Protect PT and Protect Our Children Coalition: DSF Funding
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Gillian Graber of Protect PT and the Protect Our Children Coalition presents on how small grants and funding through Mountain Watershed Association's DIrect Support Fund has helped their grassroots organizations start and grow them into an active community presence.
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Protect PT and Protect Our Children Coalition: DSF Funding
- 1. Experiences with Direct Support Funding through Mountain Watershed Association Gillian Graber President, Protect PT Outreach Coordinator, Protect Our Children
- 2. Background • We started a structured organization in December 2014 • In April 2015 we incorporated as a state non-profit • In August 2015 we filed for 501c(3) status as a federal non-profit • By November 2015 we received our 501c(3) status retroactive to date of incorporation
- 3. Direct Support • We submitted our first Direct Support application in January 2015 • We were able to get a fiscal sponsor to continue our work • Continued to apply for Direct Support because of how easy it was • We learned the importance of preparation, making a solid budget, running an effective events, understanding the total impact your event has on your mission. • Allows you to apply for smaller amounts and offers rapid response
- 4. What We Used Direct Support For: • Speaker fees & Honorariums • Outreach mailers • Educational events • Training events • Fundraising events • Mailers to solicit community donations • Booth & Room Rentals • Refreshments at meetings • Projector and Screen • Website Subscription
- 5. Challenges • Getting a fiscal sponsor • Paying for legal fees • Finding creative ways to engage the community • Finding other ways to raise funds • Hosting fundraising events take time
- 6. Conclusion • Without Direct Support Funding, Protect PT would not exist • Funding gave us most the tools we needed to move forward • The process gave us an idea of what a grant writing process is like • Apply for smaller amounts and offers rapid response for an unforeseen needs • MWA a valuable partner in many ways
Editor's Notes
- I’m Gillian Graber and I am the President of Protect PT, a citizens group working to ensure the safety, security, and quality of life from the effects of unconventional gas development in the borough of Trafford, Penn Township and surrounding communities. We knew early on as an organization that the only way for se to get people involved in our mission was to educate them so our organizational goals became to: Educate, Engage, and Empower. I am also the Outreach Coordinator for Protect Our Children Coalition, a coalition of local and regional organizations dedicated to protecting school children from the health risks of shale gas drilling and infrastructure. Protect Our Children’s goal is to limit children’s exposure to harmful pollutants by keeping shale gas drilling and infrastructure away from schools. We aim to mobilize communities to prevent shale gas infrastructure near schools, through connecting local advocates and groups to shared resources and information needed to protect our children’s health and safety.
- We began organizing with the guidance of Stephanie from Mountain Watershed Association, who learned that Apex Energy, LLC had plans to develop unconventional well in pads agricultural and residential areas of Penn Township, very close to the borders of neighboring communities. At first, there were only a small number of community members who had been closely following the actions of the local government. In April 2015 we incorporated as a state non-profit but that didn’t mean that we were a federal non-profit so in August of that year we filed for 501c(3) and received that status in November retroactive to the date we incorporated.
- We submitted our first application to Direct Support Funding in January 2015 to launch a campaign that would increase community awareness on the issue of unconventional gas develop near densely populate areas of our community. This was our first action as a group. We had never applied for funds before and didn’t know where to start. Stephanie helped us understand what we needed to include in the application and budget. This first direct support request was to hire speakers and conduct outreach for a special public meeting our township was having regarding the new oil and gas ordinance. We wanted to have an impact at this meeting and try to educate our local officials on the health concerns surrounding UNGD. We learned the importance of having a fiscal sponsor but also how that would effect the amount of funding we could get because they took a percentage of the funds we ask for. We continued to ask for direct support because it was easy to applying it seemed like almost every month we were applying for money for some type of outreach or education event. We learned the importance of preparation, making a solid budget, running an effective event, and understanding the total impact our event had on our mission. What I mean by that is that we needed to make sure our money was not wasted, we needed to figure out what worked and what didn’t in our area. We also had to figure out a way to do additional fundraising because direct support didn’t pay for everything we needed. We had to pay for legal fees as a result of what was happening in our community and we knew we couldn’t do that with direct support funding. We were really restricted to what we could do but that actually led us to be the successful organization we are today. Even though we are now a 501c(3) and can apply for other grants, DSF allows us to apply for smaller amounts and offers rapid response for an unforeseen needs. The picture on this slide is an example of our first newsletter advertising the public meeting. (explain parts of newsletter)
- Just to give you an idea of some of the things we used the money for: We used DSF for Speaker fees & Honorariums, Outreach mailers, Educational, Training, and Fundraising events. We also sent mailers to solicit for community donations, were able to pay for Booth & Room Rentals, Refreshments at these meetings, technology such as a Projector and Screen and our Website Subscription. Pictured here is an example of one of our fundraising event cards we mailed and our booth set up for a community event.
- Some of the challenges we had with funding and direct support were: Some of the challenges we had along the way are listed here: Getting a fiscal sponsor; Trying to coordinate with that third party and giving them some control over what we do and our accounting. They take a percentage of your money which we didn’t understand at first and we felt like even though the fiscal sponsor stood for a good cause in itself that we didn’t want to give away such a large percentage of that money away. Also, because of the mission and rules of the fiscal sponsor, we couldn’t engage in litigation so when it came time for us to do that, we hit a road block. Paying for legal fees; when we started organizing we wanted to get an attorney for advice on wording of our publications so we were always putting out accurate information, writing letters and comments to our local government on the proposed ordinance, and attending public hearings so we could participate as an organization. Direct support wouldn’t cover these attorney fees and we felt that these actions were one of the most important things we needed to do to put pressure on our local government. What we could use direct support funds for were things like outreach, education, and fundraising events so we used these vehicles as a way to engage the community so they would provide the funds that would allow us to incorporate the legal component of our campaign. To echo what Stephanie talked about earlier about regulations and restrictions, when we finally did start fundraising with commonly used practices in our community, raffle baskets, 50/50, basically small games of chance we realized that in our state, you had to be organized for a year before they would consider giving you a license. When we did finally get our license and start having these additional ways to make money, but we had to plan the events, which took time. This is time that we could use to work to further our campaign. Before then, we just had to keep passing the hat and asking for donations an every event we hosted. We had to find a way to give the community something in return for their contribution and we found that they wanted the education we were providing. One creative way we found to raise money, we had a member that had raised organic garden plants from seeds and gave them to us. We went to a farmer’s market which was free to attend, and we sold the plants. We also coordinated with Stephanie to come and do water sampling for people that wanted to bring their well water to the market. While she was there we handed out educational literature on both organizations. We didn’t raise very much money but other than the sign and our t-shirts (which we had applied for Direct Support buy and had intended on using for another event) it didn’t cost us any money. We decided that no matter what we did, we had to continue to raise money in order to survive as an organization. Even if each of our board members had to contribute funds to pay our legal bills each month, we would do that. Even if we had to have a fundraiser every month, we felt our mission was that important that we would do what it took to keep this activity away from our community and our children.
- Without Direct Support Funding, our organization would not exist. This funding gave us most of the tools we needed to move forward to protect our community. Even as a 501c(3) DSF allows us to apply for smaller amounts and offers rapid response for an unforeseen needs. MWA has be a valuable partner in many ways providing not only monetary resources but other resources too.