Gund Foundation Makes Multi-Year Commitment to Cleveland Neighborhoods
George Gund
CLEVELAND OH — The George Gund Foundation re-affirmed its commitment to Cleveland’s residents and their neighborhoods with a $3.6 million three-year grant to Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI).
NPI, established more than 20 years ago as the principal intermediary between funders and Cleveland’s community development corporations, has played a key role in neighborhood residential and commercial revitalization. The organization also has been engaged in developing constructive responses to Cleveland’s foreclosure crisis and exploring new uses for the resulting increase in vacant land.
“Despite the current economic challenges, NPI has continued to fulfill its mission ‘to restore and maintain the health and vitality of Cleveland’s neighborhoods through private investment and support for community initiatives’,” said David Abbott, the Foundation’s executive director. “Our three-year commitment reflects the Foundation’s continued interest in strengthening Cleveland’s neighborhoods.”
Foundation Trustees also made a significant commitment to the children of Cleveland with a $2.6 million grant that will be used to support the Cleveland Municipal School District’s transformation plan and efforts to create new, innovative schools in Cleveland’s neighborhoods.
These grants were among 56 totaling $9,379,900 that Trustees made to education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts organizations at the Foundation’s first meeting of 2010.
Other grants of interest included:
- $280,000 over three years to Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio for a new regional medical center
- Up to $250,000 to the Downtown Cleveland Alliance for its efforts to revitalize Downtown Cleveland
- $75,000 to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for the GreenCityBlueLake Institute
- $360,000 over two years to the Center for Community Solutions for its policy and fiscal analysis work and for groundWork, a statewide campaign to promote investment in the needs of children birth to six years of age
- $200,000 over 18 months to the Center for Families and Children for the Greater Cleveland Integrated Re-entry Project
- $90,000 to the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy for operating support
The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts. Foundation commitments to date have totaled almost $548 million.
For further information contact:
Deena M. Epstein (216) 241.3114
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Cleveland Census Rally March 8
George Gund
The George Gund Foundation is encouraging nonprofit organizations to attend a Census Rally March 8 and become involved in the 2010 census.
Census materials, as well as information on mini-grant opportunities, will be available at the Census Rally from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Cleveland Foodbank, 15500 South Waterloo Road in Cleveland.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown will talk about the impact of the census on federal funds, political representation and infrastructure investment. It is estimated that for every 100 people not counted during the census, Greater Cleveland will lose $1.2 million over the next decade in federally-funded programs such as Head Start, transit, public housing and community development block grants.
The free event is open to all nonprofits, regardless of size or type of programming.
Additional information on the census and the role nonprofits can play is available at:
What’s Happening in Cleveland’s Neighborhoods?
Download a Free Census Toolkit for your Organization
Countdown to the Census: “Effective Messaging and Mobilization Strategies for Nonprofits”
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Whats On Your Plate
George Gund
“What’s on Your Plate?” at Cleveland Film Festival
“What’s On Your Plate?,“ a documentary about kids and food politics produced and directed by George Gund Foundation Trustee Catherine Gund, will be shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival March 27 and 28.
The film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial city kids over the course of a year as they explore their place in the food chain in a quest to understand what is on all of our plates. It will be screened at 11:45 a.m. on March 27 and 2 p.m. on March 28.
Additional information is available at http://www.clevelandfilm.org/festival/films/2010/whats-on-your-plate and www.whatsonyourplateproject.org.
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Ohio Grantmakers Forum Session on 2010
George Gund
Ohio Grantmakers Forum (OGF) is hosting a discussion for funders and nonprofits to explore “Cleveland 2010: What You Expect, Need and Plan To Do” February 12 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Minter Conference Center, 1422 Euclid Avenue.
George Espy, OGF president, and John Begala, executive director of the Center for Community Solutions, will present the grantmaking outlook for 2010, provide a snapshot of community needs and lead an interactive discussion on how both grantmakers and nonprofits are adjusting to and coping with the economic downturn.
