Foundation Business

Archive for the ‘foundation center’ Category

And what to do if your budget allows for neither …

Awhile back the “Grants” listserv of CharityChannel, the Internet’s premier resource for nonprofit information, featured a lively debate about the merits of Metasoft’s BIG Online subscription database versus The Foundation Center’s Foundation Directory Online database. The merits of Guidestar’s Grant Explorer were even touched upon.

Both programs offer their users a variety of methods to seek out foundation funders. Both obtain their information through foundations’ 990 tax forms. And, based on feedback, both BIG Online and Foundation Directory Online share an equal number of loyal fans.

However, the fact is there are many nonprofit organizations whose budgets (or executive director’s mindsets) do not allow for choosing ANY foundation prospecting tool, let alone BIG Online, which will run you thousands for a six-month (their shortest) run.

What’s a smaller nonprofit organization with limited resources to do? Is it possible to still seek out those little known national and regional foundations whose missions align with yours? Without expensive tools and connections, how will my little $250,000 annual budget children’s arts organization find foundation support to grow and create new programming?

With an internet connection, preferably high speed, some time and practice, and a number of detecting tools, even those on very limited budgets can regularly seek out foundations that will support your mission – year after year.

Your best start is a foundation directory. Almost every state, with exceptions such as Alaska and Hawaii, publish one and sometimes several. More and more these directories are moving to Internet subscription-based services – but they’re still a deal.

Now take some time to really explore these websites if you’re not already familiar with them:

guidestar.com: Note that you must register to use Guidestar but registration is free. Guidestar does offer paid subscriptions, however, there is no charge for viewing a foundation’s three most recent 990′s.

taxexemptworld.com: This clunky little site can be a boon to the grantseeker on a budget.

fdncenter.org/: The Foundation Center; one of the oldest and best resources on the web. The Foundation Center offers a number of paid subscription programs – but they also offer free services.

.cof.org: The Council on Foundations

.smallfoundations.org: A relatively new organization devoted to 60,000 smaller United States Foundations

.nozasearch.com/: In October of 2007, Noza began offering free foundation searches.

Between your state foundation directory and these sites, you should have enough resources to get you started on the path to funding.

While there are a number of causes for cracked, bowed and leaning foundation walls, the most common is excessive pressure from the soil outside the wall. When expansive clay soil absorbs moisture, it swells and applies pressure that often exceeds the wall’s design capacity. In addition to expansive clay soil, excessive pressure is often the result of a failed or compromised foundation drain system and a buildup of moisture behind the wall. Again, this additional hydrostatic (water) pressure often exceeds the wall’s design capacity, leading to wall deflection. Poor surface grading and drainage is another factor that leads to the buildup of hydrostatic pressure.

Excessive wall deflection, evidenced by wide cracks, bowing and leaning, can reduce the structural integrity of the wall. When the wet cycles are repeated, as in the above two scenarios, this causes further weakening and inward wall movement. Other common causes of wall failure include soil expansion due to frost, large tree root systems and surcharge loads from the foundations of adjacent structures or additions. Heavy equipment and heavy storage items placed immediately adjacent to basement walls can also cause wall deflection.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF A HOME HAS FAILING FOUNDATION WALLS?

Symptoms of failing foundation walls in a home look different depending whether they are constructed of concrete block or poured concrete.

Concrete block walls typically display horizontal cracking across the center length as it begins to bow inward near mid-height. As the problem worsens, stair-step cracking at the corners can be observed. Continued inward pressure exerted on the concrete block wall can also result in horizontal shearing at a mortar joint, where the bottom row of block is held in place by the concrete floor slab as the next course of block and wall above slides in.

Vertical shearing may also be observed when the end of a wall is supported or held in place by an adjoining perpendicular wall. The end of the wall remains stable as the rest of the wall cracks and moves inward. Poured concrete walls will typically display single, diagonal cracks extending upward from the bottom corners of the wall toward the top center. Further, unlike a block wall that bows in near mid-height, the top of a poured wall tends to lean in. In finished basements, where foundation walls may not be exposed, other signs may alert you to a structural problem. As failing basement walls move inward, ceiling panels and ceiling drywall may begin to buckle.

Drywall on finished, abutting walls can also buckle between the wall studs. In extreme cases, horizontal cracking may even be seen in the home’s exterior brick veneer.