Funders' Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities

For what purpose was it established? (Define capacity building)

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Go to one or more of the Hispanics in Philanthropy Internet sites listed below and read through the list of grant winners from the Funders' Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities. Select grantees with different types of projects to complete the table below. Make sure to include both capacity building and planning grants, if included at your chosen site.

• Northern California and the Central Valley grantees: http://www.hiponline.org/home/Funders+Collaborative/Grantees/Northern+California+-+Central+Valley.htm
  
  
• Colorado grantees: http://www.hiponline.org/home/Funders+Collaborative/Grantees/Colorado.htm
  
  
• Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota grantees: http://www.hiponline.org/home/Funders+Collaborative/Grantees/Upper+Midwest.htm
  
  
• Delaware Valley (Philadelphia) grantees: http://www.hiponline.org/home/Funders+Collaborative/Grantees/Philadelphia.htm

Definition
The Funders' Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities is based on the premise that a strong Latino nonprofit sector will help these communities gain greater access to full civic and economic participation in U.S. Society. The Collaborative, administered by Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP), was launched in 2001. Through funding from national and international sources, the Collaborative has four key objectives:

1. To strengthen the organizational capacity of small- to medium-sized Latino nonprofits organizations.
   
   
2. To increase philanthropy's understanding of Latino nonprofits, the communities they serve, and the role they play in civil society.
   
   
3. To foster leadership among Latino nonprofits that incorporates a vision of inclusiveness and collaboration.
   
   
4. To increase the net amount of philanthropic dollars flowing to the Latino nonprofits.
   The Collaborative is a coordinated effort of local, national and international foundations and corporations. Its goal is to raise and distribute $17 million over five years to Latino nonprofit organizations.

Hispanics in Philanthropy is leading the Collaborative effort as part of its own mission to serve as a catalyst for Latino philanthropy. HIP was founded in 1983 to promote stronger partnerships between organized philanthropy and Latino communities. It is a transnational association of grantmakers, with more than 450 members representing corporate, public and private philanthropies, nonprofit leadership and academia,

Historic Roots

The Funders' Collaborative is literally the product of a need, vision, and action plan developed and implemented by four Hispanic American professionals: Aida Rodriguez, Barbara A. Taveras, Luz A. Vega-Marquis and Magui Rubalcava. This team of volunteers and staff designed and implemented the Collaborative.

The genesis for the Collaborative came from Rodriguez, Taveras and Vega-Marquis. All three were participating as Fellows in the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's Leadership in Philanthropy in the Americas program. They joined with Kellogg Fellows from seven Latin American countries to plan and develop the Collaborative's infrastructure as well as encouraging involvement of other foundations. Rubalcava has provided staff leadership for the Collaborative.In 2003, the four were named co-recipients of the prestigious Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking, awarded by the Council on Foundations.

Aida Rodriguez, Ph.D., is Chair, Nonprofit Management Program, Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at the New School in New York City. Barbara A. Taveras is President and Board Secretary of the Edward Hazen Foundation. Luz A. Vega-Marquis is President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Magui Rubalcava serves as Director of Programs for Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP).

Importance

The rapidly changing demographics of the United States are seen most vividly in Latino communities. By the year 2050, forty-nine percent (49%) of the U.S. population will comprise people of color. One quarter of this ethnically diverse population will be Hispanic, accounting for ninety-eight million people - a two hundred percent (200%) increase from the present Hispanic population. As people of color will compose nearly half of the U.S. population, the economic stability and social well-being of these communities will be increasingly critical for national vitality. The Latino community already is the single largest minority community in the U.S., representing more than 13% of the total population. Yet, private philanthropy gives less than 2% of its grant dollars to Latino organizations.

At the time of such rapid population growth for U.S. Latinos, Latino nonprofit organizations find themselves in a difficult position. In many ways, these organizations are the fabric of the Hispanic community. They provide job and housing assistance, leadership opportunities and training. They play a larger role in the lives of Latinos than in those of other ethnic groups, making stronger nonprofits all the more important.

While they furnish valuable and much-needed services to Latinos, the organizations as a whole are too small, isolated, underfunded, and few in number to effectively confront the changing urban environment in which most U.S. Latinos live. They need greater capacity, leadership and a shared vision.

Responding to these needs is the central focus of the Collaborative. "Building capacity" of Latino nonprofit organizations means providing financial and technical assistance that allows these nonprofits to increase their ability to develop and sustain programs; expand existing programs; and respond to changing circumstances on behalf of Latinos and their communities.

Ties to the Philanthropic Sector

The Funders' Collaborative has been described by Dot Riddings, President of the Council on Foundations, as "a bold and innovative response to a critical need to support America's growing Latino community. This team of women used extraordinary skills to develop an unproven and untested program, and they have achieved impressive results."

To date, these results have included creation of a Project Government Council made up of contributors to the Collaborative Fund (8 members, soon to be 12) and bringing together three non-governmental research organizations to carry out critical research about Latino philanthropy. This research will answer such questions as:

1. What is the size and characteristics of the Latino nonprofit community?
   
   
2. Where are the sources of available money for Latino nonprofit organizations?
   
   
3. What do the leaders of Latino organizations think are the key avenues to strengthening their organizations?
   
   
4. What are the current barriers to financing the programs and services of Latino organizations and how can they be overcome?

To date, the Collaborative has raised more than $5 million in philanthropic resources toward its $16 million goal, including critical early support from the Kellogg and Ford foundations.

Funds will be distributed to Latino nonprofit organizations through a network of between 15 and 20 geographic "sites" that have their own local committees. These committees, which include local funders, make grantmaking decisions, evaluate funded projects and work to recruit and orient new Collaborative funders. There is a powerful incentive for local donors built into the Collaborative model. Local philanthropic dollars granted to the Collaborative are matched by the Collaborative's national funds. So the Collaborative is structured in a way to bring additional funds from outside a geographic area to meet local community needs.

Current sites established or being developed include Northern California and the Central Valley, the Upper Midwest, New York, Southern California as well as The Dominican Republic and Argentina in Latin America. For example, the Upper Midwest site of the Collaborative has included The Bush Foundation, Grotto Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Otto Bremer Foundation and The Saint Paul Foundation. With their combined pool of local and matching funds, this site was able to award almost $1 million to twelve Latino Organizations in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota in its first grant round.

The Collaborative impacts grantees and funders alike. The benefits to the nonprofits are substantial through direct support and by linking grantees to each other across sites. In addition, funders have opportunities to pool their resources and knowledge.

Key Related Ideas

Many of us have seen first hand how a simple idea can be easily applied to many aspects of our lives. Community members can have a tremendous impact when they work together. Local philanthropic resources can be used to help garner national and international sources of support.

The Collaborative is an example of how an international program can be developed and funded that successfully empowers and benefits people in communities across the United States and in Latin America.