Fundrasing guide 1

Housing Assistance
Council

GUIDE TO FUNDRAISING
FOR RURAL HOUSING
NONPROFITS:
STRATEGIES FOR RAISING
OPERATING FUNDS

$3.50
2nd edition March 2004
first published April 1998

Housing Assistance Council
1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Suite 606
Washington, DC 20005
202-842-8600 (voice)
202-347-3441 (fax)
hac@ruralhome.org (e-mail)
http://www.ruralhome.org

ISBN 1-58064-083-4

This manual, an update of a 1998 guide by the same title, was prepared by Sue Phillips, Joe
Belden, and Jennifer Pinder of the Housing Assistance Council (HAC). The work that provided
the basis for this update was supported by funding under Cooperative Agreement H-21352 with
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ndeye Jackson served as HUD’s
government technical representative. The work that provided the basis for the 1998
publication was supported by funding under Contract Number 53-3157-5-0020, Order Number
43-31ME-7-0115, Line Item 0002 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.
The substance and funding of the work on both the 1998 and current publications is dedicated
to the public. HAC is solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations
contained in this publication and such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the
United States Government.

HAC, founded in 1971, is a nonprofit corporation that supports the development of rural low-
income housing nationwide. HAC provides technical housing services, loans from a revolving
fund, housing program and policy assistance, research and demonstration projects, and
training and information services. HAC is an equal opportunity lender.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Developing a Fundraising Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 1: Engage in Effective Strategic and Program Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 2: Develop a Master Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 3: Identify Potential Funders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Step 4: Contact Funding Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Step 5: Write the Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Step 6: Follow up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Sources of Administrative Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Corporations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Figure 1. Total Grants of Top Corporate Givers, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Religious Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 1. Top Ten U.S. Foundations Awarding Grants for
Housing and Shelter, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Table 2. Foundation Giving by Type of Support, 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Programmatic Sources of Operating Income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Strategies for Accessing Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Reference Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Resources on Submitting Successful Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Internet Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Appendices

A. Foundations with a Track Record of Funding Rural Housing
and Community Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
B. Religious Funders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
C. Prospect Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
D. Resources for Fundraising: Guides to Grant Writing, Directories of
Funders, Books, and Periodicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

iii

INTRODUCTION

Fundraising is a challenge for all nonprofits. Staff often lack the time to develop and follow
through on fundraising contacts. Limited staff may be deployed to fulfill program goals rather
than fundraising goals. Volunteer boards may lack the focus or expertise to write winning
grant proposals.

For nonprofit organizations in rural areas, these challenges are exacerbated by the
disproportionate focus of most funding sources on urban needs and urban solutions. The vast
majority of community, corporate, and family foundations, as well as religious funding
sources, are located in cities. Additionally, most funders are extremely cautious about the
complexity and inherent financial risk in affordable housing development. Funders that do
invest in affordable housing typically support bricks and mortar projects rather than internal
organizational needs. A new housing development will almost always be more attractive to a
foundation than a new copier. As difficult as it is to package project financing, attracting
operating funds is an even more difficult challenge for many rural nonprofits.

The good news amid these challenges is that some local rural nonprofits are finding it easier to
attract operating funds. Even as federal subsidies for affordable housing continue to dry up,
foundations and other funding sources are becoming interested in housing, particularly
programs that address homelessness and those that provide homeownership opportunities for
low-income people. A growing number of community foundations are applying local
resources to address local problems. The Community Reinvestment Act continues to propel
some local commercial lenders to support the basic operations of nonprofit organizations.

The internet allows unprecedented access to information about fundraising sources, lessening
the impact of geographic distance between rural and urban communities. Technological
advancements are offering much more than altruistic changes in the fundraising environment
for rural nonprofits – a group with reasonably modern computing capacity can research
thousands of funding sources in a short period of time without having to travel to a major
urban library. Because efficient research is the primary key to successful fundraising, internet
access can be a crucial tool for rural organizations.

Fundraising is incredibly time consuming. It is also intimidating, because it involves
something most people are uncomfortable with – asking for money. A nonprofit can benefit
from developing a simple fundraising strategy that matches its funding needs with available
resources. Attracting operating funds is clearly the most important goal of such a strategy, but
the process itself can be fruitful in many other ways. Pitching an organization and its work to
the broader community forces a rural organization to become good at pithy sound-bites. A
fundraising planning process can help staff to articulate internally what their programs need
to succeed. Developing relationships in the community or region – regardless of whether they
result in an operating grant immediately – will serve a nonprofit well by building a partnership
base.

This fundraising guide is not meant to be exhaustive. It is intended to help the staffs and
boards of nonprofit housing developers in rural communities to review different types of

Housing Assistance Council 1

funders, to identify possible sources of administrative or operating support, and to establish
effective fundraising strategies. Resources available on the internet will be highlighted
throughout. This guide will not focus on grant writing because many useful how-to resources
exist; several are listed in Appendix D. Appendix A contains a list of corporate, community,
and family foundations that support rural housing.1 This list includes foundations serving the
entire United States, individual states, and specific geographic regions. Other appendices
include information about resource materials and how to contact religious funders.

1
A disclaimer: this guide identifies funders who have in the past supported rural housing efforts.
Program goals change, and funders’ interests evolve. We make every effort in this guide to list only those
funding sources with track records of giving for rural housing, but make no claim that these track records
will translate into future support.

2 Guide to Fundraising

DEVELOPING A FUNDRAISING STRATEGY

A rural nonprofit can be an effective fundraiser by developing a careful funding strategy that is
well integrated into the organization’s larger strategic planning process. Once this critical
planning process occurs, an organization can develop a master proposal, research potential
funders, and submit applications.

Step 1: Engage in Effective Strategic and Program Planning

Conceiving and communicating your nonprofit’s program plan to funders is critically
important. Long- and short-term strategic planning processes are the best venues within
which to consider an overall program plan for the organization. Most books and other written
resources on fundraising do not mention strategic planning, and most books on planning
contain few references to raising operating funds. But fundraising should never precede
planning. It is important that fundraising efforts fit closely into the mission and goals of the
organization, and that a plan is in place to allocate appropriate organizational resources to
fundraising activities.

Strategic planning is “a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that
shape and guide what an organization . . . is, what it does, and why it does it. Strategic
planning requires broad-scale information gathering, an exploration of alternatives, and an
emphasis on the future implications of present decisions” (Bryson 1991, 5). As your
organization’s board and staff try to root your vision in practical program applications, try to
avoid thinking about which visions are “fundable.” “Chasing money” is not a good way to
approach fundraising: do not alter your program plan to attract funders.2

You must balance this truth with the fact that funding sources are basically the customers of
the fund-seekers. If you cannot get the customer to buy your product, you will go out of
business. You may try to convince the customer to sample your new or different product, but
the buyer has the ultimate choice. Thus, the organizational planning process must take into
account what funders will support. That does not mean that rural nonprofits should be
conservative and avoid trying risky things. But if there are no funding customers for your
vision you must move on to other ideas.

Once the internal program planning is complete, you may find that some of your
organization’s program areas may be more suitable for foundation or corporate support than
others. Identify these areas as you develop a fundraising strategy. Most rural nonprofits need
unrestricted general operating support, but most funders want to support new projects. Learn
to state (and do) your best ongoing work as an innovation that needs support.

Step 2: Develop a Master Proposal

Once a program plan has been developed, nonprofits may wish to develop a master proposal

2
For tips on strategies local advocates can use to attract funds, see Robinson 1996.


that serves as the core of all grant proposals. Kim Klein, the publisher of Grassroots Fundraising
Journal, believes that developing a grant proposal can help nonprofits think through their ideas
carefully. She believes that the ability to describe a project in one or two paragraphs “is
invaluable for people who often need ten minutes just to state the problem and another hour to
describe the solutions” (Center for Community Change 1997).

