Sta

te Edition

ID

Helping communities find the federal funding they need.

www.fundbook.orgp.� ~ The Fundbook - ID | May �011

The view from Idaho is one of hope and commitment to community.

Through out the past eight years the University of Idaho has partnered with rural communities, reservations and the Northwest Area Foundation to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity through the Horizons program. Over 300 communities across seven states have participated in Horizons since it began in 2003. The University of Idaho Extension has brought Horizons to 49 communities across the state (8 clusters and 25 individual towns). Idaho Horizons communities range in size from 226 to 4,900 residents and have poverty rates from 11-30 percent. A steering committee made up of local volunteers in each community leads the program, guided by a coach hired by the University of Idaho.

For more about the program visit: http://goo.gl/MzcJb

Bright Star has been privileged over the past 4 years to work with representatives of Horizons communities to teach grantwriting through intensive workshops, “Grant Seeking for Rural Communities”. In early April, forty representatives of small isolated communities gathered for 3 days in Idaho Falls to learn grantwriting. Each community team started at the beginning and completed a grant proposal for specific identified needs of their own community. Projects were as diversified as an RV dump for hunters, classical opera events, literacy for non-English speakers, signs for mountain bike trails, community newsletters, thermal heated greenhouses, and collaboration with North Idaho Community College for distance learning courses in an isolated mountain town. Past workshops have seen funded proposals for hospital equipment such as CT scanners, housing for rural poor, domestic violence shelters, and community centers.

Small rural communities have little tax base in a state that is largely government owned land, timber, mining and large farming. The Horizons communities have developed a cadre of strong grantwriters committed to their communities and who are playing a strong role in the economic development of their communities and state. Idaho Horizons grantwriters have brought in more grant money for their communities than any other Horizons state. The Horizon grantwriters are a resource to be cherished by their communities and regions. In this time of budget cuts, this trained and capable cadre needs to be fully utilized by their towns and counties.

For more information contact: Debbie Gray dgray@uidaho.eduCommunity Development Grant CoordinatorUI Dept of Ag Economics & Rural Sociology208.885.4017 208.885.5759(fax)http://www.indicatorsnorthwest.orghttp://extension.ag.uidaho.edu/horizons

Priscilla SalantUniversity of Idaho Coordinator Outreach & Engagement322 E. Front Street, Suite 324EBoise, ID 83702208-364-4549 §

The View from Idaho State

This article was contributed by Janet Bourque of Bright Star Grant Consultants. Bright Star is very knowledgable of the grants and funding territory in ID and works with local governments and non-profits on grants-related services and capacity building there.

Notes From the Field

Large areas of Idaho do not have easy access to fresh produce. Even agricultural areas are often large tracts of wheat or potatoes that are shipped out. Rural com-munities and school lunch programs often have lim-ited access to quality fresh produce. Community and school gardens are becoming an important source of fresh vegetables for local school lunch programs, se-nior centers and food banks. The school gardens are used for teaching math, gardening techniques, team-work, nutrition and entrepreneurship. Some produce is sold at local Farmer’s Markets.

Cascade is developing a model for using its thermal water resource in order to heat a school green house. They hope to use this cheap energy to develop a sus-tainable business that can be replicated. For a model they plan to look at the Edwards greenhouses in Boi-se, which have been using thermal heat since 1927 as well as the Garden Valley greenhouses.

Communities interested in developing fresh pro-duce sources should contact their local University of Idaho extension agent. §

Bright StarGrant Consultants, Inc.810 Victorian Dr, Coeur d’ Alene, ID, 83814(208) 964-0402janet@brightstarconsultants.comwww.brightstarconsultants.com

Bright Star Grant Consultants is a full service capacity building firm.Supporting government agencies, non-profits, and universities with:• Fund, resource, and program development • Strategy and expansion • Assessment and evaluation • Training and Coaching

Sample ConsultationFeasibility Study: Preliminary Non-Traditional Grant Funding Strategy: City of Pinehurst, IdahoRole: Research and development of deliverable documentation that included non-traditional grant seeking strategies, organizational readiness evaluation, readiness task list, strategic alliances profiles, and recommendations.

Bright Star Grant Consultants worked carefully to understand the needs of our projects and community and provided creative funding opportunities that will expand the reach of our projects and increase our sustainability.

