From left: Elizabeth and Martin Price; Tanya McDonald, DASN executive director; Sarah Nelson, CFT chief philanthropy officer; and Susan Swan Smith, CFT chief relationship officer, celebrate the grant to DASN.
Thanks to donors like you, more than 50 agencies received a combined $1 million from both Communities Foundation of Texas’ donor-advised funds and the foundation’s discretionary funds.
The grants were awarded in the pilot year of CFT’s new donor/nonprofit matchmaking initiative that pairs donor interests to community needs. As part of the new initiative, nonprofit organizations in North Texas have the opportunity to submit information about their critical funding needs across eight key areas: animals, arts, education, environment, elderly, health, social services and youth. CFT carefully reviews the nonprofit submissions and presents the strongest funding opportunities through an online and printed Giving Guide to those who hold donor-advised funds at the foundation.
“Many donors want to be matched with important community needs in their areas of interest,” says Brent Christopher, president and CEO for CFT.
One example is a donor-advised grant from the Martin and Elizabeth Price Fund to benefit the Dallas AfterSchool Network (DASN), a ground-breaking effort that equips youth program providers across the area with resources to improve the quality of after-school programs. The three-year-old DASN offers professional development for after-school program staff.
Elizabeth Price said, “CFT knows we are passionate about education. We were excited to see the request from DASN in CFT’s Giving Guide, because it’s a perfect match for our giving goals.”
Through the matchmaking initiative, CFT also is funding an innovative partnership led by the YMCA to provide swimming lessons to underprivileged children at places most convenient to them, such as DISD school pools or apartment complexes in neighborhoods like Vickery Meadow.
“We were particularly impressed with the way the YMCA is not only meeting a public safety need by reducing drowning risk, but doing it in a way that’s most convenient for Dallas-area children and their caregivers,” says Sarah Nelson, chief philanthropy officer for CFT.
Some CFT donors appreciate the matchmaking program for the ability to do deeper research anonymously. During the recent process, CFT hosted conference calls with agencies so that donors could discreetly learn more about requests they were potentially interested in funding.
CFT’s matchmaking program complements the 2009 launch of the searchable public website DonorBridge as an effective way to connect donors and supporters with nonprofit organizations. These dynamic initiatives are examples of how CFT leverages its community knowledge to make it easy for more people to give wisely and to provide critically needed support to the community.
For 2011 matchmaking, nonprofits should submit funding requests to CFT by May 27, 2011. Application procedures are posted at www.cftexas.org.
Matchmaking Requests Funded
American Cancer Society
Amon Carter Museum
Austin Street Centre
AVANCE Dallas
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Bryan’s House
Caring for Children Foundation
Catholic Charities
Child and Family Guidance Center
Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas
Communities in Schools Dallas
Consumer Credit Counseling Service
The Concilio
Consumer Credit Counseling Service
Dallas AfterSchool Network
Dallas Bar Association
Dallas Challenge
Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center
Dallas Children’s Theater
Dallas Faith Communities Coalition
DFW Hospital Council Research Foundation
Educational First Steps
Essilor Vision Foundation
Ferguson Road Initiative
Fine Arts Chamber Players
Genesis Women’s Shelter
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas
Goodwill Industries
International Exotic Animal Sanctuary
Jonathan’s Place
KIPP TRUTH Academy
Low Birth Weight Development Center
ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship
Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance
Metroplex Animal Coalition
Museum of Nature and Science
National Audubon Society
Plano Family Literacy
Presbyterian Communities and Services
Promise House
Reading & Radio Resource
Reasoning Mind
Retina Foundation of the Southwest
The Senior Source
Shakespeare Dallas
Society for Companion Animals
Texas Trees Foundation
Texas Woman’s University
TexProtects
Trinity Habitat for Humanity
YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas
The Youth Village Foundation
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