taproot docsTaproot技术文档2-_Proposal_6_10

Renewal Proposal to Dean & Margaret Lesher FoundationJune 2010Proposal OverviewTaproot Foundations four-year partnership with Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation has culminated in approximately $365,000 worth of capacity building services delivered to Contra Costa Countys nonprofit community. We see tremendous value in continuing our partnership to address the education, arts and social service needs of the region. Per your request, weve prepared this initial renewal proposal for discussion. We propose a grant of $36,000 from the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation to sponsor six Service Grants over a two-year period. This investment will enable Taproot Foundation to deliver an additional $300,000 worth of pro bono consulting services to the local nonprofit sector. Since 2003, Taproot Foundation has worked with 27 Contra Costa nonprofits and has infused approximately $2 million in capacity building services across these organizations. As we relayed in our recent report, there is an incredible need for capacity-building services for nonprofit organizations in the region. Since 2003, we have received 116 applications from Contra Costa nonprofits. Due to limited funding, we have only been able to award 41 Service Grants to this applicant pool. With additional support, Taproot Foundation will address the needs of the Contra Costa nonprofit sector, and engage the hundreds of trained Bay Area pro bono consultants who are ready to join a consulting team. Taproot Foundation has expanded the depth and breadth of the Service Grant program since our initial engagement with the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation. Geographically, weve opened an office in Los Angeles and Washington DC. Programmatically, we have expanded our Service Grant catalog to 16 offerings, including two new practice areas- Strategy Management; and Leadership Development & Strategic HR. In addition, we are actively consulting with a dozen corporations across the country to help them develop their own internal pro bono programs, enabling them to address the needs of their local nonprofit communities. With these developments in our growth as an organization, we continue to seek partnerships that will help us meet the growing needs of the nonprofit sector, especially during these challenging economic times. Thank you for your review of this proposal; we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation to help Contra Costa County nonprofits ability to further improve the quality of life in the region.Mission Our mission is to lead, mobilize and engage professionals in pro bono service that drives social change. Our vision is a just and vibrant society where the imperative for social progress and renewal is borne across all sectors. Project Overview and PlanNow that all six of the previously-sponsored projects have been awarded, the Taproot Foundation would like to request a continuation of our partnership. A grant of $36,000 will fully fund six Service Grants to benefit nonprofit grantees in Contra Costa County over a two-year period. Our goal is to equip nonprofit grantees with the marketing, strategic, and technological support that will enable them to deliver on their missions throughout these challenging economic times. We have worked with 27 nonprofit organizations in Contra Costa County since 2003. Over half of these grant recipients have received at least two Service Grants from Taproot. The high proportion of repeat grantees in Contra Costa County speaks directly to the growing demand for our services across the region.Through a highly effective partnering model, we work with funders who sponsor Service Grants which are worth $50,000 on average, but delivered at a cost of $6,000an eight-fold return on a funders investment. Please note that we are able to adapt our work plan to serve fewer or more nonprofits, depending on how many projects Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation is able to sponsor in increments of $6,000. By providing nonprofits with brochures, annual reports, websites, donor databases, strategic and financial planning tools, and HR consulting, the Taproot Foundation and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation can help nonprofits increase and diversify revenues and effectively serve their constituents throughout the recession and beyond. Target PopulationTaproot Foundation primarily serves nonprofit organizations. This grant will benefit nonprofit organizations supporting children and strengthening families in Contra Costa County.Objectives1. We will award six Service Grants to nonprofits in Contra Costa County (three per Fiscal Year).2. We will recruit 33 pro bono consultants to implement the Service Grant.3. We will manage each project and ensure its successful completion within 12 months of the nonprofits application date.There are three major components of the Service Grant process- nonprofit selection, pro bono consultant selection and project management. We leverage best practices from traditional grantmaking to select Service Grant recipients. After a thorough review of their online applications by our program team, qualified applicants are invited to an interview. Tentative award decisions are made by the program team post-interview, and the Service Grant is awarded following a site visit from the pro bono Account Director. We will begin outreach to Contra Costa County nonprofits to apply starting in our September 2010 grant round. The first three Service Grants will be delivered over our 2011 Fiscal Year and the remaining three Service Grants will be delivered over the 2012 Fiscal Year. We recruit volunteers from well known