National Funders
National funders that specifically focus part of their grantmaking on rural issues or places are few and far between. Some research suggests that both the number of national funders with a rural focus and the amount of funds they provide to rural areas are declining. The few national funders that have a specific rural focus or funding program usually limit their grants to a very specific topic or type of activity, to particular geographic area(s), to organizations the funder preselects and invites to apply – or some combination of these.
While few national funders identify themselves as “rural funders,” quite a few will fund projects in rural areas that fit into their priority topical areas. Many funders that are open to proposals for rural projects may never show up in databases or lists of rural funders because they categorize information about their priorities and grants by subject rather than geography.
Regional Funders
Regional funders are much more likely than national funders to specifically focus a portion of their resources on rural areas. If a funder is truly regional in scope and the region includes rural areas, then it generally provides some funding to the rural parts of its region. Like national funders, they may not specifically identify themselves as “rural funders” because their resources are available to any qualifying activity within their region.
Some of the most successful rural philanthropy efforts in the U.S. have been initiated or supported by regional funders. Two prime examples include the McKnight Foundation’s twenty-five year support for rural philanthropy through the Minnesota Initiative Foundations and The Lilly Endowment’s multi-decade Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative for community foundations – though there are plenty more.
Funding Collaboratives and Multi-Funder Initiatives
Sometimes national and/or regional funders join together and pool their funds to address large issues that are prevalent in many geographic areas. Occasionally these efforts are rural-specific like the National Rural Funders Collaborative. Other times, funder networks or collaboratives are topic-specific but are open to rural projects, have a specific strategy for rural places or, by the nature of the topic, must include rural areas. Examples include the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership.
Finding National or Regional Funders for Your Project
There is no centralized list of national or regional funders that make grants for rural issues or places. Those who want to identify funders with rural interests generally have to depend on word of mouth or searches through large databases of funders and their grants like the one housed at The Foundation Center. In most cases, it is more successful to search databases of funders by topic and then to narrow down by “geographic area served” than to search on the term “rural.”
National Rural Funders Collaborative. A collaborative philanthropic initiative organized to expand resources for families and communities in rural regions.
Locate Your Regional Grantmakers Association. Find foundations and resources on philanthropy specific to a state or region by contacting the regional association in a specific state or region – where they exist. From the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
No Surprises, Rural Philanthropy Still Lags Behind. Article in The Nonprofit Quarterly (February 22, 2011) by Rick Cohen. Explores the challenges to rural philanthropy; contains data and a detailed analysis of grants in the Foundation Center’s database for the years 2004 through 2008 of rural related philanthropy.
US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership. Organization working to strengthen community philanthropy in the US-Mexico border region to improve the quality of life for residents living on the border.
National Fund for Workforce Solutions. Collaboration working to nationally promote and evaluate new ways to prepare workers (who don’t have the needed skills) for careers that support them and their families.
The Foundation Center. Facts, figures and trends on many aspects of U.S. foundation philanthropy, database of funders and grants.
Orton Family Foundation. Foundation that helps small cities and towns – and often rural areas .
Minnesota Initiative Foundations. Nonprofit philanthropic organizations created by The McKnight Foundation to support six regions outside the metropolitan area.
Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT). Philanthropic program launching and developing community foundations and affiliates in Indiana – by The Lilly Endowment.
The post Finding National and Regional Funders appeared first on RuralXChange.
