The City of Portland, Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) and seven District Coalitions have announced the second year of the Neighborhood Small Grants Program with $206,600 available to neighborhood and community-based organizations. Grants are distributed through seven neighborhood District Coalitions.
The goal of the program is to provide neighborhood and community organizations an opportunity to expand their community-building capacity, attract new and diverse members and sustain those already involved.
Proposals are due no later than 4:00 PM, Thursday, November 1, 2007 at the District Coalition to which an application is made (NOT the Office of Neighborhood Involvement!).
Why this grant program was created
The grants program responds to years of input from neighborhood and community leaders for increased direct resources to neighborhood associations and other community-based groups working on local neighborhood projects. City Council first approved the funding as part of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement’s fiscal year 2006-07 budget.
Click here for more information on this year’s grant program from ONI.
Read the rest of the post for much (much!) more information about the program. If you find yourself having problems with the links, try going to the ONI website and navigating from there.
Selection Criteria and other Requirements
A minimum set of criteria for selection and other eligibility requirements have been established for grant making procedures through each of the seven District Coalitions.
Most importantly, project proposals must address one or more of the following guidelines in order to qualify for consideration:
- Projects that build capacity in Neighborhood Associations and communities within the designated District Coalition’s area.
- Projects that build capacity in community-based organizations working with underrepresented populations within the designated District Coalition area.
- Projects that show partnerships between Neighborhood Associations and community-based organizations within the designated District Coalition area.
- Projects that show partnerships between Neighborhood Associations and under-represented organizations and communities within the designated District Coalition area.
Grants administered by District Coalitions
Grants are being administered through the seven neighborhood District Coalitions funded by the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Applicants will need to choose a neighborhood District Coalition to submit proposals to depending on whether the project benefits the residents residing within that coalition’s geographical area. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis amongst proposals submitted within each specific District Coalition, not on a citywide basis. Each District Coalition will determine the minimum and maximum dollar range for which grant awards will be made for their geographic area. Each District Coalition will recruit their own grant-making committee made up of district coalition and/or neighborhood association, business community and under-represented community non-profit leaders.
Here are links for the District Coalition applications:
- Central Northeast Neighbors
- East Portland Neighborhood Office
- Neighbors West/Northwest
- Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
- North Portland Neighborhood Services
- Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program
- Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
Contact information for each District Coalition
You can also find detailed contact information for each District Coalition grant manager, links to coalition maps, and a list of neighborhoods served by each coalition. You need to contact the District Coalition for information or questions specific to the grant making process for the geographical area you intend to apply to. There are five unaffiliated neighborhoods that are assigned to a district coalition for the purposes of this grant program only. Listed below are the grant managers for each of the District Coalitions.
Central Northeast Neighbors
Sandra Lefrancois, Community Program Director, 503-823-2780
Map of Central Northeast Neighbors grant area
East Portland Neighborhood Office
Richard Bixby, Director, 503-823-4550
Map of East Portland Neighborhood Office grant area
Neighbors West/Northwest
Angela Southwick, Community Outreach Specialist, 503-823-4211
Map of Neighbors West/Northwest grant area
North Portland Neighborhood Services
Mary Jaron Kelley, Community Networking Specialist, 503-823-4099
Map of North Portland Neighborhood Services grant area
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
Dennis LoGiudice, Office Manager, 503-823-4575
Map of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods grant area
Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program
Kristen Wiener, Neighborhood Leadership Program Coordinator, 503-232-0010 x 319
Map of the Southeast Uplift coalition grant area
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
Ginny Stromer, Operations Manager, 503-823-4592
Map of Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. grant area
Informational grant writing workshops offered
In order to ensure neighborhood and community-based organizations of all sizes and capacities have an opportunity to apply for this grant, interested parties may attend one of three free grant workshops. These sessions will help answer questions about how to apply, selection criteria and other requirements, the role of District Coalitions, and provide a limited basic grant writing overview. Grant applications will be available at this workshop.
Participation is optional. Pre-registration is required for the workshops. You can only register for one workshop to ensure as many people as possible can participate.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
6:30-9:00 pm
Moore Street Salvation Army, Classroom A
5335 N Williams Ave., one block south of Killingsworth Ave.
TRIMET BUS: #44 Mock’s Crest or #72 Killingsworth/82nd Ave.
Click here to register online or by calling 503-823-4519 or email bhoop@ci.portland.or.us.
Monday, September 24, 2007
6:30-9:00 pm
East Portland Community Center , Multipurpose Room 3
740 SE 106th, several blocks south of SE Washington St.
TRIMET BUS: #20 Burnside/Stark
Click here to register online or by calling 503-823-4519 or email bhoop@ci.portland.or.us.
Monday, October 1, 2007
6:30-9:00 pm
Multnomah Arts Center , Capitol Room
7688 SW Capitol Hwy, at SW 31st Ave.
TRIMET BUS: #44 Capitol Hwy or #45 Garden Home
Click here to register online or by calling 503-823-4519 or email bhoop@ci.portland.or.us.
Special Needs Accomodations
Please call or email seven days in advance for special needs accommodations, childcare vouchers, and/or language interpretation requests at 503-823-4519 or TTY 503-823-6868 or bhoop@ci.portland.or.us. All sites are wheelchair accessible.
Grant Writing Resource Guide
The Grant Writing Resource Guide is provided with the goal to encourage your organization to incorporate grant writing as one piece of a diversified organizational fundraising strategy. Included are steps to consider for general grant writing purposes. While these are skills applicable to helping you develop a grant proposal for the Neighborhood Small Grant Program this grant program is intended to provide a simple grant application process that does not require professional grant writing skills.
Meaning don’t feel like you need to be a grant writing pro in order to apply.
Summary of the 1st Year’s Grant Cycle for Fiscal Year 2006-07
While many of the projects funded in the 2007 Neighborhood Small Grants Program are still underway, we’ve tried to provide some of the totals that best capture if we’re meeting our goals to equitably distribute funds throughout the City, fund a diverse range of organizations, and ensuring projects engage a diverse range of constituencies and population groups. Click here to review summary information. We’ll have a list of organizations funded, dollar amount awarded, and short descriptions posted here the first week of September.