One advantage of developing a master proposal is that a nonprofit can lay out what it does and
why without the rhetorical contortions that can occur when trying to guess what a funder
wants to hear. This template can be updated over time and altered slightly for each proposal to
emphasize the interests of each funder, but these changes are best done in addition to rather
than instead of the core work.

Many foundations appreciate (and fund) nonprofits’ demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit.
Generally speaking, funders appreciate innovation and a broad view of the solutions to well-
documented social problems. This may mean shying away from traditional advocacy
approaches in which an explanation of the social need rather than programmatic problem
solving is emphasized in proposals. Some funders appreciate business language: identifying
“markets” and “constituents,” “expansion opportunities,” etc.

Reading through a potential funder’s annual report is, after talking directly with the staff, the
best way to assess what approach would be most effective for a given funder. Use the
language the foundation uses to describe its work and that of its grant recipients. If the funder
highlights “asset-building” activities, for example, by all means describe your single-family
housing development efforts in those terms.

Step 3: Identify Potential Funders

The most important element of fundraising from foundations is effective research.
Foundations are very specific about what they will fund, and will reject out of hand
applications that do not conform to their guidelines. Researching these guidelines can be time
consuming, but not as time consuming as writing and submitting a proposal that does not
have a chance to be funded.

Once a nonprofit has identified appropriate funding resources, it is important to develop a list
of potential funders and to set up a suitable record keeping system.3 This will make tracking
relevant information on contacts, deadlines, and funding priorities easier. This database does
not have to be extensive to be helpful (in fact, it does not have to be a formal database at all).
Fundraisers should at a minimum record contact information, deadlines, and limitations on
giving, and should consider including information about past giving and details about the
funders’ mission and goals. A nonprofit can also use this database to track proposal
submission dates and funding decisions.

3
The Foundation Center suggests filling out a “prospect worksheet” on funders whose priorities
closely match a given project. See Appendix C for a copy of this worksheet.


Often a lack of funding for rural areas is caused by a lack of information on the problems and
needs of these areas, and an attendant lack of awareness on the part of the potential funder.
An important component of a nonprofit’s strategy, then, should be to educate foundations and
other potential givers. This can be accomplished by sending out information or publications to
potential funders, and by adding them to the organization’s mailing list. By offering regular
updates, invitations to ground breakings, and other events, a nonprofit may develop and
nurture ongoing relationships with potential funders.

Step 4: Contact Funding Sources

Nonprofits should avoid sending in cold proposals. Once you have identified likely sources of
funding, call the funding source and ask to speak to a program officer. It is the program
officer’s job to field questions about the foundation; do not feel shy about calling directly. This
inquiry process is vital: it can save a nonprofit from submitting an unsuitable proposal, it can
provide insight into the foundation’s funding priorities, and, perhaps most importantly, it can
begin to build a working relationship. Depending on the specificity of the discussion with
program staff, a nonprofit may wish to send a letter of interest to the foundation that briefly
describes the potential proposal. Foundations are likely to respond quickly if the proposal is
outside its funding priorities.

Step 5: Write the Proposal

Most funders have extensive guidelines governing the precise format of applications. Follow
them. Nonprofits should use their best writers to compose funding proposals. These proposals
require extensive knowledge of the organization and its program plan, and this information
must be conveyed clearly and concisely. It is tempting to overstate the need that your
organization is addressing and the impact of the organization’s work on that need.
Exaggeration will hurt your proposal. Remember that many foundation staff will be familiar
with the general housing and poverty issues that your proposal describes. Offer specific
examples of how these issues play out in your community.

For more information on proposal writing, consult one of the many grant writing guides that
are available. A list of guides is included in Appendix D.

Step 6: Follow up

Once your organization submits a proposal, call your program officer to ensure that it arrived
and ask about the review process (if this is not clear from the foundation’s written materials).
These conversations build relationships with foundation staff that are important even if a
specific proposal is rejected. If your organizations gets the grant, be sure to write a thank-you
note and to meet the foundation’s reporting requirements. If the proposal is rejected, write a
thank-you note anyway.


SOURCES OF ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDING

There are three primary sources of nongovernmental financial support for nonprofit
organizations: corporations and businesses, religious organizations, and foundations.4

Corporations

Corporate funding typically comes either from corporate-created foundations or from the
corporation itself as direct grants or gifts-in-kind. However structured, corporate giving is
likely to be administered by the company’s office of public affairs: the public
relations/community relations/media department. This placement demonstrates the corporate
view of philanthropy, where improving the corporation’s image and creating good will –
particularly in places where the company does business – are the central goals. Nonprofit
housing providers may publicly or privately condemn this bottom line approach to giving as
cynical, but from the company’s point of view it makes perfect sense. Corporations spend
money to make money. Nonprofits need to recognize this fact when approaching
corporations, and help corporations identify ways that partnerships with local groups (such as
their own) can serve
companies’ community
interests. Many
corporations appreciate
being given the
opportunity to support
community groups and
feel obligated to give
back to the communities
that they serve. Figure 1
shows the total grants of
corporate givers as of
2000.

Corporate funders
usually make most of
their donations to
conventional charities
and nonprofits like the
local United Way, youth
programs, and
museums. But more Figure 1. Source: The Foundation Center 2000b.
progressive public

4
Nurturing the support of wealthy individuals can also be an effective fundraising tool for rural
nonprofits, but it is beyond this guide’s scope to suggest strategies for developing individual donors, since this
type of fundraising is highly specialized and labor intensive. Many of the resources listed in Appendix D offer
information about cultivating individual donors.


interest groups than you might imagine have in recent years received corporate support. Most
corporations want to make grants in local or regional areas where the company has offices,
plants, employees, or customers. Grants are often fairly small (note in Appendix A that the
average grant of even the largest corporate foundations is in the $25,000 range) – corporations
usually want to distribute more grants to more recipients to improve their image with the
broadest possible audience.

Larger corporate giving programs resemble foundations, but their application processes tend to
be simpler. (They are not, after all, in the business of grant making.) Most large corporations
such as AT&T, General Electric, Ford, and Microsoft, despite their national scope, still prefer to
make grants in communities where offices or manufacturing plants are located. Giving by
these large corporations in rural areas is usually limited, since corporate headquarters and
offices are almost always located in central cities or suburbs. (Wal-Mart is a notable
exception.) Regional and local corporations such as supermarket chains, hardware stores,
pharmacies, and utility companies are a better bet. Consider researching utility companies –
especially power companies, which seem to have an unusual number of corporate foundations
– and manufacturers.

Businesses

Local businesses can be a more modest but plentiful source of operating funds for rural
nonprofits. Commercial lenders are an obvious funding source, especially those with whom
nonprofits have an established financing track record or successful administrative accounts.
Operating grants from local or regional lenders are limited for the same reasons that corporate
giving is. Operating grants are usually administered by a bank’s Community Reinvestment Act
(CRA) compliance office; there is often no formal grant-seeking mechanism. Local nonprofits
might start an inquiry by calling a local commercial lender’s CRA compliance officer.

Rural nonprofits involved in affordable housing have an unusually high need for professional
services compared to other types of nonprofit organizations. Architects, engineers, attorneys,
appraisers, accountants: all play a vital role in successful housing development. Professional
services are expensive, especially in the predevelopment stage when a project may be years
away from generating operating income. Getting local professionals to provide pro bono
services can dramatically reduce a nonprofit’s operating expenses.

