Recent Grants - approved Dec. 15, 2011

Helping nonprofits work more effectively

Many of our local nonprofits are masters at stretching a dollar. They budget carefully, repair instead of replace, and make use of volunteers to accomplish their missions -- whether they are feeding hungry children, teaching adults to read, or enhancing our lives through the arts.

Frugality isn't always enough. Just as businesses invest in technology and staff development, nonprofits also benefit from investing in long-term solutions that will allow them to operate more efficiently and effectively. Recognizing this need, the Community Foundation created the Capacity Building Grants program in 2002 and now has awarded more than $830,000 to local nonprofits to help them accomplish more. These grants are made possible by generous donors to our Community Partnership Fund and our unrestricted endowment.

These Capacity Building Grants were approved by the Board of Governors on Dec. 15, 2011:

Client management technology – to help organizations better meets the needs of those they serve

  • Agape Child and Family Services, Inc. - $20,415 for ServicePoint community client database system
  • CASA of Memphis and Shelby County - $2,000 for case management software
  • Community Legal Center - $8,600 for expanded client tracking and phone systems
  • Girls, Inc. - $13,000 for attendance-tracking software
  • Memphis Athletic Ministries - $25,000 for attendance-tracking software
  • Memphis Recovery Centers - $2,500 for computerized client intake assessment tool

Upgraded computer systems
  • Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence - $4,250 for a website upgrade
  • Exchange Club Family Center - $9,800 for upgraded computer training technology
  • Catholic Charities of West Tennessee - $19,000 fundraising and donor-tracking software
  • Literacy Mid-South - $10,000 for upgraded computer hardware
  • National Civil Rights Museum - $15,300 for a comprehensive disaster recovery system for digital files
  • Porter-Leath - $9,500 for computerized training modules for staff and a fax by email system
  • Make-A-Wish Foundation - $6,193 for updated computer hardware and software
  • WKNO-TV - $13,030 for new closed-captioning system 

Evaluation and research

  • BRIDGES - $14,250 for evaluation of the Bridge Builders program
  • CHOICES (formerly Memphis Center for Reproductive Health) - $5,000 for a community assessment of outreach and education efforts addressing reproductive health
  • Hattiloo Theatre - $6,000 for capital campaign feasibility study
  • Mid-South Food Bank - $10,000 for a comprehensive survey of clients

Other Capacity Buiding Grants

  • Creative Aging Mid-South - $13,000 to hire staff for event management, volunteer coordination, and grant research
  • Crisis Center - $20,000 to hire volunteer management and recruitment staff

Also awarded on Dec. 15, 2011:

Intermediary Grants

These grants are awarded to organizations that support the work of other nonprofits.

  • Community LIFT - $50,000
  • Memphis Leadership Foundation - $7,500

Grants & Initiatives Grants

  • Mid-South AIDS Fund - $25,000
  • United Way of the Mid-South - $20,000 for the United Way Earned Income Tax Program