Additional Representative Grants to Increase Philanthropic Impact (International/National/Local [Arizona])

Support of Conference Convening International Foundation Professionals
Foundation professionals from different countries have relatively few opportunities to discuss with each other their accumulated experience and expertise. The Senior Fellows program of The Synergos Institute identifies talented foundation leaders from vanguard philanthropic institutions worldwide and links them to a global learning and service network, with the goal of strengthening foundations in the developing world. Fellows serve as peer consultants to other foundations around the world; their work produces knowledge on trends and innovative models, which Synergos distributes to a wide audience. A Lodestar grant, which helped underwrite an annual meeting of the Senior Fellows, also supported the development of a marketing plan to promote the Senior Fellows program to the foundation community. ($75,000)
http://www.synergos.org/programs/fellows.htm

International Agricultural Development Collaboration
EARTH University in Costa Rica had developed a number of innovative advances in agricultural science but lacked the marketing ability to promote these advances. The College of Agribusiness at Arizona State University has an expertise in the business development of new ideas in agriculture. Lodestar facilitated a series of faculty exchange meetings in Arizona and Costa Rica to explore collaboration between the two universities. ($118,000)

Plan for Establishment of International News Center
The London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) was occupying a building that had been donated to the organization. The building had excess space that was under-utilized and not programmatically aligned. Lodestar provided a technical assistance grant to IWPR for an office-sharing consultant who assisted IWPR to develop a vision of turning the building into the Centre for Crisis Reporting, where leading human rights and media development groups live together to enhance partnership, provide training/exchange facilities, and establish collaborative media productions, joint events and other activities to increase impact. The Centre for Crisis Reporting promotes excellence in reporting on crisis and conflict issues with a human rights and policy orientation and provides practical support to local journalists, linking these efforts to international advocacy groups and to the international media for which London is a prime centre. Resident partners include the International Crisis Group, CrisisAction, the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma, as well as IWPR, for which it serves as headquarters. The facilities are used by leading human rights groups, advocacy and expert organizations, and specialist media projects. The facilities include a multi-use conference and meeting room, a break-out and training room, a floor for partner NGOS and visiting journalists, a radio studio for podcasts and other production/editing, office space IWPR editorial, programs and development staff, and a café/restaurant for meeting – and relaxing. The property is close to several major media organizations, including Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, ITN Television, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. ($10,000)
www.iwpr.net

Disaster Coordination
D-TRAC (Disaster Tracking Recovery Assistance Center) is a Swiss-based NGO that seeks to coordinate the relief efforts of international NGOs addressing a national disaster. Lodestar provided general operating support after the Asian tsunami. ($5,500)

Joint Management between Two Global Youth Organizations
Both founded more than a decade ago by young people who wanted to be active world citizens, Global Youth Action Network (in New York City) and Taking IT Global (in Toronto, Canada) realized their organizations could be more effective by entering into a co-management agreement. By combining efforts, they expect to improve operational procedures and minimize costs, offer improved support and services to the global youth movement in a consolidated fashion, and strengthen its collective impact. ($2,500)
http://www.tigweb.org

Merger between Two Organizations on Separate Coasts
Jews United for Justice and Progressive Jewish Alliance, two organizations operating thousands of miles apart (one in Washington, DC, and the other in Los Angeles, CA), both encourage volunteerism and facilitate engagement of the Jewish community in social issues. For two years prior to contacting the Lodestar Foundation, these organizations had informally discussed the benefits and risks of merging. They concluded that the similarities in membership, culture, programs, and campaigns made them ideal candidates to merge, and they would have a more powerful voice working toward change together. Lodestar provided partial funding for a consultant to facilitate formal merger negotiations. ($20,000)

