How to Use the Toolbox

The Toolbox is divided into five sections: 

• The Introduction includes an overview of employment issues Why Think About Jobs in an Economic Boom?; a discussion of how grantmakers can approach jobs issues and create funding programs; and some thoughts about the importance of a geographic focus for jobs grantmaking.
• The next three sections examine, in detail, specific jobs-related funding strategies: Workforce Development, Welfare to Work, and Sectoral Development. Each section defines the strategy it addresses, offers examples of grantmaking programs and nonprofit organizations using that strategy, and outlines a set of lessons from each strategy. A brief resource list concludes each section. At the end of the fourth section on Sectoral Development, you will find a brief description of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Jobs Initiative, a comprehensive multi-year, six-city effort employing all the strategies described in the Toolbox.
• The fifth section of the Toolbox contains case studies of three foundations that have developed jobs programs: the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Discount Foundation. Case studies offer brief histories of how and why foundations developed their programs, criteria for grantmaking, descriptions of funded programs and organizations, and evaluation criteria. Case studies are followed by a lengthy listing of Resources that includes key organizations, useful web sites and written resources such as books, reports and articles. This extensive listing augments the brief resource lists concluding each section.

There are several ways to use this Toolbox. NFG has tried to make it useful to as broad a range of funders as possible - from those just getting started in jobs to those with years of experience; from small, local foundations to larger national funders; from those who focus entirely on economic development to those who fund a range of issues. 

You don't need to read this Toolbox from start to finish. You may want to start with a relevant case study and then read a section on a specific strategy - or vice versa. How you use the Toolbox will be dictated by your experience, your interests and your specific needs. The following is a brief road map: 

• If you are new to the whole field of jobs funding, you may want to read the Toolbox from start to finish.
• If you already have a jobs focus, you may simply want to read sections on specific strategies or the case studies which describe other approaches to jobs funding.
• If you are a funder working in one community or region, you may want to read the Pittsburgh Foundation case study first.
• If you are a small funder with limited resources, but with a national or regional scope, you may want to read the Discount Foundation case study first.
• If you are a national funder with a big budget, you may want to read the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation case study or the Annie E. Casey Foundation overview first.
• If your funding is primarily capacity building and institutional (general) support, pay special attention to the material on Supporting Organizations, Not Just Programs describing the value of this kind of support to organizations implementing jobs programs.
• Conversely, if you fund projects, you may also want to look at Core Support is Essential to get a perspective on the value of core support/capacity building to the overall, long-term success of specific jobs initiatives.
• If your funding does not currently have a place (or neighborhood) focus, take a look at Why a Neighborhood Focus? to find out why such a focus can be important.