How nonprofits are faring in the Bay Area's race for stimulus funds

June 11, 5:47 PMSF Nonprofit Business ExaminerMaureen Futtner

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Jewish Vocational Services' workforce training received "priority" rating (courtesy of JVS)

Nonprofits and the "Economic Recovery Workplan"

When the Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI) put out their call for stimulus project proposals, there was no promise of funds, only the possibility of a stamp of approval from the well-respected public policy think tank. The BACEI's "Economic Recovery Workplan" was merely "designed to advise and assist the allocation of federal stimulus funds."

The plan grouped the proposed projects into three levels of priority: strategic, significant and other. For those 85 projects receiving the "strategic" priority rating (out of 570 total proposed), there is no guarantee of dollars. But when projects are ready to be green-lighted, it will be helpful to be a part of this in-crowd.

I was curious how nonprofits fared in the "Economic Recovery Workplan." BACEI had certainly reached out to a broad number of stakeholders, including the nonprofit sector. Had nonprofits even applied?

CRITERIA AND CATEGORIES
The Institute solicited project and policy proposals in seven core categories:  transportation, water, energy/climate, housing, human capital/workforce development, business development, and science/innovation. The core criteria for selection included those proposals "of regional {benefit}, near- or long-term job creation, scale, return on investment and strategic benefit." The Institute stressed that while there may be many projects of value at the "local or sub-regional level," BACEI was looking for projects with regional impact.

This regional piece might have been what dissuaded many nonprofits from applying. The nonprofit sector tends to be international, national or local (for more information on the make-up of the sector, see my recent article on the State of SF nonprofits). Regional focus, in fact, is not on the radar of most nonprofits. If a nonprofit is local, it's difficult to expand its horizons to think regionally because its concerns are often immediate and rather desperate of late.

ENERGY/CLIMATE
In the categories of transportation and water, solely public agencies were recommended for the top level of "strategic" priority. This is a given, as such infrastructure is a public benefit and administered by government entities. The energy/climate grouping becomes more interesting to review, as this concern has seen great innovation recently from both the private and nonprofit sectors. One of the eight strategic projects was from a nonprofit that was applying in conjunction with a public agency. Alameda County and Stopwaste.org have been recommended for their project to green existing buildings and landscapes.

HUMAN CAPITAL/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Where the nonprofit sector began to really come into play is under human capital/workforce development and business development. Among those at the top of the strategic priorities was Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) for implementing "Business Basics - a training and placement ladder for low-income adults." John Halpin, deputy director at JVS, told me that while "there are precious few funds allocated for workforce development by ARRA, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, JVS is pursuing those funds vigorously."

JVS is also collaborating with other public agencies and nonprofits to enhance their chances of successfully securing a contract. Halpin also let me know that the city of San Francisco has just released a request for proposals for workforce development through ARRA funding, in which the city is strongly encouraging collaboration among agencies.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Opportunity Fund, with offices in San Jose and San Francisco, was chosen for its microlending program. It is likely that Opportunity Fund's appeal to the Workplan evaluators was not only because of their regional presence (unique among nonprofits), but also due to their collaborative approach. Urban Solutions, an economic development nonprofit in San Francisco that focuses its efforts on the South of Market and Western Addition neighborhoods, is partnering with Opportunity Fund on this project to advise entrepreneurs that receive micro-loans. Collaborations have become a requirement on which many grant funds are predicated. Those nonprofits that play well with others might very well be the organizations that survive once the dust settles on the recession.

Many of the public agencies that applied for funds, no doubt, wrote collaborations with various nonprofit and private entities into their proposals. Still, it is significant that so few nonprofits saw value in proposing their own programs for federal stimulus funds. Maybe nonprofits lacked the capacity to pursue something that had zero dollars attached to it in the immediate.

For its part, the BACEI, itself a nonprofit organization and aggregator of these proposals, also applied for recommendation, but only made it to level two status of "significant." Let's hope that whether priority, significant or other, nonprofits share a slice of the federal stimulus pie so that our country can get working again.

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