9 survey respondents
Location: 2354 Garden Rd, Monterey, 93940 CA
EIN: 94-1615897
71%
29%
12 hours
Median
33%
67%
67%
33%
2017 Deadlines:
Types of Grants Awarded:
Geographic Focus:
For Fiscal Year
Total Assets:
Total Grants:
Change in Assets FY :
Amount of Grants to Minnesota Nonprofits:
Largest Grant:
Smallest Grant:
Average Grant:
Grant Applicant - applied before 2014
Foundation staff are very approachable and helpful. Foundation has donor-advised funds as well as general funding opportunities, technical assistance/capacity-building grants, special funding initiatives, and emergency assistance (e.g., wildfire- and COVID-relief grants).
Positive leader in the field, Gives more than money, Culturally sensitive, Friendly, Builds relationships, "Gets" nonprofits and issues, Openminded, Responsive
California
Current or former grantee
Funded for amount requested
Before 2014
Good
Good
Change the budget forms for your grant applications. It's still awkward and a bit confusing to try to make our financial data fit your categories.
CFMCO has made a special effort to support neighborhood groups and established nonprofits in building their capacity through grants, workshops, roundtable and brown-bag networking, and the Leadership Education And Development (LEAD) training and mentoring program.
5
Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback. Glad you have found value from workshops and resources from our Center for Nonprofit Excellence. We offer a budget template in grant applications as an example; It is not required to use this form. We appreciate your comments and will take a look at how we can improve our grant budget template.
Grant Applicant - applied before 2014
It's hard to imagine a funder that is more arrogant. They think they should be telling nonprofits what to do, and because they're a funder, they can. Instead of giving money to nonprofits to hire their own consultants, they either "consult" to nonprofits themselves or hire people who will tell nonprofits what the foundation wants to hear. It's obvious they are focused on rich people, not the community.
Inadvertently exerts negative influence in the field, Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Culturally incompetent
California
Current or former grantee
Funded for lesser amount
Before 2014
Bad
Average
You need all new staff.
Beautiful building they sometimes make available to nonprofits.
More than 15
Thanks very much for your feedback. We’re committed to listening and learning from the community’s needs and perspectives and sorry to hear you had a negative experience. Several things have changed since your experience in 2014. We now have an online tri-county directory of nearly 100 consultants. Consultants post their own information, the Community Foundation does not review or approve the consultants listed. Nonprofits are free to work with consultants from that list or others that they know. Organizational Development grants (www.cfmco.org/grants) offer the opportunity for local nonprofits to apply for funding to work with the consultant of their choice. Another way to let us know your organization’s needs is through our anonymous annual nonprofit survey (www.cfmco.org/NonprofitSurvey). If you’d like to let us know more or have any suggestions, please give us a call at (831) 375-9712 and ask for Laurel Lee-Alexander, Vice President of Grants and Programs or the Program Officer for your grant area (www.cfmco.org/staff).
Reviewer 2632 - Grant Applicant - applied in 2017
Think twice before applying: Given the amount of time /effort required for the application and for the reporting, carefully weigh the potential grant size versus the 'cost' of both applying and reporting. I wouldn't apply again for anything less than $10,000.
Also, only apply for non-time-critical needs. Decisions take far too long.
Doesn't "get" nonprofits and issues, Difficult to work with, Bureaucratic
California
Current or former grantee
Funded for lesser amount
2017
Bad
Accessible but not great listeners and they don't always seem to 'get it' when talking about what we do.
Average
I think they think they are doing great things. We, in the trenches, think otherwise. There is a considerable disconnect between how they see themselves and how many of us see them.
The folks in grantmaking are very nice, very well intended, have some good ideas and are trying their best. But they are 'tone deaf' and don''t get it. So, hire folks on the grant making side who have actually worked in and actually understand what life is really like in the trenches these days.
They are the funding elephant in the County, and thus can't and shouldn't be ignored. The advice is: talk first with those who have dealt with the Foundation and learn what to expect and prepare yourself and your expectations accordingly and far in advance of when funds are needed.
Sells itself - particularly on managing other people's money - really well. That side of the Foundation has the full attention of the board and top management. Not sure that's the case with the grant-making side.
15
Thanks for sharing your experience and feedback. Each of our grant programs has its own funding priorities and turnaround times (www.cfmco.org/grants). Processing time varies from two months (Opportunity and Organizational Development) to five months (Community Impact). We encourage applicants to contact a CFMC Program Officer before beginning the application process for advice on submitting the strongest proposal. The process is competitive; we receive more than two to three times the amount of requests than funding available. A volunteer committee of board and community members makes all Committee Impact grant decisions. Please call us at 831.375.9712 if you would like to talk more about your application or the process.