Of course, getting professionals to provide free services is easier said than done. One obvious
but effective strategy is to ask professionals to serve on the nonprofit’s board of directors.
Another is simply to ask for help with a particular project or problem. For example, a local
attorney can help draft articles of incorporation without committing to serve as pro bono
corporate counsel. An appraiser can spend a few hours reviewing and informally valuing
potential properties. Some professionals, such as attorneys and certified public accountants,
actually have an established ethical mandate to provide pro bono services. Do not be afraid to
ask, but make sure you are asking a qualified person with experience providing the service you
need. Some nonprofits may be tempted to accept free help from professionals looking to cut
their teeth on development-related work. Avoid the temptation: choose only experienced help.


Religious Organizations

Of all possible funding sources, local and national religious organizations are the most
receptive to issues affecting low-income people, including housing. Nonprofits probably will
not have to convince these organizations of the need for affordable housing. Local churches
and synagogues usually cannot provide large cash gifts, but they can harness volunteer
support for your organization and its projects. They can also provide a vehicle for rural
nonprofits to spread the word about the need for affordable housing, thus reaching potential
donors.

Many Catholic women’s and men’s religious orders have explicit social justice commitments
that translate into support for nonprofits. Catholic women’s religious orders were the first to
promote and implement socially responsible investing and program-related investments in
affordable housing efforts. Find out what religious orders have schools or other presence in
your area and call the community’s leadership for support.

Most mainline Protestant denominations, Catholic dioceses, and Jewish congregational
associations have regional and national offices that can be a source of funds. (Appendix B
contains a list.) Grants from these sources are typically small to medium-sized: $25,000 is a
large church grant. The application process is often slower and more complicated than that of
other funding sources, but they have a well-established track record of giving to support rural
housing.

Foundations

There are three types of non-corporate foundations: a) independent foundations established by
a person or family; b) operating foundations established to support research, social welfare, or
other charitable programs; c) company-sponsored foundations created and funded by business
corporations; and d) community foundations supported by and operated for the benefit of a
specific community or region (Foundation Center 2002c). In 2000, the 1,015 largest U.S.
foundations made 120,000 grants to 48,000 organizations totaling $15 billion, a 29 percent
increase from the previous year (Foundation Center 2002b). Despite the fact that foundation
funding of environment and health issues is experiencing the fastest growth rate, many large
national foundations have long track records of supporting housing, as reflected in Table 1.


Table 1. Top Ten US Foundations Awarding Grants for Housing and Shelter,
2000
Foundation Total Awards Total Grants

The McKnight Foundation $27,575,000 24

Fannie Mae Foundation $11,247,965 248

The Blandin Foundation $8,020,000 4

Lilly Endowment, Inc. $7,400,540 8

The Columbus Foundation and $6,236,920 28
Affiliated Organizations

Marin Community Foundation $5,697,770 22

The Bush Foundation $5,261,978 8

El Pomar Foundation $5,219,500 8

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur $4,818,500 24
Foundation

Citigroup Foundation $3,991,000 123

Totals $85,469,173 497
Source: Foundation Center 2000c.

Not all foundations are national in scope with huge assets. There were over 50,000 grant-
making foundations in the United States in 2000, a substantial increase since 1985, when there
were only 5,100 such foundations (Foundation Center 2002a). Community foundations are
growing in asset size and numbers of grants made. In 2000, the ten largest community
foundations alone made more than $702 million in grants.

Like corporate funders, most foundations favor traditional charities related to the arts and
education. Case in point: according to the Foundation Center, of the $27.6 billion dollars in
foundation grants made in 2000, 1.3 percent were for housing and shelter-related purposes
(Renz and Lawrence 2001, 3; Foundation Center 2000a). However, some funders are
progressive and more innovative in their approach. Perhaps the best news for rural nonprofits
is that many of the largest foundations explicitly support rural housing efforts. These may be
small, such as the James C. Penney Foundation, or extremely large, like the Ford Foundation,
whose endowment exceeded $14.5 billion in 2000 (Ford Foundation 2002). Generally
speaking, national foundations tend to focus on larger-scale solutions to social problems, while
community and regional foundations support more modest local approaches to local problems.
Each has its own philosophical vantage point and political emphasis; some focus on public
policy while others support direct services. Some support “asset-building” and homeownership
while others concentrate on emergency needs.


Regardless of their size, foundations tend to be very specific about what communities they
serve and which activities they will and will not fund. Foundations list so many activities for
which they will not provide funds that one often wonders what is left to support. Some
foundations do not support building/construction efforts, while others will not fund operating
budgets. For rural nonprofits attempting to raise administrative funds, deciphering exactly
what foundations will and will not fund is important. Fortunately, fundraising directories and
a funder’s prospectus will spell out these limitations. To make matters more complicated, one
foundation’s definition of operating funds can be very different from another’s. For example,
are administrative overhead expenses related to a specific program or project “operating funds”
or “program funds”?

A general rule is that foundations prefer to support special projects rather than established
programs. As illustrated in Table 2, foundations gave three times more money to support
program development than they did for general support in 2000. This presents a danger to
rural nonprofits, who may be tempted to launch a new program in order to attract funding.
Many nonprofits respond to this temptation by recasting existing programs in a new light. It is
possible to pitch your program in many different ways depending on what a given foundation
is likely to support, but there is a danger in taking liberties with definitions. Grant makers see
a lot of grant applications, and are probably familiar with any strategy a nonprofit might use
to get around established funding limitations.

Table 2. Foundation Giving by Type of Support, 2000 (dollars in thousands)
Type of Support Dollar Average Number of
Volume Grant Grants
General Support (operating) $2,100,341 $90,170 23,293
Capital Support (capital campaigns, $3,396,964 $238,954 14,216
etc.)
Program Support $6,870,895 $152,887 44,941
Research $1,588,386 $244,442 6,498
Student Aid $1,065,565 $214,615 4,965
Other (TA, program evaluation, etc.) $336,146 $221,003 1,521
Not Specified $2,503,148 $69,487 36,023
Total $17,861,445 $1,231,558 131,457
Source: Foundation Center 2000d.

Programmatic Sources of Operating Income

Rural housing organizations should not overlook the income-generation potential of their own
projects. Project income in excess of costs is a great source of operating income. Balancing
the need to keep housing as affordable as possible with the need to generate income is a
constant tension. But the healthiest, most stable nonprofits will get administrative funding
from a wide range of sources, including their own projects.


Investing organizational equity wisely can also generate operating income. Larger groups that
have been able to accumulate net assets over time often find that they can augment their
operating budget with investment income. Similarly, organizations that are able to attract
program-related investments (PRIs) from investors may be able to invest the balance of their
awards before funds are actually used. HAC does not recommend investing these funds rather
than using them for the purposes intended by the investor, but large amounts of cash invested
wisely (and safely) for short periods of time can add up.


STRATEGIES FOR ACCESSING FUNDS

The key to unlocking all of the resources mentioned in this guide is research. Each foundation
has extensive guidelines about what types of activities it will not fund. Each corporation has
public relations goals that inform its giving priorities. And most churches have limited
resources with which to address voluminous social goals. All receive infinitely more
applications than they can fund. A nonprofit’s ability to match its needs with the program
goals of potential funding sources is the single most important contributor to successful
fundraising.

Reference Materials

Fortunately, some excellent resources exist to help rural nonprofits conduct fundraising
research. The Foundation Center is the one-stop shop for most of this information. Based in
New York City, the Foundation Center publishes the definitive annual directories and subject
subdirectories of foundations in the United States. These reference materials provide an
extensive profile of each foundation, with information about how to contact the foundation, its
financial data, purposes and activities, fields of interest and type of support, funding
limitations, application information and deadlines, officers and trustees, and a list of selected
recent grants. These directories are extremely expensive. The 2002 Foundation Directory sells
for $215, far beyond the budget of many nonprofit organizations. However, the Foundation
Center does provide the Foundation Directory Online service, which gives organizations a
choice of various subscription plans starting at $19.95 a month.

