August 1996
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 12/ $5.00
Philanthropy Journal
A nonprofit newspaper for the nonprofit community
OF NORTH CAROLINA
To tell the truth
Candid grantwriting a tou^ challenge
Nonprofits and foundations may
be more forthright than they
used to be in discussing grant
proposals and follow-up reports,
but getting the two sides to
speak frankly remains difficult.
By Sean Bailey
When Michael Hooker started his
fundraising career as a professor of
philosophy, he discovered that
puffery, deception and exaggeration
were the accepted norms for the
world of grantwriting and grant-
ETHICS
reporting.
After years of observing a culture
that supported such overstatement.
Hooker - now chancellor at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill - offered this frank admis
sion in a 1987 academic article:
“I have often been troubled by my
own moral standards in dealing with
foundations. In nearly every instance,
the proposals that I have written have
contained an element of exa^ration
- a hei^tening of the Importance of
the project 1 was proposing and of the
capacity of my
institution to
carry it out. My
end-of-grant fol
low-up reports
have almost
always con
tained exagger
ated claims for
the project’s
success.”
Hooker’s
article describes
a condition in grantwriting that many
believe not only stiU exists, but is
even more exacerbated in the heated
climate of increased competition for
Michael Hooker
grant dollars.
“1 think he hit the nail on the
head,” says Sandra Mikush, assistant
director at the Mary Reynolds
Babcock Foundation in Winston-
Salem.
She and others in North Carolina
became acquainted with Hooker’s
ideas after copies of his article were
distributed at Philanthropy ‘96, the
annual statewide conference for non
profits that is sponsored by the
Philanthropy Journal.
In the article, pubUshed in the
journal Social Philosophy & Public
Policy, Hooker says grantseekers
Look for GRANTWRITING, page 21
Hometown pride
Greensboro nonprofits coming together
Greensboro draws its strength
from a fierce sense of indepen
dence, but collaboration is
beginning to sprout.
By Merrill Wolf
Greensboro
With a population approaching
200,000, Greensboro is the laigest
city in central North Carolina’s Triad
■region, which also is anchored by
Winston-Salem and Hi^ Point.
But talk to people who Mve here,
and you’ll find little sense of regional
identity, despite attempts by local
governments and business leaders to
encourage it.
Even the idea of driving half-an-
hour to Winston-Salem in Forsyth
County for dinner is considered a Ut-
tle extreme.
Instead, you’ll hear Greensboro
residents express a deep-rooted
SENSE OF PLACE
hometown pride that can be so fierce
as to make even county-wide unity an
elusive goal. The city’s rivalry with
nearby High Point - a city of about
75,000 whose reputation as an inter
national furniture center matches
Greensboro’s for textiles - has lost ht-
tle vigor over the years. Some say it
gets in the way of addressing social
problems in Guilford County.
“It feels like a county with two
county seats,” says Steve Sumerford,
manager of Greensboro’s Glenwood
Branch Library and creator of its
Nonprofit Resource Center.
Sumerford notes that Greensboro
- the county seat - and Hi^ Point
have separate municipal Mbrary sys
tems and that the two cities’ school
systems merged with the county’s
Look for GREENSBORO, page 22
Greensboro nonprofits ore just beginning to develop o sense of
regional identity and on understanding of the importance of
collaboration.
Shift in giving
Tar Heel
funders
gain
The number of foundations in the
state has grown, as have then-
assets and grant doilars, but
shifts are occurring in the types
of programs those dollars sup
port, according to a new founda
tion directory published hy
Capital Consortium.
By Todd Cohen
North Carolina foundations have
multiphed and increased their assets
and grants in recent years, but they
also have begun to shift the focus of
their giving, according to a new direc
tory of the state’s foundations.
The state now has 865 foundations
that control $4.99 bilhon in assets and
hand out $261.9 milhon in grants,
according to the 1996 edition of North
Carolina Giving. The directory, to be
published this month by Raleigh
fundraising consultant Capital
Consortium, is based on 1994 data.
'The previous edition of the direc
tory, which was based on 1991 data,
reported that the state had 749 foun
dations that controlled $4.09 bilhon in
assets and handed out $222.5 milhion
in grants.
Education continues to receive
more foundation doUars than any
other category, 42 percent, but that
percent^ has declined from 46 per
cent in 1991.
Look for DIREQORY, page 21
Arts appreciation
NEA forum targets dwindling public support
Charlotte was chosen as one of
seven venues for the “American
Canvas” program, designed to
help revive the energy of the arts
community after years of lessen
ing public involvement.
By Stephanie Greer
Charlotte
It was a day-long pep raUy for the
arts.
On July 18, Charlotte’s
Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
hosted one of seven nationwide
National Endowment for the Arts
“American Canvas” community
forums. The forums, which consist of
two panel discussions, wiU lay the
groundwork for an action plan to
increase America’s lagging communi
ty involvement in the arts.
'The crowd of more than 300 peo
ple sporadicahy broke into approving
hoots and applause as NEA
Chairman Jane Alexander and other
speakers emphasized the need for
increased arts funding, community
participation and integration of the
arts into pubhc
school curricu
lum.
But the
forum was
more than a
vehicle for the
NEA to receive
feedback. For
Charlotte, it
meant recogni
tion and a
chance to show
off the commitment to the arts that
has propelled the city’s downtown
Jane Alexander
growth.
The forum also stood as a
reminder that Americans these days
don’t recognize how many ways the
arts affect them. Congress cut NEA
funding by 40 percent in 1996.
Conservatives in Congress aim even
tually to eliminate all pubhc funding
for the organization.
U.S. Sen. John Horhn of
Mississippi, who was a panel mem
ber, said he was upset that poUtical
pressure on the arts community
made the forum necessary.
“This attack on the arts is the first
he
sign of tyranny, of despotism
said.
Alexander, panel speakers and
members of the audience got gener
ous audience responses to their
exhortations to both federal and local
governments to make support for the
arts a top priority
“In the past few years, pubhc
funding for the arts has experienced
a dechne, and we are entering a new
phase of funding for the arts,”
Alexander said. “There is no one per-
Look for NEA FORUM, page 13
INSIDE
Connections 3
Grants & Gifts 16
In August 16
Job Opportunities 20
Opinion 10
People 17
Professional Services...!8
Flap unresolved
over state NAACP
A decision on who will lead
the North Carolina NAACP is
not likely before October.
Durham family
creates foundation
The Fox Family Foundation
was established in 1991 by
Frances Hill Fox to continue a
family tradition of giving to
education, health care and
the arts.
Benson resident
creates kids' home
This fall, retired elementary
school teacher Hazel Sorrell
will open her Johnston
County home to neglected
and abused children.
Report eyes
corporate duty
The Hitachi Foundation has
published a report offering
corporations concrete steps
to help improve the quality of
life for their employees and
communities.
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Arts study fuels
marketing plans
The Triangle arts community
is using a recent $40,000
study to formulate new mar
keting plans it hopes will grab
the attention of new
audiences.
• Page 14