Irvine Foundation Launches Fund to Help Nonprofits Prepare for New Economic Reality
The San Francisco-based James Irvine Foundation has announced the launch of a fund to help nonprofits develop and execute plans to better position themselves for the future in light of the ongoing recession.
The Fund for Financial Restructuring will support current Irvine Foundation grantees in its arts, California democracy, and youth programs that have already initiated internal planning processes to determine how best to adapt to the economic downturn. Grants ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 will be awarded to up to fifteen organizations, with priority given to nonprofits that are already exploring longer-term implications of the recession and that have demonstrated proactive thinking and action.
Grants awarded through the fund may be used to reinforce an organization’s core values and mission by better aligning its revenues and expenditures, reconsidering its basic strategies and operations, and/or developing new business models and related organizational structures, processes, products, or partnerships. Grants are not intended to be used to address short-term cash flow needs related to the recession or to support core operating costs for conducting “business as usual.”
The first round of grants will likely be awarded in late 2009, with one or two additional rounds following in 2010.