The program is free to Greater Cleveland nonprofits, but to ensure a diversity of nonprofits, registration is open to only one representative from each organization. To register, call Gail Anderson at 216–861–6223.
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Gund Foundation 2010 Outlook
George Gund
A year ago, the worst financial crisis in half a century compelled The George Gund Foundation, like others, to make some tough decisions in order to deal with a sharp decline in the value of our invested assets. We cut our operating budget and trimmed our grantmaking while focusing more resources on effective collaborations and on public policy advocacy. Fortunately, as the year progressed our assets began to rebound. While the portfolio-and hence our grantmaking — has not returned to its pre-recession level, the trend is encouraging. We face 2010 with greater optimism and also with a continued commitment to fiscal prudence, effective collaborations and policy work.
The reaction to our first online annual report was positive, and we saved thousands of dollars by forgoing the traditional printed version. So, we will once again report to our grantees and others in an online publication that will continue to feature a photographic essay, this year focused on Cleveland’s lakefront.
Another operational change affects our proposal deadlines and grant decision schedule. Beginning this year, we will have three rounds of grant awards instead of four. This is not a financial decision; we will award the same amount of dollars that we would have under our four-round schedule. Rather, as many of you know, eight of our 10 trustees live far from our Cleveland office and in order to maximize the effectiveness of their engagement and to accommodate the many demands on their schedules, our Board of Trustees will meet three times per year. This obviously affects the deadlines for submitting grant requests. Below is the meeting schedule and proposal deadline schedule for 2010:
Winter-Spring meeting
Proposal deadline: November 15, 2009
Trustees Meeting: February 25
Summer meeting
Proposal deadline: March 15
Trustees Meeting: July 1
Fall meeting
Proposal deadline: July 15
Trustees Meeting: November 4
In future years, the proposal deadlines will remain the same and Trustee meeting dates will be approximately the same.
We recognize that this will create some concern for grantees who have been accustomed to working with us on a different calendar, and we encourage you to contact any of the Foundation’s program staff with your questions and to bring to our attention any particular issues this switch raises. We will work with you to ease the transition to the new schedule.
Finally, although the financial crisis has eased, economic distress remains all too prevalent. Consequently, we will continue to emphasize collaborations — among grantmakers and grantees — in order to stretch scarce dollars and to make more effective decisions. Sharing power, decision-making and day-to-day work is difficult — especially for foundations that are accustomed to exercising unilateral authority. But we as grantmakers cannot honestly demand collaboration among nonprofit organizations without forcing ourselves to adhere to the same discipline that comes from working in a partnership. So, we will seek such collaborations for ourselves and among those who do the work that we care about. Naturally, this prompts us to maintain an emphasis on public policy advocacy. Not only is this work essential to attacking root causes of many fundamental problems, it also generates tremendous leverage for our grant dollars. And building effective public policies always involves the hard work of finding common ground among diverse viewpoints, which is the very essence of collaboration.
David T. Abbott
Executive Director
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German Marshall Fund Opportunity
George Gund
The German Marshall Fund is accepting application from government and nonprofit leaders to spend two to six months in Europe researching innovative approaches to urban/regional challenges as part of its Comparative Domestic Policy program.
Applications are due March 15 and should focus on issues related to urban sustainability, education and workforce development, affordable housing/cost of living and combating social exclusion. Fellows will be based in Turin, Italy but must travel to two other cities or regions during the fellowship.
Additional information on the program and application requirements is available at http://gmfus.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=212.
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Foundation Awards $4.9 Million in December
George Gund
CLEVELAND OH — Organizations that will promote legislation to support sexual violence survivors, provide foreclosure prevention services and encourage sustainable business practices received funding at The George Gund Foundation’s final meeting of 2009.
The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center received a $50,000 grant over two years for the Sexual Assault Public Policy Project which will work to heighten awareness of sexual assault, increase funding for sexual assault programs and promote public policies that serve survivors of sexual violence.
Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP) will use a $20,000 grant to continue its efforts to work with low-income owners and lending institutions to renegotiate loans in danger of foreclosure.
Entrepreneurs for Sustainability received $50,000 in operating support for a wide-range of educational and networking programs designed to encourage businesses to make sustainability part of their operating standards.
The Foundation also made a $2 million grant to The Foundation Fighting Blindness for research on retinal degenerative diseases.
These grants were among 56 grants totaling $4,899,005 approved at the Foundation’s December meeting. Total grantmaking to education, human service, arts, environment and economic and community development organizations for the year was $15,378,729.
Other grants of interest included:
- $110,000 to Ingenuity, the Cleveland Festival of Arts and Technology for its 2010 festival
- $100,000 to ParkWorks for operating support
- $50,000 to the Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network for planning for the new Max Hayes High School
- $50,000 to the Center for Community Solutions for the AIDS Funding Collaborative
- $50,000 to the Cleveland Play House for planning expenses related to its move to Playhouse Square
- $62,500 to the Trust for Public Land for its work in acquiring land for parks and open space preservation
- $71,500 over six months to the Friends of E Prep Schools to create a Cleveland charter schools management organization
The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts. Foundation commitments to date have totaled almost $538 million.
For further information contact:
Deena M. Epstein (216) 241.3114
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Positively, Positively Cleveland
George Gund
Positively Cleveland has released a new promotional video, with a sound track by rapper Q-Nice, to attract visitors to Greater Cleveland.
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Forum on Human Services in Tough Times
George Gund
Health and social service providers and advocates and public officials and government employees are invited to a free forum on Financing Ohio’s Future: Human Services in Tough Times, December 10 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Center for Families and Children.
The session is one of four that the Center for Community Solutions is holding throughout Ohio to discuss strategies for maintaining human service and education spending in a recession, the effects of tax changes on state revenues and challenges for Ohio’s 2012–2013 budget.
Registration, at eWilliams@CommunitySolutions.com, is required.
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Foundation Awards $5.6 Million in September
George Gund
CLEVELAND OH — The George Gund Foundation increased its support to the Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaborative effort to improve Northeast Ohio’s economy, with a three-year $4 million grant.
The Fund, which was launched six years ago, is a collaborative of more than 60 organizations and individuals that have pooled resources to strengthen regional competitiveness through grantmaking, research and civic engagement. The Foundation’s previous commitment had been $3.1 million over three years.
“In a time of economic stress it is more important than ever that our region’s leadership and resources pull together,” said David Abbott, Foundation executive director. “A collaboration such as the Fund, tackling the tough systemic issues we face, is really hard work. But joining forces makes far more impact than disconnected effort, and our trustees feel strongly that increasing our investment in the Fund signals our strong belief in collaborative action. Our increased funding also reflects the impact that the Fund has made and the fact that the Fund’s work is critical for the success of the other organizations we support in fields ranging from the arts to education.”
The grant was among 50 totaling $5,582,074 made by Foundation Trustees at their September meeting.
Other grants of interest include:
- $100,000 to the Cleveland Heights/University Heights City School District for the First Ring Superintendents Collaborative, a group of 15 school districts.
- $40,000 to the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio for the Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage coalition.
- $50,000 to Ohio Grantmakers Forum for a collaborative project to support strategic restructuring among human service organizations in Cuyahoga County.
- $50,000 to the Ohio Environmental Council for a diesel pollution reduction campaign in Cleveland.
- $80,000 to the Cleveland Housing Network for its work in stabilizing neighborhoods.
- $75,000 to Kent State University Foundation for the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative’s work on Re-Imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland and publication of the journal Urban Infill.
- $16,000 to CityMusic Cleveland for free concerts in Cleveland neighborhoods.
The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chairman of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made quarterly in the areas of education, human services, economic and community development, environment and arts. Foundation commitments to date have totaled almost $534 million.
For further information contact:
Deena M. Epstein (216) 241.3114