As a grant seeker, it is always difficult to learn of the frailties of this business or, perhaps more exactly, the sleight of hand
that happens more often than anyone really wants to know or admit. It is a grand study in great expectations, of promises
made in bad faith and poorly kept, if at all.
Fiscally-sponsored by the New York Foundation For The Arts, I have worked the stacks, Googled the wires and bought my
subscriptions to foundation brokers like the Foundation Center. At the end of the day, what I have learned will come as no
surprise. Foundations are not required to specifically state the legal “who” they will fund either in their listings or in their
rejections, should they offer one at all.
Over time and from the funding lists, the researcher comes to understand where the “ditches” are; the specific entities
foundations actually fund and the rules of the game. Is it a coincidence that marquee institutions fare so well? Do those
funding decisions offer certain insulation from IRS scrutiny, a great night out or simple convenience?
And as a fiscally-sponsored applicant, I am disturbed by the failure not only of foundations but of the brokers as well. The
efforts of individuals—fiscally sponsored or otherwise—are often rejected blindly; our efforts little more than an exercise in
blind faith. Did I fail to learn the secret handshake or was the game fixed before I got there?
What is so remarkable in this great enterprise is just how easily a brand-name non-profits’ advertising campaign will be
funded while the critical costs of a lone applicants work—often his or her life’s work—is categorically denied and summarily
rejected.
America has long admired its independent voices but that admiration doesn’t appear to resonate in the funding decisions of
today’s foundation trade. What happened to that America? In a time when the institutionalization of our thinking
has limited our choices and our understanding of the difficult problems before us, it would seem—or at least to me—that
we need the honest labor of independent scholars, writers and artists now more than ever.
Tracy Dent Foundation supports Dent Transitional Program (DTP). DTP is a nonprofit organization. A homeless shelter for young men ages 19-30. DTP offers food, clothing, shelter, GED testing, assist with job placement, and permanent housing assistant to young men with a desire to improve their quality of life. We are a program with so much to offer, but yet, we can’t get the community to give donations to support the program. I fully agree that donor give to religious organizations which very little or now of the funds are contributed to those in need. All funds donated to this program will directly support the program. Where are the donors?
COMMENTS
BY Joel McEachern
ON March 8, 2008 08:26 PM
Re: Destination Unknown
As a grant seeker, it is always difficult to learn of the frailties of this business or, perhaps more exactly, the sleight of hand
that happens more often than anyone really wants to know or admit. It is a grand study in great expectations, of promises
made in bad faith and poorly kept, if at all.
Fiscally-sponsored by the New York Foundation For The Arts, I have worked the stacks, Googled the wires and bought my
subscriptions to foundation brokers like the Foundation Center. At the end of the day, what I have learned will come as no
surprise. Foundations are not required to specifically state the legal “who” they will fund either in their listings or in their
rejections, should they offer one at all.
Over time and from the funding lists, the researcher comes to understand where the “ditches” are; the specific entities
foundations actually fund and the rules of the game. Is it a coincidence that marquee institutions fare so well? Do those
funding decisions offer certain insulation from IRS scrutiny, a great night out or simple convenience?
And as a fiscally-sponsored applicant, I am disturbed by the failure not only of foundations but of the brokers as well. The
efforts of individuals—fiscally sponsored or otherwise—are often rejected blindly; our efforts little more than an exercise in
blind faith. Did I fail to learn the secret handshake or was the game fixed before I got there?
What is so remarkable in this great enterprise is just how easily a brand-name non-profits’ advertising campaign will be
funded while the critical costs of a lone applicants work—often his or her life’s work—is categorically denied and summarily
rejected.
America has long admired its independent voices but that admiration doesn’t appear to resonate in the funding decisions of
today’s foundation trade. What happened to that America? In a time when the institutionalization of our thinking
has limited our choices and our understanding of the difficult problems before us, it would seem—or at least to me—that
we need the honest labor of independent scholars, writers and artists now more than ever.
BY Tracy Dent
ON March 28, 2008 09:08 AM
Tracy Dent Foundation supports Dent Transitional Program (DTP). DTP is a nonprofit organization. A homeless shelter for young men ages 19-30. DTP offers food, clothing, shelter, GED testing, assist with job placement, and permanent housing assistant to young men with a desire to improve their quality of life. We are a program with so much to offer, but yet, we can’t get the community to give donations to support the program. I fully agree that donor give to religious organizations which very little or now of the funds are contributed to those in need. All funds donated to this program will directly support the program. Where are the donors?