The Foundation Center has regional libraries in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta,
Cleveland, and San Francisco where all Center publications are available for free to the public.
There are also 210 cooperating libraries nationwide (for a list, call the Foundation Center or
access its website at www.fdcenter.org). Appendix A includes a list of over 150 foundations
interested in rural housing that was culled from these directories. Concentrate especially on
community and regional foundations working in your area; these have a demonstrated
commitment to supporting charitable activities in your geographic region and thus are an
excellent place to start.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is another excellent source of information about funding trends.
This publication is perhaps most relevant for larger organizations (because it focuses on larger
foundations and national trends), but it provides regular summaries of recent grants made
and identifies funding trends that can affect nonprofits in all regions and communities. The
Chronicle can be accessed free via its website (philanthropy.com). The Grantsmanship Center
Magazine, Foundation News & Commentary, and Nonprofit Times all offer additional insights
into strategies for successful fundraising and trends in foundation and corporate giving. (See
Appendix D for contact information.)


Resources on Submitting Successful Applications

The Foundation Center and the Grantsmanship Center both offer comprehensive technical
support for fundraisers in the form of conference, trainings, and publications. Because
training sessions and conferences tend to be expensive and are almost always offered in urban
areas, most rural nonprofits would be best served by accessing written materials on grant
writing and fundraising. (Several publishers concentrate exclusively on fundraising titles. See
Appendix D for a list.) The Foundation Center’s short, simple Guide to Proposal Writing is a
good place to start.

These and other publications lay out the planning steps required for successful program
concepts and provide outlines for successful grant applications. They are a good way for new
fundraisers to familiarize themselves with the language and cadence of grant writing. These
and other materials can also provide useful tips for rural nonprofits to cultivate funder
contacts and manage grants.

Internet Resources

The internet is a superb source of information for nonprofit organizations in rural areas.
Using resources readily available online, rural nonprofits can learn about how to write a
winning proposal, access lists of possible funders, research individual foundations, and
uncover current funding trends. The trick with the internet is to filter the volumes of available
information into kernels that address your organization’s specific needs.

Using regular search engines (like Yahoo, Lycos, and Google) is not a good way to start. These
“gophers” do not filter information efficiently when searching broad topics. It is better to start
with funder-related websites, almost all of which have extensive links to other resources. The
five sites listed below help rural nonprofits to access a wealth of information.

The Foundation Center (www.fdncenter.org). The Foundation Center’s website is an excellent
way to access the Center’s services. The website includes a publications list and calendar of
trainings and seminars, with order and registration forms. It also allows beginning
fundraisers to browse through basic overviews of the grant-seeking process. One of the site’s
best features is a set of extensive links to corporate, family, and community foundations’ sites.

Internet Prospector (www.internet-prospector.org). Besides providing fundraising news and
links to foundations, this website has extensive links to nonprofit management sites, including
those on fundraising and strategic planning.

FundsNet Online Services (www.fundsnetservices.com). FundsNet’s website has perhaps the
most extensive links to corporate, family, and community foundations’ sites available on the
internet. It also offers guides on fundraising in general and grant writing in particular.

Council on Foundations (www.cof.org). This site is similar to FundsNet’s, with links to many
of the same resources. The advantage of this site is that the Council is the professional


association of foundations, so unlike the Foundation Center, it does not have a product to sell
(other than the services of its members).

Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) (www.nfg.org). NFG is a national network of
grantmakers working to expand support for organizations that help low-income people
improve their communities. Please note that the NFG, and the related National Rural Funders
Collaborative (www.nrfc.org), are groups of funders working together to set priorities and
policies. Individual members make grants but the collective groups do not. Periodically
reviewing their websites can, however, give you a sense for what kinds of projects member
groups might fund in the future.

This primer concentrates on nongovernmental sources of administrative and operating funds,
but it should be noted that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development website
(www.hud.gov) has a section on private administrative funding for housing organizations with
links to major foundations.


CONCLUSION

The tasks required for successful housing development are similar to the tasks that must be
performed for fundraising. If you can search for and identify potential building sites you can
complete the research fundraising requires. If you can put together a strong development
team and coordinate contractors, you can surely facilitate an effective fundraising planning
process. And if you can negotiate with lenders and market the housing units, pitching your
organization to funders will seem easy. Careful, realistic planning, thorough research,
systematic implementation, and building productive community partnerships along with
housing units: the efforts that make for successful rural housing lead to successful fundraising.


REFERENCES

Bryson, John M. 1991. Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Center for Community Change. 1997. “Grassroots Grants: A Book for the Rest of Us.”
Community Change. Issue 19: 13.

Ford Foundation. 2002. The Ford Foundation Annual Report, 2001. [online] New York: Ford
Foundation [cited 4 June 2002]. Available from World Wide Web:
<http://www.fordfound.org>.

Foundation Center. 2000a. Distribution of Foundation Grants by Subject Categories, circa 2000
[online] New York: The Foundation Center. Available from World Wide Web:
<http://www.fdncenter.org/fc_stats/pdf/04_fund_sub/2000/10_00.pdf>.

______. 2000b. 50 Largest Foundations by Total Giving, 2000. [online] New York: The
Foundation Center [cited 5 June 2002]. Available from World Wide Web:
<http://www.fdncenter.org>.

______. 2000c. Top 50 U.S. Foundations Awarding Grants for Housing and Shelter, circa 2000
[online] New York: The Foundation Center [cited 3 June 2002]. Available from World Wide
Web: <http://www.fdncenter.org>.

______. 2000d. Types of Support Awarded by Foundations, circa 2000 [online] New York: The

______. 2004. Guide to Proposal Writing. 4th ed. New York: The Foundation Center. An
extensive synopsis of this guide is available free on the Center’s website:

______. 2002a. The Foundation Directory. 2002 ed. New York: The Foundation Center.

______. 2002b. Highlights of the Foundation Center’s Foundation Giving Trends, 2002 Edition.
[online] New York: The Foundation Center [cited 7 June 2002]. Available from World Wide
Web: <http://www.fdncenter.org>.

______. 2002c. Online Orientation to the Grantseeking Process. [online] New York: The
<http://fdncenter.org/onlib/orient/intro6.html>.

Renz, Loren and Stephen Lawrence. 2002. Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates, 2001
Preview. New York: The Foundation Center.

Robinson, Andy. 1996. Grassroots Grants: An Activist’s Guide to Proposal Writing. San
Francisco: Chardon Press.


APPENDICES


Appendix A: Foundations with a Track Record of Funding Rural Housing and Community Development

