP
• Washington Grantmakers
• Foundation Center
2. Promising Practices
• On-line Tools for Your Event
3. News
• Asian American Federation's Profile Shows
• the Asia Foundation Conducting US Study Tour
• New Comic Book Chronicles San Francisco Bay
• Vietnamese Remember Their "Saint"
• Grant Will Help Library Add to Collection
• Cops Seize Thousands of Dollars in Counterfeit
• Blue Cross Foundation Targets Health and Social
• Tighter US Rules for Travel to Canada
• US, Vietnam Draw Closer by Richard Halloran
• Food, Culture Highlight Asian Awareness Week
• US to Admit Up to 13,000 Refugees from East Asia in 2005
• Benefit Puts Needs of Cambodian Children First
• New Health Information Resource from Tufts for Asian-Language
• Banks Target Asian-Americans
• Newsletter in Many Languages
• Vietnamese Appeal US Court's Ruling on Agent Orange Case
• Dining Out: Lao Laan-Xang Welcome Atwood Addition
• Photo Exhibit Depicts Hmong Life
• Vietnamese Flag Resolution Gets Lost in Other Issues
4. Funding Opportunities
• The Flintridge Foundation (CA)
• Cisco Systems, Inc. (San Jose, CA)
• The American Legacy Foundation
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• The U.S. Department of Labor
• Bank of America
• Target
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Youth Venture
• NEA Summer Schools in the Arts Program
• Staples Foundation for Learning
• Lands' End Corporate Giving Program
• The Institute for Youth Development (IYD)
5. Resources
• The North Carolina Arts Council
• Grants.gov

I. Announcements

EXPAND AND EXPLORE YOUR LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL

Enroll in one of the 2005 LEAP Leadership Development Programs

April 18-22, 2005 - Los Angeles
May 16-20, 2005 - New York
June 13-17, 2005 - Los Angeles
August 1-5, 2005 - Los Angeles

LEAP is a national organization founded in 1982 with a mission to achieve full participation and equality for Asian Pacific Americans through leadership, empowerment, and policy. With original programs in leadership training, public policy research, and community education, LEAP raises the impact and visibility of Asian Pacific Americans in all sectors.

***

Washington Grantmakers is pleased to announce the publication of a new directory of Washington Region Foundations, which is produced in partnership with the Center for Nonprofit Advancement and Jankowski Associates. This new directory, The Washington Region's Leading 500 Foundations, features in-depth profiles on the DC region's 500 largest foundations, including sample grants, Boards of Directors, contact information and indexes by types of support and areas of interest that will help nonprofits identify potential sources of funding.

The leading 500 foundations included in this new directory represent over 85% of all the foundation assets in the Washington, DC region. These foundations have made more than 15,000 grants totaling over $500 million. Over 90% of the information in the directory is 2003 or fiscal 2004.

Washington Grantmakers is also offering a free Foundation Research Seminar in conjunction with the release of the new directory on April 18, 2005 from 3-4:30 pm at the Charles Sumner School in Washington, DC.

The program will focus on how to strengthen your connections with private, national, corporate and community foundations headquartered in our region. It is designed for organizations seeking to diversify their funding streams and identify potential foundation funders. Learn essential strategies and how to use The Washington Region's Leading 500 Foundations to set priorities and implement a more effective foundation fundraising program.

Learn how to:

• Broaden your search for funders
• Build a list of potential foundation funding sources
• Identify funders' goals or needs
• Assess whether a potential funder is a good fit
• Approach your search from different perspectives
• Use research to connect to other organizations with similar missions
• Set realistic foundation fundraising goals
• Develop a more compelling proposal or letter of inquiry

Take advantage of the special EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT before May 31 and receive a discounted price of $157.50 for members of Washington Grantmakers or the Center for Nonprofit Advancement and $197.10 for non-members, plus shipping and handling.

Contact Bernie Jankowski @301-696-0797 or bjankowski@grantsdirect.com for details or go to www.washingtongrantmakers.org or www.nonprofitadvancement.org to download the order form. Act soon. After May 31, the regular cover price of this book will be $219.00.

***

Foundation Center's Courses

This one-day course, designed for beginners, shows how your organization can identify potential funders and prepare to seek grants. Using a case study and group exercises, we'll help you assess your organization's fundraising readiness.

Your board can be one of your most powerful fundraising assets. Learn how to quickly assess their fundraising potential and find strategies to motivate them. Our instructors outline policies and structures to ensure the board's commitment. Developed in partnership with BoardSource, this course shows you how to work most effectively with your board to raise money.

