Neighborhood Funders Group

NFG REPORTS
FALL 2001 ISSUE FOUR • VOLUME EIGHT

NFG 2001 Accomplishments and Activities

The mission of the Neighborhood Funders Group is to strengthen the capacity of organized philanthropy to understand and support community-based efforts to organize and improve the economic and social fabric of low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities. To implement this mission, we provide our membership with information, learning opportunities and other professional development activities, and we encourage the support of policies and practices that advance economic and social justice.

2001 PROGRAM ACTIVITIES AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Community Organizing Toolbox published; over 2,000 copies distributed.
A Seat at the Table: Keeping the "Public" in Public Policy. The first NFG issue brief.
NFG Reports - Four issues of NFG Reports were published in 2001.
Funder Learning Tours to Las Vegas and Omaha - Working Group on Labor and Community in collaboration with Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees organized a series of tours entitled "Immigration and the New Economy." Fifty funders attended the Las Vegas Tour and 25 attended the Omaha tour. NFG participated in a third tour to Tucson organized by GCIR. On each tour, funders met with labor unions and community organizations that were working in collaboration to organize immigrant workers.
Comprehensive Community Initiative Forum - NFG organized a gathering of more than 50 foundation staff and community leaders to discuss issues related to comprehensive community initiatives. The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation underwrote the costs.
Council on Foundations Annual Conference - the Education Committee and NFG leadership organized four very successful workshops, meetings, a site visit and a reception at the Philadelphia COF meeting. More than 200 people attended our reception, which featured the film Bread and Roses and a presentation by the Justice for Janitors campaign.
Council on Foundations Community Foundation Conference - NFG organized two workshops for the conference and participated on the conference planning committee.
Regional Gatherings - NFG members Regina McGraw of the Wieboldt Foundation in Chicago and Henry Allen of the Hyams Foundation in Boston organized workshops on community organizing that featured the NFG Community Organizing Toolbox.
Fall Rural Funders Forum - The November fall forum, "Strategies for a 21st Century Rural Policy," was attended by more than 50 members. Keynote speakers were: Karl Stauber of the Northwest Area Foundation and Art Campbell of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.
NFG co-sponsored a workshop organized in New York by the F. B. Heron Foundation and NYRAG entitled "If Markets Run the Society, How can Average Americans get into the Drivers Seat?" which looked at financial and market regulation. NFG also co-sponsored a two-day gathering in Detroit with the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.
NFG's Web site - NFG members regularly use the on-line membership directory to search for information and communicate with colleagues. Most NFG publications can be downloaded from the Web site; the toolboxes can be searched and are linked with other resources. A new benefit to members allows members to post papers or studies along with an announcement about their availability to the full membership.
NFG Annual Conference - San Francisco in March 2002 followed by a second conference in Washington, DC, in November 2002. Sara Gould of the Ms. Foundation for Women is chair of the Conference Planning Committee.

NFG WORKING GROUPS

Rural Funders Working Group - Under the leadership of co-chairs Teri Yeager, Susan Jenkins and Linetta Gilbert, the working group continues to grow with more than 265 members, including 55 new members this year. The Steering Committee members are: Gloria Guerrero, Sharon King, Rick Foster, Alan McGregor, June Otow, Bob Stark, Fred Wacker and Gayle Williams. A major activity in 2001 was the organizing of the National Rural Funders Collaborative, which over the next ten years will bring $100 million of new funding to rural development efforts. The Rural Funders Working Group is developing a "Rural 101" PowerPoint presentation to educate funders about rural issues. The group organized workshops and gatherings at the COF annual conference and the community foundation conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Working Group on Labor and Community - The leadership team, headed by Susan Chinn, is Victor Quintana, Susan Wefald, Regina McGraw, Michele Prichard, Mario Salgado, Maria Mottola, Henry Allen, Janet Shenk, Ellen Widess, Ann Bastian and Marion Standish. The working group's major activity was to organize the funder learning tours to Las Vegas and Omaha. The group also organized sessions for the COF meeting in Philadelphia.
Workforce Development Working Group - The NFG board approved the formation of a third working group in October.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

NFG Board of Directors held three meetings in 2001 and welcomed to the board four new members: Peter Beard of the Fannie Mae Foundation; Cynthia Duncan of the Ford Foundation; Maria Mottola of the New York Foundation; and Frank Sanchez of the Needmor Fund.
NFG relocated its offices to Washington, DC, in March 2001
New Staff - Liz Lombard joined the NFG staff in August as Conference and Meeting Coordinator. Bettye Brentley was hired as assistant director of membership services. Bettye will begin February 1, 2002.
Member Recruitment - NFG recruited 34 new institutional members in 2001 to bring our membership to more than 250. The membership recruitment efforts have been very successful.
The Communications Study was completed in 2001.
Financial Support - We wish to specifically thank the following members for their financial support: The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The F.B. Heron Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Surdna Foundation and Washington Mutual. NFG also receives support from more than 20 sponsors.

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