Region Zip Average
Organization Address City State Served Code Notes Grant
BankAmerica Foundation Bank of America Center, Dept. San Francisco CA AK,AZ,HI,ID,IL 94137 Not for government-funded programs, $75,000
3246 ,NM,NY,OR,TX endowments, fundraising events
PO Box 37000
The J.L. Bedsole Foundation PO Box 1137 Mobile AL AL 36633 Focus on southwestern region of state. $35,000
Benjamin & Roberta Russell Ed. & PO Box 272 Alexander City AL AL 35010 $12,500
Charit. Foundation
The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation 308 East Eighth Street Little Rock AR AR 72202 Giving primarily in AR; not for n/a
endowments, deficit financing, general
support, travel, research, building funds
Levi Strauss Foundation PO Box 7215 San Francisco CA AR, CA, FL, 94102690 Not for endowments, capital campaigns, $50,000
GA, KY, MS, 6 research, conferences, films
TN, NV, NM,
NC, TX, VA
Walton Family Foundation 125 West Central Bentonville AR AR, MS 72712529 Focus on the Delta; not for endowments, $40,000
Suite 217 3 travel, or start-up
Arizona Community Foundation 2122 East Highland Ave., Phoenix AZ AZ 85016 Not for deficit funding, annual $100,000
Suite 400 campaigns, endowments, conferences,
or land costs.
Margaret T. Morris Foundation PO Box 592 Prescott AZ AZ 86302 not for religious organizations $22,000
The US WEST Foundation 7800 East Orchard Road Englewood CO AZ, CO, IA, ID, 80111 Not for endowment funds, deficit $50,000
Suite 300 MN, MT, ND, financing, trips
NE, NM, SD,
OR, UT, WA
The Ahmanson Foundation 9215 Wilshire Blvd Beverly Hills CA CA 90210 Primarily Southern CA; not for annual $25,000
campaigns, deficit financing
S.H. Cowell Foundation 120 Montgomery Street San Francisco CA CA 94104 Focus on Northern CA; not for operating $100,000
Suite 2570 funds, annual campaigns, routine
operations.
Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund One Lombard Street San Francisco CA CA 94111 Serving San Francisco and Alameda $75,000
Suite 305 Counties. Not for deficit or emergency
funding, workshops, fundraising events,
annual appeals, conferences, capital or
endowment campaigns.

18

The James Irvine Foundation One Market San Francisco CA CA 94105 not for agencies receiving significant n/a
Spear Tower, Suite 1715 government support, operating budgets,
continuing support, annual campaigns,
deficit funds, endowments, or debt
reduction.
Koret Foundation 33 New Montgomery Street San Francisco CA CA 94105450 Serving Bay Area, Alameda, Contra $20,000
Suite 1090 9 Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, and San
Mateo counties. Not for fundraising,
endowments, deficits
Marin Community Foundation 17 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Larkspur CA CA 94939 Marin County only. Not for planning $50,000
Suite 200 initiatives, research, or capital projects
The David & Lucille Packard 300 Second Street Los Altos CA CA 94022 Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, $25,000
Foundation Suite 200 and Monterey Counties, CA. Not for
computer purchases, endowments
Peninsula Community Foundation 1700 South El Camino Real San Mateo CA CA 94402304 Serving San Mateo and northern Santa n/a
No 300 9 Clara counties, CA. Not for endowments,
capital campaigns, building or land
acquisition, deficit financing.
The Weingart Foundation 1055 West Seventh Street Los Angeles CA CA 90017230 Southern CA only. Not for endowments, $25,000
Suite 3050 5 normal operations, annual campaigns,
deficit financing, land, conferences,
travel.
The James Irvine Foundation Spear Tower, Suite 1715 San Francisco CA CA 94105 Not for operating budgets, annual $100,000
campaigns, endowment funds, deficit
financing, research, scholarships,
publications, films, debt reduction
Pacific Bell Foundation c/o Pacific Telesis Group San Francisco CA CA and NV 94108 Not for religious organizations, for capital $25,000
130 Kearny St, Suite 3309 projects, endowments, general
operations, emergency funds
Wallace Alexander Gerbode 470 Columbus Avenue San Francisco CA CA, HI 94133 Serving Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, $15,000
Foundation Suite 209 San Francisco, and San Mateo counties
in CA and HI. Not for: direct services,
deficit budgets, general operations,
fundraising campaigns
Adolph Coors Foundation 3773 Cherry Creek North Drive Denver CO CO 80209 Not for endowments, research, media $15,000
Suite 955 projects, deficits or debt retirement
Boettcher Foundation 600 17th St. Suite 2210 South Denver CO CO 80202 Not for endowments $50,000
Community Foundation for Palm Beach 324 Datura Street West Palm FL FL 33401543 Not for endowments, operating funds, $10,000
& Martin Cnt Suite 340 Beach 1 building, annual campaigns
George W. Jenkins Foundation PO Box 407 Lakeland FL FL 33802040 $50,000
7

19

William Selby & Marie Selby 1800 Second Street Sarasota FL FL 34236 Serving Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, $30,000
Foundation Suite 905 and DeSoto Counties, FL. Not for
general purposes, annual campaigns,
deficit financing, operating budgets,
special projects, endowments, travel,
conferences, fundraising
The Sapelo Foundation 308 Mallory Street St. Simons GA GA 31522 Not for capital, emergency, or $10,000
Suite C Island endowment funds, deficit financing or
publications; no loans
Hawaii Community Foundation 900 Fort Street Mall Suite 1300 Honolulu HI HI 96813 Not for annual campaigns; no loans. $15,000
McInerny Foundation PO Box 3170 Honolulu HI HI 96802317 Not for religious institutions, $20,000
0 endowments, deficit financing, research,
loans
Northwest Area Foundation E-1201 First National Bank Bldng St. Paul MN ID, IA, MN, 55101137 Not for scholarships, endowments, $100,000
332 Minnesota Ave MT, SD, ND, 3 media, equipment, operating budgets,
OR, WA capital campaigns, conferences,
expansion of established programs
The Joyce Foundation 135 South Lasalle Street Chicago IL IL, IN, IA, MI, 60603 Not for endowment or building funds, $100,000
Suite 4010 MN, WI, OH annual campaigns, research or deficit
financing
Lilly Endowment PO Box 88068 Indianapolis IN IN 46208 $100,000
Dane G. Hansen Foundation PO Box 187 Logan KS KS 67646 Giving in Northwestern KS. $20,000
James Graham Brown Foundation 132 East Gray Street Louisville KY KY 40202 Emphasis on Louisville but statewide $50,000
giving.
The Gheens Foundation One Riverfront Plaza Louisville KY KY 40202 Giving in KY, with emphasis on Louisville $30,000
Suite 705
Fidelity Foundation 82 Devonshire Street S3 Boston MA KY, MA, OH, 21093614 Not for start-up organizations or for $10,000
TX, UT media projects.
The Steele-Reese Foundation c/o Messrs Davidson, Dawson & New York NY KY, TN, VA, ID 10017 Southern Appalachia, esp. KY, NW US, $12,500
Clark esp. ID. Not for conferences, annual
330 Madison Avenue campaigns, workshops, seed money,
emergency or building funds, research,
land acquisition, loans
Energy Corporate Giving Program 225 Baronne Street New Orleans LA LA 70112 Funding for the MS Delta n/a
Amelia Peabody Foundation 30 Western Avenue Gloucester MA MA 1966 Not for endowments; no loans $25,000
The Mabel Louise Riley Foundation c/o Grants Management Boston MA MA 2110 Emphasis on Boston and Cape Cod. $50,000
Associates Not for operating budgets, emergency
230 Congress Street, 3rd Floor funds, annual campaigns, conferences,
travel; no loans.

