Category Archives: Uncategorized

Reflections on Full Cost from Voices in Contemporary Art

Guest blogger Lauren Shadford is executive director of Voices in Contemporary Art. In 2017, our small nonprofit Voices in Contemporary Art (VoCA) faced some serious growing pains. On the surface, there was much to celebrate: we had received transformative financial support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the good fortune of participating in the Foundation’s Comprehensive Organizational Health Initiative (COHI). Emboldened by our hard work and good fortune, &hellip

How Foundations Can Help Grantees Respond to COVID-19

Claire Knowlton recently participated in a conversation with a group of foundation leaders to discuss what nonprofit leaders need right now to weather the COVID-19 crisis on top of other crises that communities already face. The following are reflections and recommendations for what foundations can do differently to anchor their grantees and strengthen the social &hellip

Recovery Funds: Five Lessons from the PPP

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a lifeline for many businesses and nonprofits struggling with the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government moved funds to nonprofits and small businesses in record time to respond to mandated shutdowns. While PPP funds helped keep some organizations afloat, its implementation was marred by several failures &hellip

COVID-19 & Cash Reserves: How Government Funding Practices Left Nonprofits Unprepared

On March 27, NFF launched the NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund, designed to support NY human services and arts organizations with emergency, interest-free loans. As managers of the lending process, we reviewed hundreds of applications from nonprofits large and small, giving us a unique window into the state of the sector when the crisis &hellip

Essential Social Services Are Struggling to Survive the COVID-19 Crisis

Originally published in The Commonwealth Fund , June 1, 2020 Many nonprofit community-based organizations (CBOs) are struggling to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the specific challenges CBOs are facing, NFF, with support from the Commonwealth Fund, surveyed nonprofit leaders across different sectors. Those surveyed described long-term implications of the challenges of COVID-19. &hellip

Why Grantmakers Need to Break Their Restriction Habit—Permanently

Originally published in Nonprofit Quarterly , April 17, 2020 Recently, hundreds of grantmakers have lifted grant restrictions to allow nonprofits to better navigate the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. “This swift, bold action will give nonprofits the freedom to focus on the things most critical to their communities and to shift resources as needed. If &hellip

Who Will Pay for Partnerships that Address Social Determinants of Health?

Originally published in Grantmakers In Health , April 8, 2020 The importance of addressing social determinants of health in driving health outcomes has become widely accepted, and solid relationships between health care institutions and networks of community-based organizations (CBO’s) can improve health outcomes. However, questions about the true cost, and who should pay, remain. Based &hellip

A ‘New New Normal’ for Foundation Giving: 3 Acts That Will Make a Difference

Originally published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy , March 20, 2020 Social distancing is disrupting needed services and creates unexpected sharp declines in revenues for many nonprofit organizations. For those nonprofits, how foundations give money makes a difference, and many foundations are now showing flexibility in their funding practices. Here are three steps that foundations &hellip