Grant Applicant - applied before 2014
They have a capacity building program that might be good for some nonprofits, but it's very one-size-fits-all. And there's an unwritten rule that you CANNOT criticize it.
California
Current or former grantee
Other
Before 2014
Bad
Average
Makes space available for meetings.
It was a contract, not a grant.
10 to 15 hours
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. We are very much interested in nonprofit organizations’ comments and suggestions. All participants in CNE programs are given an opportunity to provide anonymous written feedback, which informs our work. In September 2017 we will be launching an extensive anonymous nonprofit community annual online survey to better understand local nonprofits needs and concerns and will use the information to design future programming. Our website www.cfmco.org/cne offers online libraries and webinars that address topics beyond what’s available through the Center for Nonprofit Excellence. And, CNE staff are also available for confidential conversations about any issue from any nonprofit. Feel free to contact Kaki Rusmore or Susie Polnaszek at [email protected] or 831.375.9712.
For example, we heard that smaller nonprofits have unique needs and challenges so we launched a three-year effort (Next Steps for Small Nonprofits) to address those concerns. All are also welcome to speak with their Program Officer or Laurel Lee-Alexander, Vice President of Grants and Programs, 831.375.9712.
Grant Applicant
I would get to know the program officer beforehand. Build a relationship.
Positive leader in the field, Gives more than money, Insightful, Friendly, Builds relationships, "Gets" nonprofits and issues, Openminded, Responsive
Current or former grantee
10 to 15 hours
Thanks, we appreciate being informed of organizations' activities and we value our partnerships with the nonprofit community. Our grant programs have a fair and consistent review process. Grant criteria are listed in our guidelines.
Grant Applicant
Download the questions first, answer them on a Word doc, then enter information online. Watch your word count. Save your application on the Word doc, because it is impossible to get a good readable copy from the online format. Some of your text will be hidden
Positive leader in the field, Risk taker, Culturally sensitive, "Gets" nonprofits and issues, Openminded, Responsive
Current or former grantee
5 to 10 hours
Thanks for sharing these practical tips. As long as your responses are within the character limits, all text should be visible in the PDF download. Please contact us if you would like to review a specific example, 375.9712.
Grant Applicant
First and foremost, spend time on Community Foundation for Monterey County's website to ensure you fully understand their granting. Attend the appropriate information session as this is very helpful in ensuring that you meet the requirements and gain a better understanding of the services that are supported and the grant application process. Finally, establish open lines of communication with your specific contact at CFMC.
Current or former grantee
5 to 10 hours
Thanks for your comments and supporting two-way communication. Staff are available to provide feedback on past applications and current proposal ideas. www.cfmco.org/nonprofits/grants/community-impact/contact-us/
Reviewer 504 - Grant Applicant - applied in 2017
Call first to discuss your application. Stick to grant guidelines and make all deadlines.
Positive leader in the field, Gives more than money, Risk taker, Culturally sensitive, Insightful, Friendly, Builds relationships, Likes site visits, "Gets" nonprofits and issues, Openminded, Responsive
California
Current or former grantee
Funded for lesser amount
2017
Good
They are always ready to talk!
Good
They have a broad goal of helping Monterey County and I think by and large they accomplish this goal.
I have troubles receiving all of the emails from the online grants manager site. Sometimes they blocked by my filter and I have tried to rectify but with no success.
Talk with them! They will be honest about everything and help you grow your organization if it fits their funding parameters.
Communicate!
10 to 15 hours
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your grant proposal ideas and our grantmaking priorities. Most of our grant programs close 5:00 PM on the stated deadline on our website and online grants manager. This is to provide a fair process for all. www.cfmco.org/nonprofits/grants/
831.375.9712
Grant Applicant - applied before 2014
They make you take a lot of capacity building workshops and advice from their staff. Which is infuriating.
Friendly
California
Current or former grantee
Funded for amount requested
Before 2014
Bad
Average
Be either a funder or consultant but not both.
Fund a variety of projects in the area, not just in Monterey.
Thank you for your feedback. Our Center for Nonprofit Excellence capacity building workshops are voluntary, and are developed based on requests from local organizations. Learning groups (also optional) are designed to increase knowledge and sustainability. All our work is are based on effective practices from the field. We suggest trainings on a case by case basis but they are optional and we encourage organizations to find their own solutions.
For a few special programs with multi-year grants focused on capacity building, participation in trainings and peer learning is required. For those programs, the topics of discussion and training are based on the requests and capacity building needs of the participating organizations. If you are referring to those programs and feel that the content has not been helpful, please contact Kaki Rusmore ([email protected]), as we would like to revise future activities to make them more useful to the participating nonprofits.
If you’d like to talk more about your specific experience, please contact your program officer at 831.375.9712 or via email (available on our website at www.cfmco.org/about-us/staff/).