20

Community Foundation of Western 1500 Main Street Suite 1800 Springfield MA MA 1115 Western MA, emphasis on Hampden $10,000
Mass PO Box 15769 County.
The Abell Foundation 111 South Calvert Street Baltimore MD MD 21202617 Giving in MD with emphasis on Baltimore. $50,000
Suite 2300 4 Not for housing facilities, or for operating
Eugene B. Casey Foundation 800 South Frederick Ave. Gaithersburg MD MD 20877410 $50,000
Suite 100 2
The Jacob & Anita France Foundation The Exchange, Suite 118 Baltimore MD MD 21204 Giving in MD, with emphasis on Baltimore $20,000
1122 Kenilworth Drive
Agnes M. Lindsay Trust 238 Central Street Hudson NH ME, MA, NH, 2051 $10,000
VT
NBD Bank Charitable Trust 611 Woodward Avenue Detroit MI MI 48226 Emphasis on Detroit. $20,000
Herrick Foundation PO Box 2014 Bloomfield Hills MI MI, KY, IN, 48303201 $20,000
MS, OH, TN, 4
WI
The Blandin Foundation 100 Pokegama Ave. North Grand Rapids MN MN 55744 Emphasis on rural areas. Not for $20,000
operating budgets, annual campaigns,
deficit financing, endowments,
publications, travel, conferences
Central Minnesota Community 101 South Seventh Ave. St. Cloud MN MN 56301 Central MN. $20,000
Foundation Suite 200
The McKnight Foundation Suite 600 TCF Tower Minneapolis MN MN 55402 Emphasis on Twin Cities. Not for $75,000
121 South 8th Street endowments, scholarships, conferences,
national fundraising
The Minnesota Foundation 600 Norwest Center St. Paul MN MN 55101 $10,000
The Musser Fund 3733 West 50th Street Box 119 Minneapolis MN MN, CO, NY, 55410 n/a
WY, HI
The Bush Foundation E-900 First National Bank Bldng St. Paul MN MN, SD, ND 55101 Not for continuing operating support, $50,000
332 Minnesota Street debt retirement.
William T. Kemper Foundation PO Box 13095 Kansas City MO MO, KS, IL 64199309 Not for conferences, endowments or $20,000
5 fundraising events.
The Kathleen Price Bryan Family Fund One North Pointe, Suite 170 Greensboro NC NC 27408 Emphasis on Greensboro and rural NC. $15,000
3101 North Elm Street Not for annual fund drives, research,
media, conferences, travel or loans
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Inc. 101 Reynolda Village Winston-Salem NC NC 27106519 not for research, loans, or PRIs $25,000
9
The Winston-Salem Foundation 310 West Fourth Street Winston-Salem NC NC 27101288 Giving primarily in Forsyth County. Giving $30,000
Suite 229 9 in Forsyth County and NW NC. Not for
annual campaigns, land acquisition,
publications or conferences

21

James G. K. McClure Fund Sugar Hollow Farm Fairview NC NC 28730 Western NC only. Not for endowments, $2,500
11 Sugar Hollow Lane no loans
Kathleen Price & Joseph M. Bryan One North Pointe, Suite 170 Greensboro NC NC 27408 Emphasis on Greensboro and rural $15,000
Family Found 3101 North Elm Street areas. Not for annual fund drives,
meetings, research, conferences, no
loans.
Cumberland Community Foundation PO Box 2171 Fayetteville NC NC 28302217 Giving primarily in Cumberland County, $25,000
1 NC
Bank of Boston Foundation 100 Federal Street, MABOS Boston MA NE 2110 Emphasis on Southern NE. $12,000
01-28-04
Peter Kiewit Foundation 1200 Woodmen Tower Omaha NE NE, IA 68102 Western IA only. Not for endowment n/a
17th and Farnam Street funds or annual campaigns.
The New Hampshire Charitable 37 Pleasant St Concord NH NH 33014005 Not for building funds, endowments, $25,000
Foundation operating support, deficit financing or
capital campaigns, land acquisition.
The Fund for New Jersey 94 Church Street New Brunswick NJ NJ 8901 Not for capital projects, equipment, $30,000
Suite 303 endowment funds, scholarships
McCune Charitable Foundation 123 East Marcy St. Suite 201 Santa Fe NM NM 87501 Emphasis on northern NM. No $15,000
endowments.
The Bullit Foundation 1212 Minor Ave Seattle WA NW US 98101282 Not for capital campaigns $20,000
5
The Samuel S. Johnson Foundation PO Box 356 Redmond WA NW US 97756 Not for annual campaigns, deficit n/a
financing, construction, endowments
A Territory Resource 603 Stewart Seattle WA NW US 98101 ID, MT, OR, WA, and WY only. Not for $6,000
Suite 1007 legal expenses, research, scholarships,
or publications
The Clark Foundation 30 Wall Street New York NY NY 10005 Emphasis on Upstate and NYC. Not for $50,000
deficit financing or matching funds.
Gebbie Foundation Hotel Jamestown Building, Room Jamestown NY NY 14702127 Chautauqua County and Western NY. $50,000
308 7
PO Box 1277
A. Lindsay & Olive B. O'Connor PO Box D Hobart NY NY 13788 Delaware County, NY and surrounding $30,000
Foundation rural areas. Not for operating budgets or
deficit financing.
Utica Foundation 270 Genesee Street Utica NY NY 13502 Giving only in Herkimer and Oneida $25,000
Counties. Not for endowments or deficit
financing, operating budgets, or loans
The J.M. Kaplan Fund 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York NY NY 10112 Not for building funds $50,000
Suite 4250

22

Marble Fund c/o Rosenberg Selsman and Co. New York NY NY 10017 $10,000
655 Third Ave., Suite 1610
Richland County Foundation 24 West Third Street, Mansfield OH OH 44902120 Richland County only. Not for annual $15,000
Suite 100 9 campaigns, operating or maintenance
funds or travel
McCasland Foundation McCasland Building PO Box 400 Duncan OK OK 73534 $15,000
Presbyterian Health Foundation 711 Stanton L. Young Blvd Oklahoma City OK OK 73104 $25,000
Suite 1102
Sarkeys Foundation 116 South Peters Norman OK OK 73069 Not for operating support, start-up $30,000
Suite 219 funding, feasibility studies, vehicles.
The J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation 3000 Mid-Continent Tower Tulsa OK OK, AR, KS, 74103401 Not for research, endowment funds, $100,000
401 South Boston MO, NM, TX 7 operating expenses, or loans
The Oregon Community Foundation 621 SW Morrison Portland OR OR 97205 Not for emergency funding, endowments, $30,000
Suite 725 annual campaigns, deficit financing,
media, conferences, loans
The Carpenter Foundation 711 East Main Street, Suite 10 Medford OR OR 97501 Jackson and Josephine counties only. $7,000
PO Box 816 Not for deficit financing, endowments, or
demonstration programs.
The Ford Family Foundation c/o Roseburg Forest Products Roseburg OR OR, CA 97470 OR and Northern CA. $25,000
PO Box 1550
Eden Hall Foundation 600 Grant Street Pittsburgh PA PA 15219 Western PA. Not for operating budgets, $25,000
Suite 3232 deficit financing, general fundraising
campaigns.
The Erie Community Foundation 127 West Sixth Street Erie PA PA 16501100 Erie County, PA only. Not for deficit $15,000
1 financing.
Howard Heinz Endowment 30 CNG Tower Pittsburgh PA PA 15222311 Emphasis on Pittsburgh and Western $50,000
625 Liberty Ave 5 PA.
Vira I. Heinz Endowment 30 CNG Tower 625 Liberty Ave. Pittsburgh PA PA 15222311 $10,000
5
Lehigh Valley Community Foundation 961 Marcon Blvd Allentown PA PA 18103952 Not for operating budgets, annual $13,000
Suite 110 1 campaigns, deficit financing,
endowments, research
McCune Foundation 750 Six PPG Place Pittsburgh PA PA 15222 SW PA. Not for general operations. $100,000
Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust c/o PNC Bank MS:P3-POLV-27-1 Pittsburgh PA PA 15222260 $35,000
One Oliver Plaza, 210 Sixth Ave. 2
Puerto Rico Community Foundation Royal Bank Center Bldng Hato Rey PR PR 917 Not for religious organizations, annual $25,000
Suite 1417 campaigns, seed money, endowments,
deficit financing, building funds

