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Nonprofit Transitions Fund Launches to Support Intentional Change
The Nonprofit Transitions Fund has been created to help organizations rethink and regroup in response to the downturn in the economy. The goal of the Nonprofit Transitions Fund is to help nonprofits reduce costs and time spent on administrative work, as well as increase productivity. $700,000 will support serious planning efforts, consultants, due diligence, and other expenses related to the following activities:
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Back office collaborations between two or more organizations (including rent, equipment, group insurance joint purchasing, and centralizing human resources, payroll, and benefits administration and financial and grants management)
- Merger/acquisition/consolidation
- Dissolution (voluntary/involuntary)
- Bankruptcy
- Post-merger integration or closure costs
- Service delivery joint ventures
This fund is not intended for organizations engaging in capacity-building work (such as streamlining your internal operations) and/or establishing fiscal sponsorship arrangements. For these activities, please refer to our general Application Guidelines.
Eligibility
Inquiring organizations must have 501(c)3 nonprofit status (or a fiscal sponsor) and must primarily serve residents in at least one of the five Bay Area counties we serve: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, and San Francisco. Additionally, inquiring organizations must be applying for projects above and beyond the scope of their regular, ongoing work.
Process
Grants will generally range from $10,000 to $30,000. Program Officers will review inquiries and invite selected organizations to apply for support by submitting a proposal detailing key considerations including:
- Evidence of buy-in from staff, board, and constituencies
- Clear and realistic expectations of benefits/risks
- What niche/role organization(s) serves in local and regional needs
- Mission compatibility
- Relative competitive position
- Financial strengths
- Cultural fit, including board and staff compatibility
- Awareness
of obstacles such as asset restrictions, endowment/bequest issues,
current liabilities, deferred revenue, and other legal barriers
Timeline
The application deadline has now passed. Please check back in the spring about future opportunities.
For more information
Please contact John Killacky at 415.733.8523 or jrk@sff.org.
Background
While Bay Area nonprofits have been resilient, and even grew during recent recessions, the scale and scope of the current downturn is clearly different. Given the tumultuous economy, many organizations are rethinking operations in order to continue delivering mission related programs. Some face hard decisions about streamlining, merging, consolidating, or even sunsetting. Growth used to be a barometer of success. In the current economic climate, adaptability is a more pertinent measure.
While in some cases, downsizing may be inevitable, The San Francisco Foundation wants to enable strategic restructuring so regional nonprofits can preserve the delivery of services and programs that are vital to our community. Our goal is for the sector to emerge healthier and more sustainable long-term. Short-term, these efforts can produce efficiencies and economy of scale, and hopefully enhance programming and service delivery.