February 27, 2004

(Updated) A Request For Knowledgeable Input And Insight

Help 'Communique' Do Some Grant Research

Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.

It's time, we suppose, to work the network. The range of backgrounds and kinds of knowledge represented by readers here is fairly wide and more than a little deep. So we turn to you for some assistance.

We're looking into grant possibilities as a way to fund this little ongoing experiment in hobbyist reporting. While we've done a fair amount of research into this possibility on our own, many of the grants we've come across thus far have tended to be geared towards professional journalists, or towards programs of journalism education.

Here's some of what we do know: What we likely will have to do is focus on grants that necessarily go to organizations, and match that up with some local organization willing to be our "sponsor" -- so that they grant money flows to them, and then they fund our reportorial activities here.

There are plenty of possibilities in town for the sponsoring organization. But we haven't yet approached any of them because we wanted to try to have a more solid lead on potential grant sources first.

So this is where we turn to our readers, one of whom, for all we know, just happens to know of the perfect grant opportunity to pursue. If any of you have relevant knowledge, contacts, or connections that would help us vigorously pursue the possibility of such funding, we would be greatly appreciative if you could share them with us.

(On the other hand, the other possibility, which we've only just recently begun to ponder, is locating similar grant sources, but geared towards continuing our research into the Great Light Way. While such funding would be project-specific, if it helped us stay afloat in a general sense, for a clearly-delineating period of time, that in and of itself would end up, indirectly, assisting this site as well.)

February 27, 2004

Update

We should also note that this is not a passive-aggresive call for donations. While we unquestionably appreciate all who have, over the last year, dropped some cold, hard cash into our donation links, what we're working on now is a consistent and continuing (for whatever the term might be) source of funding. Just thought we should elaborate a bit.

Posted at 01:50 PM | PermalinkComments (12) | TrackBacks (1)
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Comments (12)

  1. Jeff on 27 Feb 2004

    Well, you could ask for dough. You are actually providing original content; for those who don't spend a lot of time in the blogosphere let me tell ya--that's rare.

    It's unlikely that you'll raise a lot of money that way--I think you need Calpundit numbers for that. On the other hand, you do provide a unique service, and you never know until you put out the tip jar who might be willing to chip in.

  2. Noah Brimhall on 27 Feb 2004

    Ummmm . . . Jeff, look a little over to your right. See that headline in side bar that reads Donate/Support. Those links underneath are the tip jar.

    Sorry for being so snarky. :)

  3. Elaine of Kalilily on 27 Feb 2004

    Another possibility is that some community organization has or can get funding that relates to their mission of empowering citizens to participate fully in their governance. Communique, then, can become a funded vehicle for keeping citizens informed, and you could earn a living and pay your bills doing this site. Perhaps even through a library, which could have an icon on their public computers that link right to your weblog. Perhaps you could invent a way for various communities to have their own Comments sections so that they could have online conversations with one another (even if they don't know each other) about issues that affect them directly. City officials, having access to those comments, as well, would have a better, more honest, finger on the public pulse. Communique could become the hub for library outreach into the community to empower citizens with up-to-date accurate, non-biased information so that they can vote wisely. Isn't there anyone in the library community who knows about LSCA and LSTA funding that might be used for that purpose? Maybe there's a way to use some small piece of those large funds to partner with you in this experiment in citizen journalism. Have you approached the library about any possibilities? Why don't you draft a "proposal" outlining how such a partnership with a library would work and figure out who in your library you need to contact about that.

  4. The One True b!X on 27 Feb 2004

    A possibility. But the first round of investigation needs to be geared towards determining whether there's an option to do what it is that I'm doing, not adjust or alter what I'm doing to adapt to some other organization's mission.

    That doesn't mean I would not go in that direction if it's determined that it's the only realistic option. It merely means that I'm not going to change things, or take an additional level of mission, unless it's clear that backing for a "pure" PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE is impossible.

  5. Elaine of Kalilily on 28 Feb 2004

    I also suggest that you somehow post your plea for grant funding/information somewhere where it doesn't get lost in the shuffle of other posts. There is an urgency to this effort that needs to be more obvious.

  6. Jeff on 28 Feb 2004

    Ummmm . . . Jeff, look a little over to your right. See that headline in side bar that reads Donate/Support. Those links underneath are the tip jar.


    Your snark is well-placed. I suppose what I meant was that Bix would likely have to actively solicit support. Actively. The question is whether that would work or not. If everyone who reads chips in fifty bucks...Bix gets a month. He really needs someone to donate a large amount, and that won't come from innocuous pleas.

    If you are able to get support, Bix, it would be an endorsement of your mission and approach and you would remain beholden to no one. That alone is perhaps your best pitch: how many other mediums in town are not beholden to some interests?

  7. The One True b!X on 28 Feb 2004

    The point of this post was not an innocuous plea, but a request for information, insight, and ideas regarding the grant research from this site's audience, some of whom likely have relevant knowledge or contacts, or have thoughts which I've neither thought of nor come across in my own research on the matter.

    That's hardly indirect.

  8. The One True b!X on 29 Feb 2004

    If everyone who reads chips in fifty bucks...Bix gets a month. He really needs someone to donate a large amount, and that won't come from innocuous pleas.

    I should go back a bit. What you point here is precisely why the grant approach is being looked into. The readership here is hardly going to pony up $50/month every money, so indeed, that route would require the mythical modern-day Medici I've mused about in the past, which is in itself just as unlikely as a regular monthly $50 per month per reader.

    So in the end, it's grant money or back to a normal job. Not that normal jobs are inerently bad. It's just that (as I'm sure everyone already groks anyway) a normal job would mean very little of getting out into the City to do original reporting rather than just commenting on what's in the papers.

    But anyway, yeah, those are the option. And grant money is the only one that seems even remotely feasible, presuming something can be found.

  9. Scott on 01 Mar 2004

    b!X:

    A few thoughts.

    1. You might join CNRG (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNRG/), the Community Non-profit Resource Group. It's a local moderated listserv for non-profits but they have people volunteering services, i.e. grantwriting, occasionally.
    2. You might check out WVDO (http://www.wvdo-or.org), the Willamette Valley Development Officers group, which is the professional assocition for fundraisers in Oregon. They have seminars and workshops on grantwriting.
    3. You might look into classifying Communique as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Most, if not all, grants require it. See http://www.tacs.org/handbook/dirtemplate.asp?pID=35 for more details.
    4. You might check out the Oregon Foundation Data Book (http://www.foundationdatabook.com/or1.html) at the library, it lists all the foundations and their grants for the past year. Primary resource for most development people.

    These are the things off the top of my head. Feel free to email me if want to talk more in depth. Your work is exceptional, I would hate to lose it.

  10. Rob Salzman on 04 Mar 2004

    Ok. I just bought an advertisment for 25 bucks, and matched the 25 bucks with a match. If each of your 600 unique readers a day would donate a quarter a day, then you'd make 125 bucks a day - or about 3700 dollars a month. Surely enough to maintain your life and do the kind of writing we've come to enjoy.

    25 cents a day. That's not too much to ask, is it?

  11. Rob Salzman on 04 Mar 2004

    Umm. That's what I get for not proofreading before posting. I bought an ad for 25 bucks and matched with a 25 dollar donation.

  12. tomwsmf on 05 Mar 2004

    A sugardady, what the elders would call a Patron, is an idea whose time may be gone.

    Distribution is the meme dejour, and just like Sally Struthers said "just pennies a day" from enough sources would make the keep for Bixsan.

    Buy the books, buy an ad, make a donation.

    How much does a latte cost? Are the works of bix worth a 2 lattes a month?

Trackbacks (1)

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