“Why are most foundations reluctant to support endowments?”
Answer:
Foundations themselves are endowments, or large investment accounts that are restricted for a specific purpose. They make grants to organizations that conduct activities that relate to the Foundation’s stated purpose, generally with a time limited performance agreement (like a one year grant period). Because this is considered a “restricted” grant, or a charitable donation made with a specific purpose in mind, if the activities promised in the grant agreement are not completed, the organization would owe that money back to the Foundation. Endowments are long term investments, generally like a savings account that an organization will only withdraw from interest or at specific times and to cover things like operating deficits. Most Foundations do not support endowments because they prefer to support activities that will be completed within a limited period of time and not held indefinitely, and spent at some later, undetermined date.
“How would you recommend getting an appointment with a program officer to have that first conversation about how his or her foundation and your organization could work together?” What to do:
Call or e-mail them! Program officers’ jobs are to vet, review and make grants that are consistent with the purpose of the Foundation. Most of them are very willing to have an initial conversation (in person or via telephone) to determine the potential fit for your program with their funding priorities. Some homework you should do in advance of your first call:
- Find out whether they have ever supported your organization before, when, for how much, who was the main contact at the Foundation and what is the status of that project
- Determine the Foundation’s funding priorities (Foundation website, IRS form 990 or its record at the Foundation Center Library are good places to start), average grant size, preferred “first step” (i.e. do they require a letter of inquiry before they will accept a full proposal?), and any upcoming deadlines. Be respectful of upcoming deadlines. Those can be “crunch” times for program officers.
- Spend time outlining 2-3 possible projects that fit your organization’s needs and the funder’s priorities. This will give you a list to speak from as you talk to the program officer.
Request an in person meeting if it is appropriate (i.e. you are in the same city as the foundation or you will be visiting the city in which their offices are located) or a phone meeting if they prefer. Always offer to come to their offices for the first time to make it very convenient for them to meet with you. You can say something like,
“We at XYZ Organization have admired the work of the ABC Foundation in Boston, especially your focus on children. XYZ Organization is doing some very important work with children in Boston and would like the opportunity to see if ABC Foundation would be interested in supporting it with a grant. Would it be possible to meet with you in the coming weeks to explore this possibility?”
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