23

The Champlin Foundation 410 South Main Street Providence RI RI 2903 Not for general support, program or $15,000
operating budgets, special projects,
conferences, research
The Rhode Island Foundation 70 Elm Street Providence RI RI 2903 Not for endowments, annual campaigns, $15,000
or deficit financing, no loans
Foundation for the Carolinas PO Box 34769 Charlotte NC SC, NC 28234476 Emphasis on the Central Piedmont $30,000
9 region. No deficit financing, capital
campaigns, operating budgets,
publications, conferences, travel, or
endowment funds
Amoco Foundation 200 East Randolph Drive Chicago IL SC, VA 60601 Urban giving plus South Carolina and $20,000
Virginia; not for annual campaigns,
endowments, capital or building funds,
conferences, media, travel.
South Dakota Community Foundation 203 East Capitol Pierre SD SD 57501029 $15,000
PO Box 296 6
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation 102 Reynolda Village Winston-Salem NC SE US 27106512 Emphasis on GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, $35,000
3 north and central FL, and Appalachia.
Not for endowments, building funds,
media, scholarships, research, loans.
Bert & Mary Meyer Foundation 2913 Corrine Drive Orlando FL SE US 32803 Giving limited to rural SE. $5,000
Mellon Bank Foundation c/o Mellon Bank Corp. Pittsburgh PA SW PA 15258000 Not for emergency funds, deficit $40,000
One Mellon Bank Ctr., Rm 1830 1 financing, endowments, equipment, land
acquisition, research, publications, travel,
conferences.
Richard King Mellon Foundation One Mellon Bank Center Pittsburgh PA SW PA 15219250 $100,000
500 Grant Street, 41st Floor, Suite 2
4106
The R.W. Fair Foundation PO Box 689 Tyler TX SW US 75710 Emphasis on TX. Not for operating $15,000
budgets
The Fondren Foundation 7 TCT 37 Houston TX SW US 77252803 Emphasis on TX $38,000
PO Box 2558 7
The Samual Roberts Noble Foundation PO Box 2180 Ardmore OK SW US; OK 73402 SW US with emphasis on Oklahoma. No $35,000
loans.
The Thompson Charitable Foundation c/o Monica Luke Knoxville TN TN, KY, VA 37939 Knox, Anderson, Scott and Blount $35,000
PO Box 10516 counties, TN; Bell, Clay, Laurel, and
Leslie counties, KY; Buchanan and
Tazewell counties, VA. Not for budget
deficits or endowments.
Abell-Hanger Foundation PO Box 430 Midland TX TX 79702 Emphasis on Permian Basin. $25,000

24

The Don & Sybil Harrington Foundation 700 First National Place I Amarillo TX TX 79101 26 northernmost counties. Not for $15,000
801 South Filmore operating support, annual campaigns,
endowments, deficit financing,
demonstration programs, publications
Hillcrest Foundation c/o NationsBankof Texas Trust Dallas TX TX 75283024 Emphasis on Dallas. Not for $25,000
Division 1 endowments
PO Box 830241
Meadows Foundation Wilson Historic Block Dallas TX TX 75204609 Not for annual fundraising appeals, $50,000
3003 Swiss Ave 0 conferences, travel outside TX.
Hal & Charlie Peterson Foundation 741 Water Street, Suite 210 Kerrville TX TX 78029 Kerr County, TX. Not for operating $20,000
PO Box 871 budget, debt reduction, media,
publications, endowments
The Pineywoods Foundation PO Box 3659 Lufkin TX TX 75903 Limited to Angelina, Cherokee, Houston, $10,000
Jasper, Nacogadoches, Panola, Polk,
Sabine, St. Augustine, San Jacinto,
Shelby, Trinity and Tyler. Not for salaries
or annual operating budgets
W. K. Kellogg Foundation One Michigan Avenue East Battle Creek MI US 49017405 Not for building or endowment funds, $100,000
8 research, development campaigns,
movies, conferences, operating budgets,
annual campaigns, emergency funds,
land acquisition or rehab; no loans
The Kresge Foundation 3215 West Big Beaver Road Troy MI US 48007315 Not for operating or special project $300,000
PO Box 3151 1 budgets, endowments, conferences,
debt retirement, research, or general
purposes
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Office of Proposal Entry Flint MI US 48502185 Not generally for building or endowment $50,000
1200 Mott Foundation Bldng 1 funds, research.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation 4900 Oak Street Kansas City MO US 64112277 Emphasis on Kansas City area. $50,000
6
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation PO Box 2316 Princeton NJ US 85432316 Not for general operating expenses, $300,000
endowments, land or rehab, research
The Prudential Foundation Prudential Plaza Newark NJ US 71023777 Emphasis on NJ, CA, FL, MN, PA. Not $25,000
751 Broad Street for general operating funds,
endowments, or loans.
BT Foundation 280 Park Ave New York NY US 10017 Emphasis on NY. Not for endowment $30,000
campaigns
The Ford Foundation 320 East 43rd Street New York NY US 10017 Not for routine operations, construction. $200,000
The Hearst Foundation 888 Seventh Ave, 45th Floor New York NY US 10106005 Not for media projects, conferences, $35,000
7 workshops, or fundraising events

25

The F. B. Heron Foundation c/o Rockefeller Financial Services New York NY US 10112 $50,000
30 Rockefeller Plaza, Room 5600
Fannie Mae Foundation 4000 Wisconsin Ave., NW Washington DC US 20016 not for religious groups $50,000
The Public Welfare Foundation 2600 Virginia Ave., NW Washington DC US 20037197 Not for capital improvements or building, $50,000
Room 505 7 endowments, conferences, research
John S. & James L. Knight Foundation One Biscayne Tower Suite 3800 Miami FL US 33131180 Not for annual fundraising campaigns, $100,000
Two South Biscayne Blvd 3 general operating support, media
The Allstate Foundation 2775 Sanders Road Northbrook IL US 60062612 Not for annual campaigns, endowments, $15,000
Suite F4 7 building funds, capital campaigns,
fundraising events, media, or travel
John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur 140 South Dearborn Street Chicago IL US 60635285 Not for capital or endowment campaigns, $50,000
Foundation Suite 1100 equipment, publications, conferences,
debt retirement, development campaigns
The Annie E. Casey Foundation 701 Saint Paul Street Baltimore MD US 21202 Not for capital projects $75,000
The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg 5518 Batimore National Pike Baltimore MD US 21228 $100,000
Foundation
The Oak Foundation c/o Price Waterhouse (ITS) San Francisco CA US 94104 $25,000
555 California Street, Suite 3800
The Needmor Foundation 2305 Canyon Blvd Boulder CO US 80302 Not for endowments, deficit financing, n/a
Suite 101 operating support for community
services, replacement of lost government
funding, land or buildings, media
projects.
GE Fund 3135 Easton Turnpike Fairfield CT US 6431 Not for capital or endowment funds $50,000
Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation 218 East 18th Street New York NY US 10003 Not for capital or endowment funds, $25,000
construction, annual campaigns, travel or
conferences, media, matching gifts,
publications
The New World Foundation 100 East 85th Street New York NY US 10028 Not for general operating budgets, deficit $25,000
financing, capital, building, or
endowment funds
Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation Six East 39th Street New York NY US 10016 Emphasis on Southern US (including SE $15,000
12th Floor and SC); not for endowments, deficit
financing, capital construction, land
acquisition, conferences, media,
research
The Rockefeller Foundation 420 Fifth Avenue New York NY US 10018270 Not for capital or endowment funds, or $100,000
2 general support
Surdna Foundation 330 Madison Ave., 30th Floor New York NY US 10017500 Not for capital campaigns, building funds, $100,000
1 endowments, or land acquisition

