Expanding nonprofit resources through the Cooperating Collection

Opening the doors to funding opportunities from sources outside our community and strengthening the local nonprofits through educational resources are just two of the many ways the Southwest Florida Community Foundation supports the community's nonprofit organizations.

Last fall, the Community Foundation was accepted as a site for the "Cooperating Collection" of the Foundation Center in New York.

The Foundation Center's mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy.

They collect information on U.S. philanthropy and conduct research on trends in the field. The Foundation Center also provides training in the grant-seeking process and ensures public access to information through Foundation Center libraries, their Web site and Cooperating Collections such as the one at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation.

The "Cooperating Collection" housed at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation includes a national, online database of 92,000 United States grantmakers with information regarding their areas of funding and past granting patterns. The database is updated weekly and can only be accessed locally at the Community Foundation's office. The office has two computers dedicated to the Cooperating Collection.

More than 30 local nonprofit agencies have utilized the database since the Cooperating Collection was established at the Community Foundation last October, many agencies coming multiple times to research possible funding opportunities.

The "Cooperating Collection" also consists of a lending library of printed publications, articles, and books relating to philanthropy and other issues concerning nonprofit organizations.

Last week, approximately 80 nonprofit representatives attended a workshop on how to effectively use the Foundation Center's resources. The workshop was conducted by Pattie Johnson, the Director

of the Foundation Center's Atlanta office.

The feedback from those attending the workshop has been very encouraging. Some of the comments were "This was a great workshop and the resources are truly impressive." "Pattie Johnson presented the valuable information in an easily understandable manner." "We truly appreciate the SWFLCommunity Foundation's efforts to help us in our challenges to find funding."

In addition to the resources found through the Cooperating Collection located at the Community Foundation, the Foundation Center website has even more on its website.

In order to stay informed of developments in philanthropy, nonprofit organizations can subscribe to their daily and monthly email newsletters, view research studies and other reports online via PubHub, and take webinars on writing grant proposals, approaching foundations and much more.

For more information on utilizing the resources from the Foundation Center, please contact the Southwest Florida Community Foundation at 239-274-5900.

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has been supporting the communities of Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry through endowed funds for more than 30 years. With assets of more than $57 million and 314 endowed funds, the community foundation has provided more than $30 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves.

For more information, please call 274-5900, or visit their web site at www.floridacommunity.com.