Building the Capacity of Community-based Organizations in Underserved Communities
Introduction
Influenced by the background and interests of Ben Weingart, the Weingart Foundation has a longstanding goal to help build stronger, better communities throughout Southern California. We make grants to credible nonprofit organizations addressing health, education, and human service needs in six counties. As a primarily responsive grantmaker, the Foundation accepts unsolicited requests for support throughout the year. Highest priority is given to activities that provide greater access to services for people who are economically disadvantaged and underserved, particularly children and youth, older adults, and people affected by disabilities and homelessness.

Consistent with our mission, the Weingart Foundation has spent considerable time reflecting on how it might best direct its resources to meet the needs of low-income and underserved individuals and communities. As outlined in our guidelines, this is the primary focus of grantmaking program. In this regard, the Foundation recognizes the importance of small, community-based organizations serving the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

In 2008, along with other similarly minded foundations, we identified two key issues: the need for capacity building support and technical assistance to assist small, community based organizations, and the benefit of leadership development activities that promote a diversity of nonprofit leaders. These two themes have influenced our planning and strategies. We also made a commitment to annually report publicly on our effort, which follows.

A Report on Our Grantmaking
In 2009, 83 percent of grants approved by the Weingart Foundation were for the benefit of low-income and underserved communities. A year ago, the Foundation made commitments intended to strengthen capacities of community-based organizations that primarily serve minority and low-income communities. We undertook some new approaches and deepened commitments to established grantmaking programs.

In response to the severe financial crisis and its negative impact on communities and people across the region, the Foundation introduced and prioritized flexible, core support grants to nonprofits experiencing increased demand for essential services. In 2009, 89 organizations received core support grants totaling $11.4 million. All of these grants focused on the needs of low-income and underserved individuals and communities. In 2010, this focus on core support grants will continue.

The Foundation also expanded its small grants program, primarily intended for small, community-based, and developing organizations, with a focus on organizations that have never before received funding from a large foundation. Many organizations new to the Foundation are introduced through the small grants program which makes it a valuable component of our grantmaking activities. In 2009, 109 grants totaling $1.6 million were approved, which was $800,000 more than the previous fiscal year. Organizations received unrestricted, program, and capacity building support grants. Similar to the core support program, these grants predominantly addressed the needs of low-income and underserved individuals and communities.

Grant Highlights
During 2009, the Foundation also made several grants to address the key issues of creating access to funding, building capacity and supporting leadership development among minority-led and community-based organizations. These grants are also building new partnerships with established organizations with strong community ties in Los Angeles County.

A two-year, $1 million grant provides Los Angeles County minority-led organizations with the opportunity to access grants and technical assistance administered by Liberty Hill Foundation. Funded in conjunction with The California Wellness Foundation, this pilot project expands the availability of financial support and provides a venue in which nonprofit leaders can explore how to strengthen their organizations and improve their effectiveness.

The Foundation also made grants to two highly respected organizations to provide capacity building support in the form of workshops and direct assistance to nonprofit leaders in their local communities. Community Coalition in South Los Angeles and East Los Angeles Community Corporation in East L.A. each received $150,000 for these purposes. These grants recognized that our outreach efforts in the past had not been sufficient to reach many small, community-based organizations providing important services. Therefore, we turned to agencies that had deep roots and respect in selected underserved communities. Through these partnerships, we expect that new and emerging nonprofits will be better prepared to apply for foundation funding and we will have a deeper understanding of nonprofit leaders and the needs of these geographic regions. Additional partnership grants will be explored in two other communities in order to extend our reach into underserved regions.

We also provided a $25,000 grant to Southern California Grantmakers for educational programming that engages a wide variety of funders on systemic issues affecting minority-led and community based organizations, including issues of diversity, capacity building, and the need for unrestricted support.

Future Plans
As noted above, in 2010, the Foundation's grantmaking priorities will remain focused on flexible core support and our small grant program. Building capacity has long been a priority of the Weingart Foundation. For this reason, the Foundation continues to support a comprehensive, multi-faceted capacity building study. This study includes a critical review of our own grantmaking, as well as research on capacity building needs in the Los Angeles region. Current and past grantees will again be offered the opportunity to participate in a no-cost organizational assessment and workshops designed to improve their ability to achieve their missions. Additionally, we expect to report on the findings of our research so that others might benefit from what we are learning.

Finally, the Weingart Foundation continues to embrace the philosophy of responsive grantmaking. We maintain an open application process, accepting letters of inquiry at any time. We have tremendous respect for the work of the nonprofit organizations we support, and will continue to work with you to build better and stronger communities throughout Southern California.