The Mission Sustainability Initiative (MSI) at Forefront provides grants to nonprofits seeking funding to support the exploration or implementation of a long-term or permanent strategic partnership.
Donor Name: Forefront
State: Illinois
County: Cook County (IL), DuPage County (IL), Kane County (IL), Kendall County (IL), and Lake County (IL)
City: Chicago
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/28/2023
Size of the Grant: $5,000 to $75,000
Details:
The Mission Sustainability Initiative (MSI) at Forefront is dedicated to helping nonprofits thrive by providing the resources for leaders to regularly and thoughtfully explore collaboration and partnership strategies. Strategic partnerships and collaborations may take the form of a co-location, a back office collaborative, a joint venture, a merger or acquisition, or other long-term or permanent partnership that changes the way of doing business of the organizations involved. The MSI provides holistic support solutions to nonprofits, including confidential conversations, educational programming, community convening, vetted consultant lists, toolkits, and opportunities to apply for funding.
Types of Grants
- Pre-Exploratory
- Forefront’s pre-exploratory grants provide funding for an organization to assess its readiness to engage in a strategic partnership, or for multiple organizations to either assess their preliminary compatibility or define their goals before exploring a formal partnership. These grants are often used for single-organization assessments or for the cost of a facilitator, space, and food for meeting(s) with the key decision-makers of multiple organizations
- The maximum amount available for a pre-exploratory grant is $5,000
- Exploratory
- Forefront’s exploratory grants are to provide financial support to two or more organizations as they engage in good faith negotiations regarding a strategic partnership. These grants are often used for consultants to assist with negotiations or for outside financial or facilities experts to assist with due diligence. Due to their strong partnership with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, MSI grants cannot be used to cover legal fees. Before receiving approval to apply for this grant, organizations must have:
- Evidence of support from the boards of all the organizations
- Scopes or estimates from all consultants or vendors
- Exploratory grants range from $5,000 to $75,000
- Forefront’s exploratory grants are to provide financial support to two or more organizations as they engage in good faith negotiations regarding a strategic partnership. These grants are often used for consultants to assist with negotiations or for outside financial or facilities experts to assist with due diligence. Due to their strong partnership with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, MSI grants cannot be used to cover legal fees. Before receiving approval to apply for this grant, organizations must have:
- Implementation
- Forefront’s implementation grants are to help cover one-time costs of implementing partnerships that have been consummated or finalized. Before receiving approval to apply for this grant, organizations must have:
- A final agreement between the organizations, and
- Scopes or estimates from all consultants or vendors
- These grants are often used for donor database integration, technology integration, rebranding, a new website and/or logo, cultural integration, directors’ and officers’ tail insurance, moving costs, and closing out contracts or leases for property or equipment
- Implementation grants range from $5,000 to $75,000.
- Forefront’s implementation grants are to help cover one-time costs of implementing partnerships that have been consummated or finalized. Before receiving approval to apply for this grant, organizations must have:
Organizations will be invited to apply for the grant most appropriate for where they are in the partnership process, but may be eligible to eventually apply for all three types of grants. The maximum amount that may be awarded is $75,000 across all the grant types, and the average grant is just over $20,000.
Funding Information
Grants will be made on a sliding scale from $5,000 to $75,000. Most grants awarded will be for less than the indicated maximum dollar amount. Grants may be used to pay the necessary, one-time, out-of-pocket costs incurred in exploring or implementing a strategic restructuring. Exploratory grants will generally be smaller than implementation grants and be awarded for strategic planning and consulting, though they may also be awarded for other purposes. Implementation grants may be awarded for a wide variety of purposes, including merging technology systems, closing out contracts or leases for property or equipment, Human Resources, cultural alignment of the applicant and proposed partner(s), rebranding, and printing new collateral materials.
Eligibility Criteria
Through their work, the MSI supports a wide array of strategic partnerships, including nonprofit mergers, acquisitions, back office collaborations, joint ventures, and other long-term or permanent programmatic alliances. Projects eligible for funding support from the MSI will meet the following requirements:
- The proposed strategic partnership must be intended to strengthen the applicant’s effectiveness in fulfilling its mission, including the promise of improved services and outcomes for the applicant’s constituents
- The applicant must be a greater Chicago area nonprofit 501(c)(3). Based upon the current funding sources for the grants, consideration will be given to applicants in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Lake counties
- The applicant must be exploring or implementing a nonprofit merger, acquisition, back office collaboration, joint venture, or other long-term or permanent programmatic alliance
- The applicant and final entity that results from the partnership must be nonprofit organizations
- Applicants with annual budgets of $10 million or less will receive priority consideration. The Funders Committee will consider grants to larger organizations that demonstrate need
- The proposed strategic partnership should promise greater effectiveness or efficiency of work in the public interest.
Selection Criteria
Grant awards are determined by the MSI Funders Committee based on the following criteria:
- The grant will play a material and catalytic role in the exploration, design, or successful completion of the proposed strategic partnership
- The strategic partnership project proposed for funding is likely to go forward
- The strategic partnership project proposed for funding will serve the public interest and the mission of the organization
- There is alignment of mission among the applicant and proposed partner(s)
- The applicant and proposed partner(s) are committed to the long-term success of the strategic partnership
- The project is likely to meaningfully increase the capacity, service delivery, effectiveness, and/or financial health of the nonprofit(s) involved
- The applicant and proposed partner(s) have engaged in a thoughtful pre-planning process
- If the applicant or the proposed partner(s) use of the grant is for the hiring of a consultant, there is a well-conceived scope of work
- The budget relies upon reasonable assumptions, including projected expenses and timeframes
- The applicant and proposed partner(s) are contributing financial resources according to their ability to do so
- The proposed strategic partnership is likely to be sustainable over time
- The project is likely to advance values of diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice.
For more information, visit Forefront.