When you research a funding prospect, how do you determine whether it's a good match for your funding needs? This one-day course shows you what to look for and how to dig deeper to find the match. Through group exercises using a case study, you'll learn how to use the funder's perspective to examine your organization - and strengthen your pitch for financial support.

Based on author Michael Seltzer's Securing Your Organization's Future, this full-day course will show you how to strengthen your nonprofit's capacity to successfully raise funds and secure long-term financial stability. With a series of exercises and worksheets, you'll learn to effectively assess your situation and develop a comprehensive fundraising plan that includes a healthy mix of sources - from individuals to institutions. An ideal course for beginners as well as experienced fundraisers.

In this hands-on, interactive training course, experts help you quickly learn how to develop an organized, targeted approach to conducting funding research on the Web. By the close of the one-day course, you'll have a new appreciation for the value of Web-based research - complete with insider tips!

[-back to list-]

II. Promising Practices

What to Keep in Mind When Considering On-line Tools for Your Event From GuideStar

Organizations holding fund-raising events such as walks, auctions, and golf tournaments are using on-line tools to lower costs and minimize time spent tracking the details of attendance.

Are e-mail invitations and on-line registration right for your event? What is involved? Here are some things to consider:

E-mail Invitations

E-mail management programs are easy to use and are more flexible for bulk e-mail distribution than a standard Outlook or AOL program for mass e-mail communication.

The cost of an e-mail save-the-date and invitation to your donors is small compared to the cost of production, printing, and postage for a direct-mail invite. Mailed invitations also lack the response-tracking capability of e-mail campaigns, in which you can learn immediately how many e-mails bounced, how many people opened the message, and which links they visited. With this knowledge, it is easy to set benchmarks for improvement and target specific invitees for follow-up. As a best practice, consider cutting postage costs by sending an e-mail invite to all of your donors first and then following up with a printed invite to those who have not already submitted an RSVP.

[-back to list-]

III. News

Asian American Federation's Profile Shows Vietnamese Are Worse Off Than Asians Collectively, Who Lag Behind General Population on Many Counts
Asian American Federation
March 31, 2005

***

The Asia Foundation Conducting US Study Tour for Southeast Asian ...
U.S. Newswire
April 4, 2004

***

New Comic Book Chronicles San Francisco Bay Area History Through ...
AScribe
April 4, 2005

***

Vietnamese remember their "saint"
Chicago Tribune
April 4, 2005

***

Grant will help library add to collection
Green Bay News Chronicle
April 5, 2005

***

Cops Seize Thousands Of Dollars In Counterfeit Goods
Boston Channel.com
April 5, 2005

***

Blue Cross Foundation Targets Health and Social Connectedness of ...
PR Newswire
April 6, 2005

***

Tighter US rules for travel to Canada
Seattle Post Intelligencer
April 6, 2005

***

US, Vietnam draw closer By RICHARD HALLORAN
The Japan Times
April 6, 2005

***

Food, culture highlight Asian Awareness Week
Holland Sentinel
April 6, 2005

***

US To Admit Up To 13,000 Refugees from East Asia in 2005
All American Patriots
April 7, 2005

***

Benefit puts needs of Cambodian children first
The Register-Guard
April 7, 2005

***

New health information resource from Tufts for Asian-language ...
I-Newswire.com
April 7, 2005

***

Banks target Asian-Americans
WFAA
April 7, 2005

***

Newsletter in many languages
Seattle Times
April 8, 2005

***

Vietnamese appeal US court's ruling on Agent Orange case
Newsday
April 9, 2005

***

Dining out: Lao Laan-Xang welcome Atwood addition
The Capital Times
April 9, 2005

***

Photo exhibit depicts Hmong life
Marshfield News Herald
April 10, 2005

***

Vietnamese flag resolution gets lost in other issues
Kansas City Star
April 10, 2005

[-back to list-]

IV. Grants

1. (California)
   The Flintridge Foundation

   The Flintridge Foundation established the Awards for Visual Artists to support California, Oregon, and Washington artists of the highest merit.

   The program is designed to encourage mature visual artists to continue to pursue artmaking; to provide a meaningful financial award to individual artists; to draw public recognition to artists who have been producing work of high artistic merit for two or more decades but who have not received a level of recognition that corresponds to their merit; and to honor and promote the diversity of the visual arts in California, Oregon, and Washington.

   Through the program, the foundation distributes biennial grants of $25,000 to five artists from California and five artists from Oregon/Washington.

   Applicants must be working in a visual arts discipline. Fine arts, crafts media, performance, and media work based in the visual arts traditions are eligible; dance, theater, independent film, and video are not eligible. In addition, applicants must live in California, Oregon, or Washington at least nine months of the year, for at least the last three years.

