As Archstone Foundation staff conducted an extensive review and analysis of our direct services grants program over recent months, the questions we kept before us were: What do nonprofits need to improve the vital services they provide? And what should Archstone Foundation’s role be?
We identified two key areas: capacity building, ranging from board and leadership development to technology improvements, and funding to bring forward innovative new programs to improve the lives of the people they serve. We also believe that concentrating our time and expertise, along with providing more substantial financial resources to make sustained change, will be a better use of our relatively scarce and specialized resources.
As a result, the Foundation is replacing the $15,000 direct service grants program with new grant opportunities targeting capacity building and innovations that will consider requests of up to $50,000 over one year. The new Requests for Proposals (RFPs) released by Archstone Foundation this week will help non-profit organizations serving older adults in California in ways the prior grants could not.
Since March, the COVID-19 crisis has turned a glaring light on gaps that have long existed in our health care system, especially regarding older adults, people of color, and the poor. Many nonprofits have been forced to turn on a dime and shift from in-person services to telehealth or other modes of delivery, and the global pandemic has greatly added to the strain on staff and resources.
In response, the Foundation will give extra consideration during the review process to proposals in either of the new grant categories that respond to the needs revealed by the pandemic.
Strengthening Core Capacities, Fostering New Approaches
Increasing the grant amounts to up to $50,000 will give nonprofits a little breathing room to be creative, strengthen systems, and create new linkages between health care and social services.
The Capacity Building Grants will offer badly needed funding for direct operational support, helping a nonprofit work more efficiently and effectively. Just one example: There are still agencies dealing manually with paper client records because they haven’t had the money to upgrade to software management tools. Going digital would free up staff to spend more time focusing on the nonprofit’s core mission, rather than painstakingly processing paper by hand. In addition to technology improvements, other examples of the types of activities we are seeking to support with the Capacity Building Grants include: planning activities, board and leadership development, strategic relationships, internal operations, developing new sources for earned income, and augmenting evaluation capacity.
The Innovations Grants will enable nonprofits to offer a new evidence-based program or service line to its clients. It might even help them take a new program or service that has worked on a smaller scale to the next level. The grants, which also will support reaching out to a new underserved population or substantially modifying existing services, are intended to provide the startup funds for this new effort.
The Foundation anticipates offering both the Capacity Building and Innovations grant opportunities twice a year. For more information on both new grants, please visit our Requests for Proposals (RFPs) page.
We invite you to share this funding opportunity with eligible colleagues and organizations. Please use the comments box below to provide feedback and ask questions about the application process and eligibility requirements. Additionally, please feel free to contact our Grants Manager Tanisha Davis at tdavis@archstone.org with any project- or site-specific questions or comments.
With these new grant opportunities, we look forward to helping nonprofits that serve older persons in California improve the services they provide by becoming more effective, creative, and innovative!
Laura Rath, Senior Program Officer, also contributed to this blog post.
Comments
Dear Mary,
Thank you so much for this grant opportunity and the Archstone Foundation’s commitment to serving our older adult community.
Our older adults are much in need of service delivery, including linkages to resources to meet their basic and social needs, while they are staying at home during the pandemic. We are looking at leveraging technology to meet these needs and plan to propose a program under your innovation grant category.
I look forward to connecting with the Archstone Foundation through the RFP and beyond on behalf of older adults served through Pacific Clinics.
With appreciation,