Grant story: The Good Fight

March 3, 2021

By Jamie Schloegel, Chief Executive Officer

The Good Fight receives unrestricted grant award

Testing an unrestricted grantmaking program

In early 2020, we started to pilot a new unrestricted grantmaking program. Other community foundations in the nation, mostly in costal areas, were already providing unrestricted funding to nonprofits and we wondered if that was something we could start here. We also understood that unrestricted grantmaking is a process that aligns well with our commitment to trust-based and equitable grantmaking.

The benefits of unrestricted funding

Unrestricted grants allow nonprofit organizations to take a well-needed breather from the nonprofit starvation cycle. The cycle is the result of a decades-long trend to underfund nonprofit overhead, propelled by the belief that a nonprofit’s overhead budget must be minimal in order to be effective. Subsequently, nonprofits have sharply decreased overhead costs since 1985 resulting in chronic under-funding for even the most effective organizations.

Nonprofits with savvy fundraising strategies typically secure unrestricted funds from individual supporters. But because of the ongoing pandemic, many nonprofits are reporting fundraising shortfalls that threaten their mission. That’s one reason we are continuing to pilot this new unrestricted grantmaking program at LCF.

The Good Fight Community Center

The Good Fight partners the lure of boxing with supportive mentorship and offers a safe space for nearly 250 local youth. They inspire youth to recognize their purpose and foster growth. They engage youth in value-based experiences that strengthen character. And they help youth develop a strong sense of self-worth and pride in their identity to help them succeed in life.

Pre-pandemic, The Good Fight was taking strategic steps forward into what was supposed to be a major growth year for the organization. They had plans to hire more staff, grow their programs, and strengthen community partnerships, all to better serve youth in our community.

An unrestricted grant for The Good Fight

Because of COVID-related fundraising shortfalls, The Good Fight started 2021 without the financial resources necessary to launch them into their planned growth year. Their financial needs were largely for operational costs. A project-based grant wasn’t going to be of much help, so they were encouraged to complete the unrestricted grant application.

They submitted a $45,000 request that both our Black Empowerment Fund advisory committee and our grants and scholarship committee carefully evaluated and considered.

First grant awarded from Black Empowerment Fund

We recently announced that all the gift matching challenges for the new Black Empowerment Fund are met, and the fund’s advisory committee will oversee about $8000 of grantmaking in 2021.

When they met in February to review grants, they selected this request from The Good Fight to receive its first ever grant award. $1000 was awarded from the Black Empowerment Fund to support this unrestricted request. $7000 remains in the fund for 2021 grantmaking.

The remaining $44,000 requested was awarded by our grant committee from our Community Giving Fund. A total of $304,855 was awarded in the first of four grant rounds of 2021.