   Deadline: June 30, 2005

2. (San Jose, California)
   Cisco Systems, Inc.

   A giving program of Cisco Systems, Inc., the Cisco San Jose Impact Grants Program awards grants to community-based nonprofits operating within fifty miles of Cisco's San Jose, California, headquarters.

   Impact Grants are awarded at the San Jose level twice annually, once in the spring (Deadline: April 30, 2005) and again in the fall (Deadline: November 30, 2005).

   The program gives priority to programs promoting access to education, including K-12 enrichment programs and vocational education for adults. Public schools, private schools, charter schools, and school districts are not eligible to apply.

   The initiative also will consider programs that demonstrate long-term change to self-sufficiency in the areas of basic human needs and community service.

   The San Jose Impact Grant Program awards cash grants of up to $15,000.

   Applicant organizations must be recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and be classified by the IRS as a public charity.

   Deadline: April 30, 2005; and November 30, 2005

3. (National)
   The American Legacy Foundation

   The American Legacy Foundation ("Legacy"), a nonprofit organization created as a result of the settlement of the multi-state lawsuit against tobacco companies, works to reduce youth tobacco use, reduce exposure to second-hand smoke, increase successful smoking cessation rates, and reduce disparities in access to prevention and cessation services and in exposure to secondhand smoke on behalf of disadvantaged populations.

   Legacy has announced that, beginning April 4, 2005, it will institute new application procedures for its Small Innovative Grants Program (SIG). Under the new process, the foundation will no longer accept applications on a rolling basis. Instead, there will be two application cycles per year with deadlines. All applicants will be required to submit a Letter of Intent by July 1, 2005, for the first cycle. Upon approval of the letter of intent, Legacy will invite the selected applicants to submit a full proposal in early fall 2005. The next application cycle will occur in winter 2006, and future cycles will occur every six months thereafter.

   Legacy will post the new Letter of Intent guidelines on its Web site by May 15, 2005, and will provide full proposal guidelines to organizations that the foundation invites to apply based on LOIs it receives. The guidelines for the full proposal are expected to closely resemble the current SIG guidelines but may include some changes.

   Deadline: July 1, 2005 (Letters of Intent)

4. (National)
   The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

   The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will award as many as 39 grants under its $2.9-million Drug Free Communities Support Mentoring Program.

   The grants will finance community-based anti-drug coalitions, with a focus on adult mentoring programs for children and youth. Potential applicants must meet the same eligibility requirements for the Drug-Free Communities Support Program's coalition grants, which include, but are not limited to, being at least five years old and having demonstrated prior effectiveness in delivering alcohol and other drug abuse programs.

   Maximum grant size is $75,000.

   Deadline: May 31, 2005

5. (National)
   The U.S. Department of Labor

   The U.S. Department of Labor is making available nearly $20 million in grants for its Prisoner Re-entry Initiative.

   Nonprofit, faith-based, and community-based organizations are eligible to apply for the grants, which have a ceiling of $660,000. Programs should be focused on readjusting former inmates to commmunity life and helping them gain employment to reduce future crime and incarceration.

   Deadline: July 13, 2005

6. (National)
   Bank of America

   The Bank of America (BOA) Charitable Investments program has announced the availability of $17 million in funds for its Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.

   Two nonprofit organizations will be awarded $200,000 in grants and leadership training under the Neighborhood Builders category of the initiative, aimed at increasing the capacity and leadership development of nonprofits.

   Other categories under the initiative include Student Leaders, which provides an eight-week summer internship and leadership program to junior and senior high-schoolers, and Local Heroes, honoring five leaders who have made significant contributions to their community.

   Individuals, nonprofit, and community organizations in any of Bank of America's 38 national markets are encouraged to apply for recognition and funding.

   Deadline: June 30, 2005

7. (National)
   Target

   Applications are now being accepted for the Target Stores Community Giving grants program.

   Grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 will be awarded to applicants for programs in the areas of family-violence prevention, reading, and the arts. Target will fund family violence-prevention programs including those that support parent education, abuse shelters, support groups, counseling, and after-school programs.

   All 501(c)3 nonprofits and public agencies are eligible to apply for these grants, with the exception of those located in Alaska, Hawaii, or Vermont.

   Deadline: May 31, 2005 and the form must be submitted to a Target store team leader in person.

8. (National)
   The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

   The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is offering grants in several areas to foster self-sufficiency in low-income communities and help individuals develop the necessary skills to maintain their independence.