26

E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter PO Box 58880 Philadelphia PA US 19102888 Eastern US. Not for church $20,000
Foundation 0 organizations.
Scaife Family Foundation Three Mellon Bank Center Pittsburgh PA US 15219170 $75,000
525 William Penn Place, Suite 8
3900
The Hearst Foundation: Eastern 888 Seventh Ave New York NY US 10106005 Not for media projects, conferences, $35,000
Applications 45th Floor 7 special events, loans
The Hearst Foundation: Western 90 New Montgomery Street San Francisco CA US 94105 Not for media projects, conferences, $35,000
Applications Suite 1212 special events, loans
The Abelard Foundation 2530 San Pablo Ave Berkeley CA US 94702 western and southern states only. Not n/a
Suite 6 for building or endowment funds, annual
campaigns, emergency funds, research,
media
The George S. & Dolores Dore Eccles Deseret Building Salt Lake City UT UT 84111 Not for endowments $75,000
Foundation 79 South Main Street, 12th Fl
The Community Foundation Serving 1025 Boulders Pkwy Richmond VA VA 23225 Richmond, Chesterfield, Hanover, and $15,000
Richmond & Central VA Suite 405 Henrico counties. Not for annual
campaigns, deficit financing, building
The Freeman Foundation c/o J.P. Morgan Services Wilmington DE VT 19899871 $25,000
PO Box 8714 4
Seafirst Foundation PO Box 34461 Seattle WA WA 98124166 Not for research, endowments, travel, $25,000
CSC - 31 1 media, publications, operating deficits,
fundraising events.
The Stewardship Foundation PO Box 1278 Tacoma WA WA 98401 not for seed money, endowments, deficit $12,000
financing, research,
Ben B. Chaney Foundation 1201 Pacific Ave Tacoma WA WA, OR, CA 98402 Only nine northernmost CA counties. $20,000
Suite 1600 Not for religious organizations, operating
budgets, research, endowments, media,
conferences
Patrick & Anna M. Cudahy Fund PO Box 11978 Milwaukee WI WI 53211 Not for endowments, loans $20,000
Claude Worthington Benedum 1400-Benedum Trees Bldg Pittsburgh PA WV and PA 15222 WV and SW PA. $30,000
Foundation
Wyoming Community Foundation PO Box 4008 Laramie WY WY 82071400 Not for capital campaigns, annual $20,000
8 campaigns, lobbying, or debt retirement

27

Appendix B
Religious Funders

Adrian Dominican Sisters Marianist Sharing Fund
Alternative Investment Fund 4301 Roland Ave.
1257 E. Siena Heights Dr. Baltimore, MD 21210-2793
Adrian, MI 49221 410-366-1324
517-266-3400
www.admc-op.org McAuley Institute
Revolving Loan Fund
Catholic Campaign for Human 8300 Colesville Rd., Ste. 310
Development Silver Spring, MD 20910
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 301-588-8110
3211 Fourth St. NE www.mccauley.org
Washington, DC 20017-1194
202-541-3000 Mercy Loan Fund
www.nccbuscc.org/cchd 1999 Broadway, Suite 1000
Denver, CO 80202
Claretian Social Development Fund 303-830-3333
Justice and Peace Committee www.mercyhousing.org
205 W. Monroe St.
Chicago, IL 60606 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
312-236-7782 100 Witherspoon St.
www.stjudeleague.org Louisville, KY 40202-1396
Women’s Ministry Unit
The Episcopal Church 502-569-5402
815 Second Ave. Community Development
New York, NY 10017-4594 502-569-5827
Presiding Bishop’s Funds Self-Development of People
212-922-5129 502-569-5783
United Thank Offering www.pcusa.org
212-922-5130
www.dfms.org Seton Enablement Fund
Sisters of Charity
Jewish Fund for Justice 5900 Delhi Rd.
Peace and Justice Office Mount St. Joseph, OH 45051
260 Fifth Ave. Ste. 701 513-347-5461
New York, NY 10001
212-213-2113 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
www.jfjustice.org Our Lady of Angels Convent
Aston, PA 19014
Leviticus 25:23 Alternative Fund 215-459-4125
928 McLean Avenue www.osfphila.org
Yonkers, NY 10704-4103
919-237-3306
www.leviticusfund.org


Stewardship Committee
Poverty, Justice and Peace Fund
1237 West Monroe Street
Springfield, IL 62704
217-787-0481

Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program
at Shelter Rock
48 Shelter Rock Rd.
Manhasset, NY 11030
516-627-6576
www.uucsr.org

Unitarian Universalist Funding Program
Fund for a Just Society
P.O. Box 40
Boston, MA 02117
www.uua.org

The United Methodist Church
Women’s Division
General Board of Global Ministries
Call to Prayer and Self-Denial Offering
Fund
475 Riverside Drive, Rm. 1503
New York, NY 10115
212-870-3600


Appendix D
Resources for Fundraising:
Guides to Grant Writing, Directories of Funders,
Books, and Periodicals

Organizations

The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003-3076. 1-800-424-9836
Publications on foundations and fundraising. Resource libraries in New York City, Cleveland,
Atlanta, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
www.fdncenter.org

The Grantsmanship Center, P.O. Box 17220, Los Angeles, CA 90017. 1-800-421-9512
Training workshops and magazine.
www.tgci.com

Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104.
Publications on fundraising and nonprofit management.
www.josseybass.com

The Taft Group, 645 Griswold Street, Detroit, MI 48226. 1-800-877-TAFT
Publications on corporate and foundation fundraising.
www.galegroup.com/taft.htm

Directories and Books

Browning, Beverly A. 2001. Grant Writing for Dummies. New York: Hungry Minds.

Center for Community Change. 1997. “Grassroots Grants: A Book for the Rest of Us.”
Community Change. Issue 19: 13.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. 2002. Coming Up With the Money: Community Development
Financing. St. Louis: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Flanagan, Joan. 1999. Successful Fundraising: A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and
Professionals. New York: Contemporary Books.

The Foundation Center. 2004. The Foundation Directory. 2004 ed. New York: The Foundation
Center.

. 2004. Guide to Proposal Writing. 4th ed. New York: The Foundation Center.

. 2003. National Directory of Corporate Giving. 9th ed. New York: The
Foundation Center.


Golden, Susan L. 1997. Secrets of Successful Grantsmanship. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Klein, Kim. 2000. Fundraising for Social Change. 4th ed. Oakland: Chardon Press.

Robinson, Andy. 1996. Grassroots Grants: An Activist’s Guide to Proposal Writing. Oakland:
Chardon Press.

Taft Group. 2002. Corporate Giving Directory. 20th ed. Chicago: Taft Group.

Periodicals

The Chronicle of Philanthropy
$67.50/yr (12 issues) from The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1255 23rd Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20037. 1-800-842-7817
www.philanthropy.com

The Grantsmanship Center Magazine
Free to nonprofits and government from The Grantsmanship Center, PO Box 17220, Los
Angeles, CA 90017. 1-800-421-9512
www.tgci.com/magazines/archives.asp

Foundation News & Commentary
$48/yr (12 issues) from the Council on Foundations, 1828 L Street NW, Suite 300, Washington,
DC 20036. 1-800-771-8187
www.foundationnews.org

Philanthropy Journal
A free web newsletter from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, P.O. Box 12800, Raleigh, NC 27601.
1-800-853-0801
www.philanthropyjournal.org

Nonprofit Times
Free from the Nonprofit Times, 120 Littleton Rd., Suite 120, Parsippany, NJ 07054-1803.
973-394-1800
www.nptimes.com


Fundraising is a challenge for all nonprofits. For nonprofit rural
housing organizations, packaging project financing is difficult, and
attracting operating funds is even more challenging. The good news
is that operating funds are available. This guide, an updated version
of a popular 1998 publication, is intended to help the staff and boards
of nonprofit housing developers in rural communities find those
funds. It discusses ways to review different types of funders, identify
possible sources of administrative or operating support, and establish
effective fundraising strategies. Resources available online are
highlighted throughout.

ISBN 1-58064-083-4

Fundrasing guide 1

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