Merger of Two International Youth-Serving Organizations
Youth Re-Action Corps, an Arizona-based nonprofit with a mission to educate, empower and invest in youth to change the world, operated by having teams of high-school students identify community problems and then work to address those problems through a rigorous process. New Global Citizens, an initiative of the San Francisco Foundation, was started to mobilize young people in the United States to help solve the world’s biggest problems by forming teams of high-school students to partner with teams from high schools in developing countries. A Lodestar grant supported the merger between the two organizations. Since the 2008 merger, New Global Citizens (the merged entity) has expanded its operations to 49 youth teams in 10 states and expanded its reach to address both domestic and international issues in every corner of the world. ($45,000)
www.newglobalcitizens.org

Collaboration Matching Service
Lodestar retained the Craigslist Foundation to undertake a feasibility study on the viability of an online matching service whereby nonprofits could search for collaboration partners, e.g., nonprofitcollaborationmatch.org. The study concluded that much more development of the concepts would be needed and the project (and the website name) is on hold. ($30,000)

Funder Collaborative for Nonprofits to Coordinate Summer Programs
Summer programs, particularly those that serve economically disadvantaged youth, do not just provide entertainment and recreation; they also foster personal development, provide healthy alternatives to negative behaviors, and provide a continuum of learning opportunities through the summer break. Lodestar has provided an ongoing grant to support a funder collaborative that has both simplified the application process for nonprofits operating such programs and coordinated the awarding of grants for such programs. ($20,720)
http://www.summeryouthprogramfund.org/home.aspx

Arts Promotion Collaboration
Many arts organizations in the Phoenix area lack sufficient marketing funds. A new nonprofit, Alliance for Audience, was formed to provide marketing services to a collaboration of arts groups. A Lodestar grant helped meet a community challenge grant to provide operating support to Alliance for Audience to build capacity in the organization so that it could be self-sustaining. Lodestar’s grant supported Alliance for Audience’s efforts to enhance its website, ShowUp.com; and design and implement a marketing plan. ($50,000)
http://www.showup.com

Camp Collaboration for Special Needs Children
Every summer, many Arizona nonprofits dealing with special needs children have had to compete to reserve week-long sessions at mountain camps to provide a camp experience for their clients; very rarely were the camps able to adequately accommodate the often complex physical, medical and developmental challenges of these campers. A number of these nonprofits collaborated to form a new nonprofit to acquire Whispering Hope Ranch, a facility that has been designed to accommodate a diverse population of children with special needs. Lodestar made a matching grant to generate funds to furnish the camp facilities. ($50,000)
http://www.whisperinghoperanch.org

Capacity-Building of Nonprofit Associations
Nonprofits working in the same area often are inefficient because they duplicate efforts and lack sufficient individual resources to make a significant community impact. Even when they come together in an informal or formal association to tackle issues jointly, their efforts may not be effective because agency budgetary and time constraints work against strengthening the collaborative effort. Lodestar has provided funds to a number of nonprofit associations and collaborations for collaboration coordinators, for consultants to help develop strategic plans for collaborations, and for various collaboration projects. For example, Lodestar provided funds to the Coalition Against Domestic Violence to develop standardized software for the participating nonprofits ($29,000); over a period of four years, Lodestar funds helped build a collaboration among numerous nonprofits, government agencies and individuals dealing with osteoporosis prevention, education and treatment. ($44,500) http://www.fitbones.org; three planning grants from Lodestar enabled a coalition of breast cancer groups decide to develop a common community website. ($11,500)

Collaboration of Nonprofits Serving Off-Reservation Native Americans
Native Americans living in the Phoenix metropolitan area historically have been served by separate independent nonprofits; little progress was being made in addressing critical health and social issues facing that population. A group of five agencies serving off-reservation Native Americans in the metropolitan Phoenix area formed a new nonprofit corporation, United Native Development Corporation (“UNDC”), to focus on three specific issue areas: senior housing, student housing, and workforce development. Lodestar’s capacity building grant of $100,000, which provided seed money for the project, led to the receipt of additional operating funds for UNDC which, in turn, enabled UNDC to plan a senior housing project that received $4.4 million for development. More importantly, the original collaboration served as a catalyst for ongoing collaboration among the agencies on a variety of issues of mutual importance. Three of the agencies later formed a limited liability company to jointly purchase an 85,000 square foot office building for more than $7 million (totally financed by no-interest loans and grants). The facility is considered the “geographic center” for the area’s Native Americans, operating as a business, cultural and service center for that population. Not only are a variety of Native American businesses and nonprofits co-locating in the building, several of the nonprofits have formed a management services organization to combine administrative functions, creating yet another level of collaboration. In 2006, the project received a Community Revitalization Award, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. ($100,000)
http://www.nativeconnections.org

