Irvine Foundation Helps Nonprofits Adjust

August 13, 2009 — The James Irvine Foundation has created a fund to help nonprofits restructure for the changed economy.

Called the Fund for Financial Restructuring, it will make grants between $50,000 to $150,000 to up to 15 grantees. Applications for the first round of grants are due August 28. One or two additional rounds of grants will be made in 2010.

The fund is a direct response to the recession, which has most nonprofits struggling to serve more people even as they receive less money from state or philanthropic sources.

“We are particularly interested in supporting organizations that have already begun to explore longer-term implications and demonstrated proactive thinking and action,” the Irvine Foundation said in describing the fund. “The fund will not address short-term cash flow needs as a result of the recession or support core operating costs for conducting ‘business-as-usual.’”

Only current Irvine grantees are eligible for the Irvine grants, and they will only go to the most forward-thinking, proactive of those grantees.

Other foundations are also making grants to make sure that the nonprofit sector remains as strong as possible through this recession.

San Francisco Foundation started its Nonprofit Transitions Fund in April. It dedicated $250,000 to help struggling nonprofits explore whether it makes most sense to restructure, merge with another organization or close altogether, and if it makes sense to close, how to do so while inflicting minimal damage. Its grants range from $10,000 to $30,000, and a second fund has been approved for this fiscal year.