Our Mission:
The Rosamond Gifford Charitable Corporation (The Gifford Foundation) is a private
foundation dedicated to the stewardship of the funds entrusted to its care. The
Foundation is committed to using its financial and human resources to build the
capacity of individuals and organizations to enhance the quality of life for
the people of Central New York.
In 2003, the Foundation committed to
focusing a substantial portion of its annual community investment towards a
specific initiative. The board elected to “embed” the Foundation into a
neighborhood on Syracuse’s
Southside.
A 30-block area previously disenfranchised both physically and fiscally
was selected as a focus for revitalization. For more information on this
resident-driven initiative, please see the Initiatives section
of this website.
In the Fall of 2007, the Foundation
committed to a new direction in grantmaking. The nature of many nonprofits’
missions requires annual subsidies from foundations, corporate, government and
individual donors to fund their operating budgets, which can lead to some
dependency. Although a certain amount of dependency is to be expected,
dependency that subtly shifts organizational responsibility and destiny control
away from the nonprofit to a foundation or other funder is a phenomenon the
Gifford Initiative will seek to reverse. Thus through a series of value-added
investments, e.g. investments in capacity-building activities rather than
(or along with) program grants, Gifford’s ADVANS Initiative
and its new focus on capacity
grants will reinforce the dynamic of “destiny control” which is ultimately
what organizational capacity programs are all about.
APPLYING
FOR GRANTS
As described above, grants are directed
towards two areas: the neighborhood initiative (Southside and Near Westside of Syracuse) and our new
capacity grants initiative.
You may learn more about the neighborhood
initiatives by clicking HERE. If your
organization is interested in applying for a grant connected to the
neighborhood work, please contact the Foundation for a meeting by calling
474-2489.
If you are seeking a Capacity Building
Grant you must submit a Letter of Intent to
the Foundation before being invited to submit a formal proposal. To learn more
about Capacity Building and the Letter of Intent process see the Grantmaking section of this website.
Next deadline: Letters of Intent for the next Capacity
Building grant round are due September 15, 2008.
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Gifford Capacity Information Sessions: The Foundation is offering information sessions to discuss
capacity building and the letter of intent process at 2:00 on each Tuesday
in August. These are free and no reservations are required.
They will be held in the Conference Room of the Foundation offices. Click here for
directions.
General Grants Information Sessions: The Gifford Foundation, the
Central New York Community Foundation and the Allyn Foundation present
twice-yearly grants information sessions. To reserve a spot please
contact the Community Foundation at 422-9538.
The next sessions have not yet been scheduled. They usually take place in June or July. Please check back for dates and times.