Collaboration to Address Healthcare Issues
Two chronic medical problems, diabetes and heart disease, impact a high percentage of south Phoenix residents. A dozen agencies working in the area joined together to form the South Central Phoenix Health Coalition to coordinate and integrate efforts to address these problems. A multi-year grant from Lodestar supported the salary of the Coalition coordinator. In addition to increasing effectiveness through the Coalition, the participating agencies developed collaborations in other service areas as a result of membership in the Coalition. ($40,000)

Collaborative Learning Center for Children of Abused or Homeless Parents
Homeward Bound is the largest provider of transitional housing for homeless and domestic violence families with children in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. In 2000, Homeward Bound opened The Thunderbirds Family Village, a five-acre, secured campus that contains 80 two-bedroom housing units. This housing focuses on younger mothers and their children who have been victimized by domestic violence and homelessness. A Lodestar matching grant enabled Homeward Bound to launch a collaborative children’s learning center, in partnership with the YMCA and Southwest Human Development, another human services provider, on the Thunderbirds campus. ($40,000)
www.hbphx.org

Data Collection Collaboration Among Agencies Serving the Homeless
In order to comply with a federal mandate to collect certain data about homeless individuals, a Homeless Management Information System (“HMIS”) was initiated in Maricopa County. Lodestar provided the lead private sector grant to secure more than $1,000,000 of federal funding for the project. Although the original purpose of HMIS was to relay unduplicated data to the federal government, the participating agencies are using the nationally-honored system to more effectively deliver services by sharing information and tracking clients. ($146,000)
http://www.cir.org/hmis

Dissolution of Volunteer Center / Preservation of Program to Provide Technical Assistance to Nonprofits
The Volunteer Center of Maricopa County, which had supported volunteerism in the Valley since 1962, became unsure of its role in the community with the emergence of organizations with similar missions. A Lodestar a grant enabled the Center’s board of Directors to use a consultant to examine the Center’s most efficient course of action for the future. At the end of the study, the board concluded that promotion of volunteerism and coordination of volunteer services within the community could be accomplished effectively by other community organizations, and the Center dissolved. Lodestar provided additional financial support for the relocation and expansion of the Executive Service Corps, a program in which retired corporate executives and professionals provide management assistance to nonprofits, to the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits. ($53,500)
www.arizonanonprofits.org

Enhancement of Assessment Tool for Children Entering Shelter Care
The three largest children’s crisis shelters in the metropolitan Phoenix area entered into a collaboration, the Portable Assessments for Kids (PAK) project, to improve service through the development and implementation of comprehensive, multidisciplinary, standardized, and portable assessments for children entering shelter care. Results of the assessments are available to each child’s custodian through the use of a centralized shared database. A Lodestar grant provided needed enhancements to the database. ($17,000)

Establishment of Convening Fund for State Strategic Plan
As a young, growing state, Arizona has the opportunity and challenge to create a statewide vision and strategic plan which both the public and private sectors can use as a guide for the allocation of resources and infrastructure development. A nonprofit organization, The Center for the Future of Arizona, was formed to shepherd the strategic planning process for the state. Lodestar provided funds for polling and convening citizen groups from around the state to discuss issues of importance to Arizona’s future. ($50,000)
http://www.arizonafuture.org

Collaboration between Phoenix-Area Museums
Lodestar provided financial support for a consultant to facilitate a collaboration process between The Arizona Science Center and Children’s Museum of Phoenix (an initial participant, the Desert Botanical Garden, dropped out early in the process) to explore ways to increase the value they can provide to each museum’s individual audience and to collectively better serve the greater Phoenix community. As a result of the project, the museums are planning joint programming activities. ($49,300)
http://www.azscience.org and http://www.childrensmuseumofphoenix.org

