2012 Not-for-Profit Collaboration Challenge

2012 Not-for-Profit Collaboration Challenge

Premise:
With thousands of non-profits competing for funding, and only a limited pool of resources available, collaboration among non-profits on programs and services is becoming a necessity. Since many organizations share common missions and goals, pooling ideas, employees, and resources will allow non-profits to achieve their purpose, often on a larger scale, while making effective use of funding sources and eliminating redundancy and overlap in the community.

In an effort to encourage collaboration among non-profits, SEFCU will provide a total of $25,000 in grants to organizations (two or more) that share a similar mission and collaborate on one more of the products/services they offer. Two groups of non-profits will receive the grant: $15,000 will go to the organizations with the best plan for collaboration, and $10,000 will be awarded to the organizations that submit the plan that finishes in second place.

A collaborative grant supports the projects and programs that are undertaken by a partnership of multiple non-profit organizations. The scope and complexity of the collaboration should benefit from each organization's expertise or provided services and/or enable a more effective and efficient delivery of the program or services than that of an individual organization working on its own. The collaboration may include the sharing of resources to increase the ability of the partners to meet the needs of consumers. For example, if two non-profits both offer similar afterschool programs, they could collaborate, share ideas, and offer a joint program that provides more options and gives the students access to additional resources. Keep in mind, to participate organizations do not need to create a formal collaboration in which two organizations officially merge, but can simply submit a proposal that outlines the program or service they will be collaborating on.

Ready to collaborate?
Once you have identified an organization(s) that matches your mission/goals, you can apply for the SEFCU Collaborative Challenge grant by submitting a written proposal of no more than three typed pages. The propsal should include:

1.    The mission and objectives of the collaboration.

2.    A description of the program and implementation plan. Details should include how existing services/programs will be improved and how it might be unique.

3.    A description of the gap or regional need.

4.    A description/budget of how the challenge funding will be utilized.

5.    An indication of what tangible results of the collaboration are expected and an explanation of how you plan to measure outcomes.

6.    Provide a feasible but aggressive timeline for implementation.

7.    Plans for sustainability of the collaboration.

NOTE: Collaborations or projects in process prior to October 26, 2012 (Partners in Philanthropy Breakfast) are not eligible for submission.

Proposals will be evaluated on the strength of the request and organizations involved as well as the impact on the community and consumers served.

Please include a cover document with your application that includes the following information for all organizations involved in the proposal:

1.    Contact names

2.    Organization addresses

3.    Phone numbers

4.    E-mail addresses

The deadline for challenge proposals is February 1, 2013 and should be submitted to:

SEFCU Community Support
Not-for-Profit Challenge
700 Patroon Creek Boulevard
Albany, NY 12206
or
cbrinkma@sefcu.com

If you have any questions, please contact Carol Brinkman, SEFCU's Executive Vice President of Community Support at  518-464-5317 or cbrinkma@sefcu.com.