A nexus of local funding resources

Let’s dig a little deeper into community foundations as a source of funding for your imaging and metadata projects. Most communities have an umbrella organization bringing together individuals, families, businesses, and institutions to create permanent charitable funds to be used to improve the quality of life for the community. They have a mandate to serve their communities, and can’t limit their focus to a few areas. They also must have a geographic focus. Council on Foundations provides a list of over 850 community foundations found nationwide http://classic.cof.org/locator/ to help you find those that serve your community.

The websites of the foundations that I have looked at are very well organized and allow you to easily find information about their grant opportunities and procedures. Spend a bit of time learning about the foundation and the funders - their focuses and activities before diving into the grants section. And look at previously funded projects. This will also help you get a concrete sense of their mission. Education and arts are still strongly supported by some funders.

Some community foundations strictly manage philanthropy, others will offer other kinds of assistance to non-profit organizations - publications, references, or even hold grant-seeking development workshops. The community foundation is going to know it’s community and the compelling issues.

If you are new to exploring the world of funding it’s a supportive environment to learn the ropes...

Who is providing funding?

There are basically two classes of grant makers - foundations and governments

The category of foundations includes private, family, corporate, and community foundations. Start local: Private donors may already be lurking in your membership; family foundations are often looking to support non-profits within their own locale; and community foundations serve as a clearing house for local private and family funding sources, they also may provide management and training for small non-profit organizations. Corporate support may come either from the corporation directly or through a foundation established by the corporation specifically to fund social causes served by non-profit organizations. Some foundations distribute grants nationwide, so research efforts should eventually reach beyond the local area.

Government funding is available at all levels - municipal, county, state, and federal governments. Particularly at the federal level, the process of applying for a grant can be very labor intensive. However, the federal government also passes some portion of it’s funding down to the local levels thus reducing the amount of red tape in applying for those funds.