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left “Little Sisters” attend the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua Annual Holiday Party in December with their “Big Sisters.” Photograph courtesy of Sharon Ramer. right Raphael Rawlins acts out a scene in the original play by a Nashua writer, Lowell Williams, “Six Nights in the Black Belt” about Keene Civil Rights martyr Jonathan Daniels. Photograph by Brian Lawrence.
A recent New York Times article “Can Foundations Take the Long View Again?,” points to research meriting a practice the Charitable Foundation started in March 2006—providing core operating support to nonprofit organizations as a way to increase grantmaking impact.
Core operating support is funding directed to an organization’s operations as a whole rather than to a particular project. Take a moment to think about your favorite nonprofit organization. Most likely you know them through their programs in the community such as health education, land preservation, celebrating arts and culture or workforce housing—whatever their mission. What you may not know is the importance of their operating budget to the success of that mission. Jen Hopkins, the Foundation’s Director of Grantmaking said, “If we have identified strong agencies serving important community needs, and agree on clear benchmarks for progress, then why wouldn’t we entrust the agency leadership to decide how to make the best use of an unrestricted, operating grant? Sometimes they need to pay costs for innovative, new programs. Sometimes they just need to keep the lights on and the staff paid.”
For example, the Lebanon-based nonprofit Bonnie CLAC, whose mission is to make the ownership of new, fuel-efficient cars more available and affordable for people from all walks of life, received a two-year, $50,000 operating grant last fall. They will use these funds to support expansion efforts in the state and to establish additional locations in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont so even more people can benefit from their services.
The Foundation’s Nashua Region has awarded two operating grants to area nonprofits since this policy was put into place. A $10,000 grant to Yellow Taxi Productions in Nashua allowed the theatre group to hire a part-time administrator. This new position helps them coordinate scheduling, ticket sales and other critical functions during their production season. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua received a $15,000 grant to hire a chief operating officer to provide directional oversight of the agency, which in turn, will allow their chief executive officer to spend time building stronger partnerships with corporations in the community. “We recognize the significance of engaging employees who live and work in our community into the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization,” said Joy Barrett, the Chief Executive Officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters. “By building these connections, we’re strengthening our community as well as increasing its stock of social capital.”
To learn more on how to support local nonprofit efforts or to apply for a grant, please visit www.nhcf.org. |
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