Northern California Muse

I have spent the last 3 days combing through the websites of Charitable Foundations that offer low interest loans or Program Related Investments (PRI). I will mail numerous letters and they will probably all be rejected.
Rejected not because we do not accomplish our mission, do not exceed our stated goals or do not have measurable proof of success; we will be rejected because we are a charity in a rural county without large corporate donors or large foundations and we do not feed or house the world. The large foundations which are getting larger are looking for large solutions from large charities. We serve a community, 40% of a county, not the world.
The smaller Foundations offer yearly grants from $2,000 to $20,000 and could not consider a secured $1,000,000 loan, even though we have the documented track record and the means to repay a PRI. I am not complaining about the smaller Grants; we need those to support our low-income projects, but I have a BIG Project.
I look with envy at the skating rink that received an equal investment and ask myself, “Why are we located in nowhere USA?’ If I was in Los Angeles, Chicago or DC this would be easy.
I do not begrudge the charities that receive the large, generous Grants and PRIs. I am sure they need them too. I understand why the large Foundations are searching for large charities with large impacts. It is easier; less proposals to review, fewer to track and less risk. They probably get thousands of Inquiries every year for important Projects.
I have also read the articles about the need to fund “rural America” and “under-served areas” and the need to “build assets”. That’s us, but we are located in the wrong “rural area”. Central Valley, California is the new “under-served area”. Three large California Foundations have focused their attention on the Central Valley. We should just move!
Much conversation also revolves around the changing climate and the need for charities to focus on the environment. We recycle several hundred thousand dollars of discards through our Thrift Store each year; thus saving the earth and serving the poor. The proceeds, of course, go to support our charity. We are a Green Machine, but can we get a low interest loan; I doubt it. We have more donated discards than we space; but we are not the right cause or in the right location.
Many Foundations speak of the need for charities to be a part of the community development, to help the poor, hire the handicapped and help children. None of theses are included in our Mission, but we do them all. We hire the handicapped and disadvantaged. We give them jobs, training, develop them and promote them. I could tell you stories about our employees that would make you cry and smile. We provide a safe environment for teen-agers to work off their court-mandated community service. We are a community charity, so we try to serve the community in every way possible; not just our cause. Extra brownie points will not bring us to the attention of the large Foundations.
So I am back at the beginning. I wish Melinda and Bill Gates would look down and say, “Wow, we could invest some money here (at very little risk)”, but they will not notice us.
So I will reword my Letter of Inquiry and send a few more. We will scale back our desires to better serve our community and we will turn away donated discards and ask them to take them to the dump; we do not have the room.