   Among these grant programs is YouthBuild, an initiative aimed at educating, training, building leadership skills, providing opportunities for jobs and apprenticeships, and encouraging economic independence among youths aged 16-24. Between its Rural Housing and Economic Development, Neighborhood Networks, and Resident Opportunity and Self Sufficiency programs, HUD has over $56 million in funds for FY 2005 grants.

   Deadline: May 17, 2005

9. (National)
   Youth Venture

   Youth Venture is a national movement of young people who are proving that their dreams, creativity, and abilities make a positive difference to communities across the nation. Youth Venturers are young people (ages 12 to 20) who have a dream or identify a need in their school or community, develop an idea and then, with a team, launch their own community-minded organizations to address that dream or need. Each venture team must have an Ally, a caring adult who advises the team. Grants of up to $1,000 are provided to help launch the organization.

   Deadline: Open

10. (National)
    NEA Summer Schools in the Arts Program

    The goal of the Summer Schools in the Arts Program, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, is to raise the quality and availability of arts education in communities nationwide. Support is provided to summer 2006 arts education programs that enable children and youth to acquire knowledge and skills in the arts as well as gain lifelong interests in the arts and culture. NEA anticipates awarding fewer than 50 grants ranging from $15,000 to $35,000, with a match requirement of at least 1 to 1. Eligible applicants must have a three-year history of providing arts education.

    All organizations that are interested in applying must submit a Statement of Interest through Grants.gov, the federal government's on-line application system.

    Deadline: May 23, 2005

11. (National)
    Lands' End Corporate Giving Program

    Lands' End Corporate Giving Program primarily provides support to nonprofit organizations that focus on education, community development, the environment, health, or human services. The majority of Lands' End's charitable donations are given to organizations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, with preference placed on the communities where company distribution centers, phone operations, and retail outlets are located. The remaining donations are awarded to charities across the United States. Applications, which must be submitted online through the company's website.

    Deadline: Open

12. (National)
    The Institute for Youth Development (IYD)

    TITLE: Youth Development, Healthy Marriages and Families, and HIV Prevention

    Notice of Funds Availability and Request for Proposals (RFP) to faith-based and community non-profit organizations (FBO/CBOs) that have not previously received a federally-funded competitive grant.

    SUMMARY: This RFP reflects the intent of President Bush's Executive Order 13198, which launched a nationwide federal initiative to eliminate regulatory obstacles to the lawful participation of FBO/CBOs in the provision of social services to meet the needs of America's communities. Often the most trusted institutions within our poorest neighborhoods, FBO/CBOs serve some of the country's hardest-to-reach constituents in a cost-effective manner. FBO/CBO volunteers contribute the transformational power of personal dedication and possess an abiding allegiance to the well-being of the participants they serve. The Compassion Capital Fund (CCF), a program of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the IYD sub-award project are intended to enhance the organizational capacity of FBO/CBOs, thereby increasing their participation in competition and/or their eligibility for federal funding.

    The primary purpose of this sub-award process is to heighten the knowledge, skills, and experience of applicant organizations in developing successful federal grant proposals. This RFP does not provide funds for direct client program services, but instead funds short-term projects for organizational capacity building that increases accessibility to federal funds.

    Letter of Intent (LOI): In order to allow IYD to plan the appropriate number of grant reviewers, organizations intending to submit applications must first send an LOI to IYD with the following information: identification of RFP; legal name of applicant; physical address; mailing address (if different); email address; telephone number; fax number (if available); and name and title of authorized signatory. A sample LOI is available at http://www.youthdevelopment.org/articles/pr050501.htm. The LOI is due to IYD not later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on May 2, 2005. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in disqualification from this RFP competition. You may mail the LOI to the address below or fax it to (703) 433-2796. Regarding issues of compliance and non-compliance, see III.A., below.

    Deadline: May 2, 2005 (LOI)

[-back to list-]

V. Resources

Through a citizen board appointed by the Governor, the North Carolina Arts Council serves as the steward of state and federal funds appropriated for the arts. Our grants activate partnerships between artists, arts organizations, and communities that benefit every county in the state. Over 1,300 grants are awarded each year to ensure that artists and arts organizations continue to produce rich and diverse arts experiences for the state's citizens and visitors.

We offer a wide range of grant opportunities for organizations. To be eligible for funding, organizations must be nonprofit and must have been producing quality arts programs for at least 2 consecutive years.

***

Grants.gov

Grants.gov allows organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov is THE single access point for over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies. The US Department of Health and Human Services is proud to be the managing partner for Grants.gov, an initiative that will have an unparalleled impact on the grant community

[-back to list-]

If you wish to contribute to the VERB Weekly e-Digest, please send all materials to sophy@searac.org