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Community Link
A newsletter of the Napa Valley Community Foundation
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May 2008
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In each issue of Community Link, we highlight
charitable projects in Napa County, with the goal of
informing donors and inspiring them to lend their
financial support directly to these programs.
This month, we're trying something different.
In 2007, we distributed nearly $450,000 in grants from
eight Community Impact Funds housed at the
Community Foundation. These Funds pool
resources from several dozen local families,
individuals and foundations, each of which shares a
passion for a particular cause, and believes--as we
do--that great things can happen when donors work
together.
Below, we report on what we're doing with each
Community Impact Fund. In some cases, this
was challenging because we don't yet know whether
our grants are having the impact we desire. This is to
be expected, since helping nonprofits change the
world around them takes time. For this
reason, we are committed to providing some multi-
year grants from Community Impact
Funds.
We hope the reports that follow are useful, and might
serve as the starting point for a conversation with you
about a particular Fund (or Funds) that captures your
imagination. If you'd like to learn more, give us a call
at 254.9565.
Please note: We've included a metric for each Fund
called "Donor Buying Power," which aims to tack a
figure on an old adage--that there is
strength in numbers. In developing this metric, we
asked the following question: For every $1 contributed
to the Fund by a donor, how many dollars have been
distributed from the Fund to nonprofit projects in Napa
County? This is the ratio, in dollars, of 1: [(Total
Grants from Fund) / (Average Contribution to
Fund)].
Finally, if you'd like to read past issues of the
newsletter, go to
www.napavalleycf.org/_explore/newsletters.
html.
Terence Mulligan
President
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Fund for American Canyon
Mission: To provide more resources to nonprofit programs in American Canyon
Inception Date: September 2004
Total Grants: $46,015
2007 Grants: $22,000
Number of Donors: 3
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $2*
What's Happening:
We're investing in programs that
- Give American Canyon youths, ages 14-24,
opportunities to develop themselves as students and
as leaders
- Expose teens and young adults in
American Canyon to the broader world of career and
citizenship
- Provide avenues for kids to get their
voices heard and participate in their local
communities
We provided funding in 2007 for six projects, including
- Teen-designed and teen-organized
programs, such as career fairs and
college-preparation workshops
- Personal finance and budget workshops
- Cultural field trips to sites in San
Francisco, including Steinhart Aquarium and
Chinatown
- Vocational "summer camp" for college-age
youth
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- There is no dedicated space for teens and young
adults in American Canyon--often kids congregate at
friends' homes and at strip malls--and lack of space
makes it quite difficult to create local programs for
them
- Many of American Canyon's leadership-oriented
teens have recently moved on to college, so there is a
need to engage a new crop of kids
- Youth development for teens is
expensive--programs need to pay experienced staff
who'll stay around for the long haul, so there is
consistent mentoring that builds kids' trust
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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Fund for the Arts
Mission: To help the arts and culture sector in Napa County weather recent challenges and begin to thrive
Inception Date: November 2005
Total Grants: $212,300
2007 Grants: $130,000
Number of Donors: 19
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $19*
What's Happening:
We're investing in
- Dialogue among arts groups
- Capacity of Arts Council of Napa Valley (ACNV)
- "Cultural plan" for Napa County
Grants to ACNV helped them
- Build a new, more powerful board
- Become an effective trade association for Napa
County's arts sector
- Develop a cultural plan based on hard data and
community input
Grants to ACNV helped them
- $100,000 from private donors to ACNV
- $288,000 from Napa County Transient Occupancy
Tax (TOT) to implement a cultural plan
- $50,000 from Hewlett and other foundations for
the cultural plan
The arts sector is beginning to stabilize after a rocky
two-year patch; major groups are at the table and
keen to collaborate
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- Infrastructure is essential. Making ACNV stronger
should help the whole sector by creating a
coordination point for policy change, visitor
marketing
- The policy climate for the arts must change for the
sector to thrive; TOT funding is a great first step, but
other counties have "% for Arts" ordinances; zoning
incentives; dedicated TOT allocation, etc.