job boards and trade associations, based on their skills and experience. Volunteers fill out an online application and participate in a phone interview which assesses their professional competencies as well as motivation to ensure they will succeed on a pro bono consulting team. We accept approximately one for every five that apply, and require each pro bono consultant to attend a volunteer orientation prior to engaging on a Service Grant team. Our staff provides pro bono consultants and clients with the oversight and tools they need to be successful. All have access to our intranet, as well as Service Grant blueprints, or instruction manuals, which have been tailored by product development staff in conjunction with industry experts to guide each project type. Although 65% of our Service Grants face challenges that could potentially derail the project, our oversight ensures that 98% are closed successfully, providing the grantee with a deliverable that will build their infrastructure for at least three to five years.Timeline per Service GrantActivityTimetableApplication screening and interviews (beginning September 2010)1.5 to 2 monthsAD assigns pro bono consultants to the project1 to 3 monthsPro bono team implements the Service Grant6 to 7 monthsTotal10 to 12 months from application dateOther Funding Resources The Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation will be the sole sponsor of six Service Grants delivered to Contra Costa County nonprofit organizations. No other funding will be necessary to award and implement the grants. Service Grant Catalog: Strategy Management, Leadership Development & Strategic HRSince our last grant from the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, Taproot has expanded its Service Grant offerings to 16 products. In 2008, we launched our Strategy Management practice, designed to arm nonprofits with tools, knowledge, and data to make critical strategic and financial decisions. The Taproot Foundation has partnered with leaders, including Wells Fargo, to craft these offerings aimed at helping nonprofits prepare for the recession and beyond. The following are short descriptions of our four Strategy Management Service Grant offerings (each valued at $70,000): Competitor/Collaborator Analysis: Assists nonprofits in identifying opportunities to merge or align with others in order to maximize the impact on the community. Strategic Scorecard: Allows nonprofits to leverage data to inform decision-making regarding program focus, execution, and impact measurement. Financial Analysis: Helps nonprofits see where they can cut costs and strategically trim programs to operate more efficiently Strategic Planning Prep: Enables nonprofits to analyze trends in their operating environment in order to develop appropriate, proactive responses. Launched nationally in December 2009, the Leadership Development & Strategic HR suite of offerings, whose development was supported by American Express, assists nonprofits in developing their leadership and implementing strategy regarding human capacity. Nearly 10% of applications from Contra Costa County nonprofits have fallen under this new practice area. The following are short descriptions of our four offerings (each valued at $55,000): Performance Management: Enables the nonprofit to build a system to align the organization, standardizes process, and help individuals link their work to tangible, meaningful goals. Human Resources Capacity Build: Assesses the entire HR function, makes a plan for long-term and short-term action, and takes steps in critical areas Strategic Staff Development: Helps the nonprofit understand the staffing implications of strategic priorities, assess current skills, and then creates a plan to address critical development needs. Board Recruitment: Articulates a nonprofits board needs, clarifying the audience, and developing messaging and systems to recruit and manage those specific candidates. These practices will help expand our impact on the community as well as help us target our services to meet more of Contra Costa nonprofits specific needs. Results and Measurable ObjectivesOutcomes1. The Service Grant process will have a positive and measurable impact on the nonprofit grantees Marketing, IT, Strategy Management, or Leadership Development & Strategic HR capabilities for at least three to five years.2. Client satisfaction with their Taproot Foundation Service Grant team and infrastructure-strengthening deliverable.3. The collaborative nature of our Service Grant process may also yield unexpected learning on the parts of both the pro bono consultants and nonprofit professionals that develop valuable insights about one anothers sector through this work.The Taproot Foundation adheres to best practices with respect to confidential evaluations of our Service Grant program. Each grantee completes two surveys: one immediately after the project ends, and another one nine months later. This tool gauges the grantees satisfaction level as well as the Service Grants impact on their organizational capacity. Last year, 96% of our grantees were satisfied with their deliverable and 97% reported that their management and staff gained significant learnings through the process. Pro bono consultants also complete the first survey to provide feedback on their experience on the Service Grant. All nonprofit clients participate in a one-on-one debrief at the conclusion of their project, which leads to insights and lessons that we apply to future projects. We take pride in sharing the outcomes of each Service Grant project by providing our funding partners copies of the web, marketing, and print collateral as the Service Grant projects complete. In addition, our Service Grant Progra