VERO BEACH — In partnership with several visionary philanthropists, the Indian River Community Foundation Board of Directors has announced the award of four micro grants to support small nonprofit organizations with big ideas to improve the local community.
Grants of $5,000 each were made to Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County, Education Foundation of Indian River County, Gifford Youth Orchestra, and Youth Guidance Mentoring and Activities Program.
“The IRCF Board of Directors established the Micro Grant Program two years ago as a way to level the playing field for smaller organizations,” said Board Chair Bob Puff.
The program is limited to nonprofit organizations with operating budgets less than $500,000.
“Many grants are highly competitive and geared toward larger organizations.This can leave some very worthwhile nonprofit leaders without adequate funding to move their ideas and organizations to the next level,” said Puff.
Ultimately, it is a loss for the community if these smaller organizations are not given the chance to advance their causes. Puff said the IRCF Board of Directors plays a valuable role in identifying and funding promising ideas and organizations to help build a stronger community.
“These small nonprofits are not so different from the Indian River Community Foundation. Just five years ago, we were a fledgling organization before 51 founding philanthropists stepped forward to provide the working capital for our endeavors.
The proper infrastructure has allowed us to leverage that initial funding into awarding over $15 million in grants to nonprofit organizations,” Puff added.
Puff said the success of IRCF is a testimony to the power small philanthropic investments have in creating positive community change.
This year’s Micro Grants Program focused on proposals that have the potential for long-term community impact. Characteristics of the grants included models that could be scaled or replicated; collaboration among organizations; capacity building; and clear benchmarks for measuring success.
Each proposal included a specific set of outcome measurements, which IRCF staff will monitor and report to the board and donors at the end of the six month grant period. The four micro grants include:
A capacity building grant to help Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County respond to an overwhelming demand for services. In the past two years, the organization has grown from providing services to 4,097 people in 2011 to 7,445 in 2012. Halfway through 2013, more than 6,000 were already served. This grant will fund an organizational assessment and strategic plan to guide the Board of Directors in successfully meeting the rapidly growing demand for services.
A Vehicle for Success – Funding for Driving STEM Academic Achievement, awarded to the Education Foundation of Indian River County, will support the purchase of a car for the Sebastian River High School Automotive Career Academy. The academy was in jeopardy of losing its required certification because it lacked a car that met the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation standards. The new car will meet these standards and allow the academy to continue training 190 students each year for careers in the automotive industry.
Gifford Youth Orchestra will use a micro grant to strengthen the organization’s capacity to teach and mentor younger students in meeting their music education goals. This grant will fund the salaries of two teachers and four advanced students, who will be trained to tutor intermediate and high level beginning students through the use of Smart Music, an online home study program. This funding will position Gifford Youth Orchestra to continue its educational programs despite a shortage of string instrument teachers in our local area.
Youth Guidance Mentoring and Activities Program will partner with several nonprofit organizations to provide low income students an opportunity to earn scholarships through volunteer experiences. Through this pilot project, students will receive a stipend in return for volunteer service that can be used for sports registration fees, tutoring, college test fees, or other academic-related endeavors. Youth Guidance will be responsible for holding and managing the fees. Nonprofit partners may include Florida Outdoor Center, Habitat for Humanity, Environmental Learning Center, and Growing Healthy Kids.
The Micro Grants Program is just one initiative of the Indian River Community Foundation, which, in partnership with its fund holders, awarded $6,643,000 in grants during fiscal year 2013.
The Community Foundation currently manages over $19 million in assets restricted for charitable purposes to support its mission of improving Indian River County through donor-driven philanthropy.
For more information, please visit the website at www.IRCommunityFoundation.com or call the Executive Director, Kerry Bartlett, at (772) 492-1407.