- We can't make it work without tapping into
visitors
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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Fund for Calistoga
Mission: To provide more resources to nonprofit programs in Calistoga
Inception Date: June 2004
Total Grants: $87,650
2007 Grants: $43,830
Number of Donors: 7
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $5*
What's Happening:
We're investing in programs that
- Give Calistoga youths, ages 14-24, opportunities
to develop themselves as students and as
leaders
- Expose Calistoga teens and young adults to the
broader world of career and citizenship
- Provide avenues for kids to get their voices heard
and participate in their local community
We provided funding in 2007 for eight projects,
including
- Healthy relationships workshops for high school
students
- Innovative art workshops designed to increase
language fluency for high school kids who are English
learners
- Afterschool program in which high school
students mentor elementary school children
- Documentary film-making workshop for
low-income Latino youths
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- Most Calistoga high school- and college-age kids
also have jobs, so programs must either be worked
into the school day or be compelling enough to merit
inclusion in busy schedules
- Our grants have encouraged nonprofits from
outside Calistoga to bring programs to this
underserved community
- Youth development for teens is
expensive--programs need to pay experienced staff
who'll stay around for the long haul, so there is
consistent mentoring that builds kids' trust
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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Capacity Grants Fund
Mission: To help strengthen the organizational capacity of nonprofit organizations working in Napa County
Inception Date: May 2006
Total Grants: $45,000
2007 Grants: $25,000
Number of Donors: 8
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $4*
What's Happening:
We're investing in programs that
- Support nonprofits to increase fundraising
capacity
- Provide professional development to nonprofit
leadership
- Help nonprofits conduct business more efficiently
and effectively
We pool our resources with Auction Napa Valley and
Gasser Foundation, then review and decide on grants
together. In 2007, our collective grants totaled
$75,000, and 17 projects were awarded, including
- Fundraising planning and consulting for a small
nonprofit that helps victims of sexual assault
- Strategic planning for an agency that provides
childcare services to low-income and working poor
families
- Phone system for a nonprofit that provides
residential and day-use programs for cognitively
disabled adults
- Board development for an up Valley afterschool
program
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- In the last year, there's been executive director
turnover at six large nonprofits, and several more will
announce retirement in the next few years. Many
organizations need to focus on transition planning
- Demand for these grants has consistently
outstripped funds available, which tells us that
funding for infrastructure continues to be very
important, and that the simplicity of this Fund's
application process is attractive to nonprofits
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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In School & Out of School Fund
Mission: To help children and youth (ages 3-24) succeed in school and improve their chances of becoming confident and contributing adults
Inception Date: January 2007
Total Grants: $75,000
2007 Grants: $75,000
Number of Donors: 11
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $6*
What's Happening:
We're investing in programs that
- Implement innovative education models designed
to improve academic performance, and keep kids and
parents engaged in learning
- Develop leadership and college preparedness
among middle and high school students
Multi-year grant to transform classroom instruction at
two low-performing elementary schools in Napa by
integrating art into reading and math
- Latino students' reading and math test scores
have jumped five percent or more over prior years
- Our grants have been a catalyst for others to invest
another $360,00
Seed funding for a pilot project to create parity among
Latino and Anglo teenage students, and build their
resiliency
- Kids who are on the edge of "at-risk" status are
given intensive leadership and academic
coaching
- Students also have a service project that gets
them working with younger kids, as well as adult
community members
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- New academic programs are more likely to get
support from teachers if they are actively involved in
the design and implementation
- Youth development for teens is
expensive--programs need to pay experienced staff
who'll stay around for the long haul
- Teens will engage if they trust the program staff,
feel challenged, and are appreciated for their
individuality
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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Neighbors Fund
Mission: To provide assistance to individuals and families affected by community-wide emergencies, such as floods or earthquakes
Inception Date: January 2006
Total Grants: $506,050
2007 Grants: $21,200
Number of Donors: 44
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $39*
What's Happening:
We're investing in a consultant with expertise in
emergency planning to
- Convene local nonprofits active in emergency
response/recovery
- Improve planning and coordination among
nonprofits, and with local government
- Develop an inventory of nonprofit assets available
for use during emergencies
This planning grant has produced positive results,
including
- Clear definition of roles to be played by nonprofits
during emergencies
- New standing committee within Coalition of
Nonprofit Agencies that is responsible for keeping
above roles/responsibilities
up-to-date
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- Napa's emergency response and recovery
agencies are thinly staffed and undercapitalized
- Reliance on informal processes and relationships
to get things done in an emergency is risky, especially
as leadership changes--in the last year alone, three
nonprofit ED's who were active in the New Year's
Flood have left their jobs and another is poised to do
so soon
- Developing a more formal plan/process should
help nonprofits continue to deliver heroic levels of
service, with less redundancy, from small staffs
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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Fund for St. Helena
Mission: To provide more resources to nonprofit programs in St. Helena and surrounding communities of Angwin, Berryessa, Chiles Valley, Oakville, Pope Valley and Rutherford
Inception Date: July 2005
Total Grants: $85,500
2007 Grants: $51,500
Number of Donors: 8
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $6*
What's Happening:
We're investing in programs that
- Give area youths, ages 14-24, opportunities to
develop themselves as students and as leaders
- Expose teens and young adults in the St. Helena
region to the broader world of career and
citizenship
- Provide avenues for kids to get their voices heard
and participate in their local communities
We provided funding in 2007 for nine projects,
including
- Mobile art trailer that offers classes and studio
time to youths in the St. Helena region
- Workshops and support groups for at-risk kids
and their parents
- Various teen-designed and teen-led programs,
such as band and movie nights, ultimate Frisbee
competitions, and open mic events
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- The "underground" of teens and young adults in
the area, who don't participate in school-based
extracurricular activities, crave projects that connect
them to their community and make them more
visible
- Our grants have encouraged nonprofits from
outside St. Helena to bring programs to this
community
- Youth development for teens is
expensive--programs need to pay experienced staff
who'll stay around for the long haul, so there is
consistent mentoring that builds kids' trust
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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Strong Communities Fund
Mission: To help our County's residents get their basic needs met and engage them in community life
Inception Date: January 2007
Total Grants: $72,500
2007 Grants: $72,500
Number of Donors: 4
Donor Buying Power: $1 = $2*
What's Happening:
We're investing in Napa County programs that
- Increase financial stability among low-income
families
- Connect vulnerable populations to essential
services
- Foster community dialog and inter-cultural
awareness
1,700 youth, ages 3-21, who are children of migrant
farmworkers, received dental screenings, oral
hygiene education and urgent treatment
Funded a first-ever community-organized Dia de
Los Muertos celebration in St. Helena
Multi-year grant to help 700-plus working poor
families build savings, and receive income-tax
assistance and financial management education
Matching grant for a bilingual/bicultural outreach
worker to connect Latino elderly and their families to
health and social services
What We're Learning (+ and -):
- Projects that get cross-sections of local residents
actively involved in planning and implementation can
help bridge divides that exist within our community
- Nonprofits need unrestricted funding to
collaborate with their peers, which is key to
cost-effectively serving hard-to-reach populations
- Some of the core nonprofit providers of support
services to low-income residents operate with
razor-thin amounts of working capital
Read the full report at www.napavalleycf.org/_z
downloads/receive/DonorReport2007_final.pdf
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