Logo

 
If you want to go fast,
go alone.
If you want to go far,
go together.
 
- African proverb

Shared with us last week at "On the Ground-San Diego" by Jennifer Vanica, President/CEO of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation.

Save the Date!
October 21-22, 2009 
On the Ground with Grassroots Grantmakers in Ohio's Mahoning Valley
 
  
In Partnership with
The Raymond John Wean Foundation
Youngstown and Warren, Ohio
 
Registration will begin early this summer, but you can let us know now with a quick email that you're interested in joining us for this discussion.

Nearly Done!
Watch for three new publications, coming early this summer.

Building Resident Power and Capacity for Change: An "on the ground" reflection about what it takes for funders to work effectively with low-income communities.

The Promise & Challenge of Neighborhood Democracy:  Lessons from the intersection of government and community.

A Theory of Change for Grassroots Grantmakers.



Forward this email
Join Our Mailing List
Our Listserv
Wednesday
Your Weekly Update from
Grassroots Grantmakers

April 29, 2009
Question of the Week
What is funder "code" for "we're  just not that into you"? 
 
Peter Block, author of Community: The Structure of Belonging and special guest on our topical conference call earlier this week, says he can tell that a funder is not that interested in seeing things change in a community by the questions they ask.
 
We'll share the 5 "tip-off" questions that Peter listed, but first want to hear from you. Send us the 5 questions that you think will be on Peter's list.
 
The first person who submits the closest match to Peter's list will receive a copy of Peter's book.  We'll share Peter's questions next week.

Big Thinking This Week
Reflecting on San Diego's On the Ground
 
Janis wrote this week's blog post on her way home from San Diego and two days "On the Ground" at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation in San Diego.
 
Check out some highlights of the conversation in San Diego, and the short video that Janis put together with the photos that Kristin Senty, Grassroots Grantmakers' Knowledge Coordinator, took over the two days.  
 

Sarah McCarthy/Making the Case
Sarah McCarthy believes that there's nothing "soft" about community building.
 
Yes, many find it challenging to measure the impact of community buildng.  But Sarah McCarthy of the Neighborhood Resource Center of Colorado, recently put togther a very specific picture of the difference that community building can make.  Did you know that our sense of well-being is greater when we live in a neighborhood where others feel good too?
 
Check out the op-ed piece that Sarah recently wrote to make the case for more support for community building and local intermediaries such as neighbrhood resource centers.

Residents in Charge
Notes and audio are now available for our April topical conference call.
 
Residents in charge was one of the top five grassroots grantmaking trends that Janis named earlier in the year in her Big Thinking blog.  In April, we learned about three grassroots grantmaking programs that are working successfully through resident-lead committees, and heard what pointers the staff who manage these programs had to offer.  
 
Did you miss this call? You can access the notes and listen to the conversation with a simple click of your computer mouse. 
 
While you're checking out the notes from last month's call, take a moment to look through our extensive archive of topical call notes and recordings to see the topics that we've explored over the past eight years.

This Month


Here's a snapshot of where we'll be and what we're doing in the coming month.  Look for us!

April 29  Fort Lauderdale
 
May 3-5  Atlanta
 
Sunday, May 3, 7:00 - 11:00 PM
"One for All" Networking Event - Co-hosted with more than a dozen other Council on Foundations affinity groups.
 
Tuesday, May 5, 2:30 - 4:00 PM 
Janis Foster will be serving as a respondent to the discussion in the "Unlikely Bedfellows: Creating Community Change" concurrent session.
 
May 12  Minneapolis
We'll be participating in a symposium - Neighborhood Responses to the Foreclosure Crisis - sponsored by the  National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership and the University of Minnesota's Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.
 
May 18  Humboldt County, California
Visit with the Humboldt Area Foundation and other local partners who are supporting active citizenship.
 
May 20  Seattle
Visit with The Seattle Foundation and partner organizations working with Seattle's Neighbor to Neighbor Fund.
 
May 21  Spokane
Especially for Funders workshop presentation at the 2009 Neighborhoods USA (NUSA) Conference.
 
June 2  Topical Conference Call



Our Website:  www.grassrootsgrantmakers.org
Logo
Contact Us:    361-798-1808
                     info@grassrootsgrantmakers.org