Dana Vocisano - The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

1. Funders Share What They Know
Webinar Panel
The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples
September 13, 2012
Presented by: Dana Vocisano 1
The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

2. TIPS FOR APPROACHING
FOUNDATIONS
SOME RESOURCES
2

3. About foundations
Foundations funders are different from government funders.
And there are different foundations:
• Public foundation, like Trillium foundation
• Community foundations, like the Vancouver Foundation
• Corporate foundations
• Private and family foundations
• Non-granting making foundations or foundations dedicated
to fundraising, like hospital foundations
What their interests are and how each of them work is different.
3

4. Like a job search
Tips for approaching foundations
Similar to a job search and tailoring your CV
Do your homework
• Find out what they fund and how they work
• Easiest way is the internet – many now have web sites
How to present your work
• short and dynamic
• bring your work alive with stories
• lots of eyes
4

5. Other Advice
• Do your homework. Make sure you know the funder inside out: their
mission, goals etc.
• Ensure applications are written clearly and concisely.
• Don't include extraneous information or forms not asked for.
• Follow instructions. If a question allocates a certain amount of space or
words, for example, stick to it. Be respectful of the funder's time.
• Pretend you're an assessor when reviewing your own application to
ensure you've addressed the criteria as would be expected.
• Demonstrate your organization capacity, that you're able to do this
project. To help solidify this point, identify your other successes.
• Show your willingness to learn from and engage with community partners
and share that learning.
• Proofread the application before sending.
• Make sure to double and triple-check your math.
• Whatever you do, do not send in applications as part of a mass mailing.
Sourced from:
Charity Village
Foundations: The inside scoop
by Elisa Birnbaum, April 2, 2012
5

6. Life cycle of a program
Many foundations are interested only in specific
areas, like environment, health or education.
Or only in a specific geographic area
Others may only consider projects that are at a
specific stage in their development.
6

7. Life cycle of a program
• Exploration phase:
trying out different ways,
models, etc.
• Start-up phase:
implement, test &
evaluate
• Development phase:
grow & strengthen
• Scaling phase:
spreading the innovation
7

8. Why don’t foundations fund
operations?
• What’s the problem with requests for
operations or on-going funding?
• Why don’t foundations give operating grants?
8

9. What’s the difference?
• It’s like your chequeing bank account vs your
saving bank account; one is for paying your
living expenses and the other for big or special
purchases
• The difference between a United Way and a
community foundation and how they
complement each other
9

10. Funding for R & D
• In this way, McConnell is like many other
foundations – we don’t make operating grants
• We see ourselves as funding R & D vs “keeping
the lights on” or supporting regular on-going
programs and services
• For experimenting or trying something new or
different that a regular budget usually is too
retrained to do
10

11. A foundation’s niche
We try to be strategic –
that is, focus on an area where we can create
change or have an impact
11

12. For example:
• McConnell Foundation is interested in social innovation - new solutions to old
problems
• tackling chronic and persistent problems in new ways or with new combinations of
ideas or practices
• For example, an innovation may be introducing a better service delivery model
• Has potential to lead to wider or large-scale change
• We are particularly interested in social innovations that can spread and scale
because the McConnell Foundation is a national funder
• We recently launched a new program, with specific application criteria – The Social
Innovation Fund
12

13. Some Other Resources to Share
13

14. Getting to Maybe: How the World Is Changed
Frances Westley, Michael Quinn Patton, Brenda Zimmerman, 2007
14

15. 15

16. 16