Support for Coalition for Mental Health Professionals
The Infant Toddler Mental Health Coalition (ITMHC), an Arizona professional organization comprised of individuals working in the youth mental health profession, recognized there were no reliable standards for infant and family service providers in Arizona. ITMHC developed an endorsement program, adapted from a Michigan competency-based system, which will serve as verification that a mental health professional has attained a specified level of functioning and understanding. The ultimate goal of the endorsement program is to elevate the quality of practitioners in the state. Lodestar's funds enabled the organization to purchase the initial license and to fund participants in the first year of the program who will then become endorsers themselves. The endorsement program has already generated a coalition among all participating states as well as partnerships with other child-serving agencies. ($90,000)
http://www.itmhca.org

Management Services Collaboration Among Youth-Serving Nonprofits
Several small youth-serving nonprofits were concerned that high operating costs made it difficult to provide adequate services to their clients. With technical and financial support from Lodestar, these nonprofits formed Partnership for Adolescent Resources through Training, Networking, Education, Referrals and Support (PARTNERS), an innovative management services organization. Each constituent agency leased a portion of PARTNERS, and PARTNERS became the management and administration through which the combined agencies leased and shared office space and certain administrative functions. Lodestar’s grant subsidized rent charges for the joint-usage space. ($60,000)

Merger of Two Organizations Serving Low-Income Families
UMOM New Day Centers provides emergency shelter and transitional housing services to low-income families; Helping Hands Housing Services provided permanent affordable housing to the same population. Realizing that the full range of housing services could be more efficiently and effectively deployed through one organization, Helping Hands was merged into New Day. The Lodestar Foundation provided financial support for legal expenses and public relations costs associated with the merger. ($18,000)
http://www.umom.org

Merger of Two Regional Planned Parenthood Organizations
Vast population growth and increasing cultural diversity led to operational and programmatic inefficiencies for Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona (PPCNA) and Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona (PPSA), both providers of medical services and educational programs. They faced challenges from outdated information systems, coupled with geographic sprawl throughout Arizona. After examining their internal structures, the two organizations decided to merge, forming one single organizational entity, Planned Parenthood Arizona (PPAZ), with localized service centers. Lodestar’s grant for systems integration allowed PPAZ to share databases internally and have one joint website to serve patients more efficiently regardless of the health center they use. ($50,000)
http://www.ppaz.org

A Multi-Sector Collaborative to Prevent Obesity
The Maricopa Council on Youth Sports and Physical Activity ("MCYSPA") is a coalition of community partners in Maricopa County, Arizona formed to coordinate the efforts of programs that address physical inactivity and poor nutrition to prevent obesity and related health disparities. This collaborative includes leaders from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, with representatives from state and local governments, major corporations, health industry, professional sports charities, and private foundations. Lodestar issued a challenge grant to help fund the Healthy Food Mapping Project, an on-line map of the "food landscape" showing every entity in Maricopa County that addresses issues surrounding hunger and nutrition (including food banks, government programs, food distribution programs and other nutrition/food resources). Compiling all this data on one map offers an objective perspective for all funders and service providers to gauge service gaps and duplications and assess community impact. ($23,000)
http://www.mcyspa.org

Phoenix-Area Neighborhood Development Collaborative
The Phoenix Neighborhood Development Collaborative (PNDC) is a funder collaborative, created to focus the resources of government, nonprofits, individuals and philanthropy on difficult neighborhood problems. Lodestar joined the Arizona Community Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, St. Luke’s Health Initiative, and Valley of the Sun United Way in funding collaborative projects over a period of three years in two PNDC neighborhoods: Isaac Neighborhood (Golden Gate Community Center, lead agency); and Central City South (Phoenix Revitalization Corporation, lead agency). The Phoenix office of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) coordinates the PNDC. ($60,000)
http://www.lisc.org/phoenix/partners/collaborative_11077.shtml