- Principal, Terra Graphics Engineering (www.tgenviro.com) http://www.facebook.com/brightstargrants

Grants are the cornerstone of building a diversified funding portfolio

http://goo.gl/jv0vchttp://goo.gl/jv0vchttp://goo.gl/jv0vchttp://goo.gl/jv0vchttp://goo.gl/jv0vchttp://goo.gl/jv0vc

www.fundbook.orgp.� ~ The Fundbook - ID | May �011

States, counties and cities are looking to non-profits to help fill the gaps of their budget shortfalls. At the same time, new IRS Rules will

result in revoking tax exempt status for as many as 321,000 nonprofits nation wide. Anything affecting that many organizations has the potential to have broad impact throughout the nonprofit sector. The IRS will soon release the first Nonfiler Revocation List. This list identifies nonprofits whose tax-ex-empt status has been revoked for failure to file an an-nual return. Even if an organization is not on the list, the revocations could affect the safety net through-out the country. Find out how by downloading a free copy of GuideStar’s new report, “What Automatic Revocation of Nonprofit Tax Exemptions Means for You: A Review for Nonprofits, Grantmakers, and Donors.”Written by GuideStar staff, this short but thorough report:

• outlines the reasons behind the revocations; • analyzes by organization type the nonprofits the

IRS has identified as being at risk; • defines how the revocations will affect different

audiences; and • lists resources where readers can get more infor-

mation.Download “What Automatic Revocation of Non-profit Tax Exemptions Means for You” at http://goo.gl/Y5Pkr to learn more.

Resources for Legislators and Policymakers

Legislators, county commissioners and other of-ficials are reporting steep increase in requests from constituents who want to find out about grants. Foun-dation Center has many free resources to address the needs of legislators and policymakers. http://foun-dationcenter.org/

• Constituent Services o Nonprofit Grantseekerso Individual Grantseekers

• Policy Development• Other Helpful Nonprofit Resources

Legislators are an important audience for the Foun-dation Center. A Foundation Center Online Librar-

ian can answer questions at no charge about grant-makers, philanthropy, and fundraising research. The librarian, however, will not provide lists of grant-makers that will fund specific activities. You or your constituents can submit questions in different ways: E-mail anytime, participate in a live chat when a li-brarian is online, or contact the Foundation Center office nearest you.

Constituent Services: Nonprofit Grantseekers

When constituents contact public servants about funding for nonprofit organizations, refer them to:Cooperating Collections (Funding Information Cen-ters)

These locations provide your constituents with free access to the Center’s premier subscription database, Foundation Directory Online, to Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, and to a core set of the Center’s print resources. Staff at these sites also provides ref-erence service and training opportunities that help nonprofits more effectively research funding oppor-tunities. There are more than 450 of these collections throughout the United States — many in public librar-ies or local nonprofit technical assistance centers. You may call (800) 424-9836 or search online for Cooperat-ing Collections in your area at http://goo.gl/9qiEh

High school students may soon be doing more school work on a laptop. Reforms are encouraging schools to have a computer for every student, and the State Board of Education will soon write rules that could mandate online coursework for every high-school student. School boards need to keep a close eye on the rules that will guide this new law, as there will be local school district budget implications. Schools and libraries have access to deeply discounted hard-ware and software through the donations of tech com-panies to Tech Soup www.techsoup.org §

This article was contributed by Janet Bourque of Bright Star Grant Consultants. Bright Star is very knowledgable of the grants and funding territory in ID and works with local governments and non-profits on grants-related services and capacity building there.

Grant Writing on the EdgeAdvanced grant writing tools and tips for government entities, schools and non-profits.

Helping communities

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The FundBook bridges the gap between your needs and those sources of federal funding available to your community. With a list of features that is growing each month, the FundBook can help you…

• Stay Organized – User-friendly features help you sort through the federal funding quagmire and locate quality grants.

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How We Help: Hundreds of communi-ties across the nation

are using the FundBook to navigate an increasing array of federal funding opportunities available to cities and counties each year. De-signed to give local government leaders a commanding view of the fed-eral funding process, each issue promotes and educates a do-it-yourself approach to pursuing assistance in Washington, D.C. and working with the federal agencies. The FundBook is designed to be the most user-friendly federal funding resource for all sizes of local government.

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