Representatives from government agencies, corporations and foundations gathered with area nonprofits at the Crown Point Community Foundation offices to introduce South Shore Funders. South Shore Funders is a new consortium of regional funders in northern Indiana who share a common broad mission of serving as leaders of philanthropic activity for Northern Indiana, improving the quality of life through strategic grant making and provision of resources which enable community members to help themselves and others. This meeting was the first of a series of roundtable events that will be hosted by South Shore Funders.
“The South Shore Funders meeting provided a great opportunity for local not-for-profits to meet and interact with numerous foundations and local funding sources to learn more about existing and upcoming funding opportunities that can help support programs and projects that contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in Northwest Indiana,” said meeting attendee Tim Cottingham, Director Greater Hammond Community Services, Inc.
Each participating organization gave a brief overview of their own grant making policies, investment goals and priorities. Representatives from local nonprofits engaged in dialogue with the panel of regional funders as well as one another. Challenges faced by nonprofit agencies were discussed and suggestions were made to the funders regarding partnerships.
“Our funds are limited, but community needs are great,” said Kelly Nissan-Budge, communications and corporate responsibility manager, ArcelorMittal. “South Shore Funders participants remain autonomous in that none of us are changing our funding guidelines, but we recognize that together we can better leverage the funds we do have to fill funding gaps, collaborate or support ground breaking efforts. We invite other area funders to participate in our conversations because the more information we share, the stronger our decisions will be.”
Participation underscores each organizations commitment to providing a structure for collaboration, to facilitate synergy and reduce duplicated efforts to enhance impact in northwest Indiana.
“South Shore Funders had its beginnings in 2014 when a group of local funders decided to come together and meet as a group,” said Tyrone Spann, Community Program Director for the Foundations of East Chicago. “With the assistance of Rebecca Stankowski and the staff at Purdue University Calumet, we have been meeting on a regular basis to learn more about each other and discuss ways we can collectively have a greater impact on Northwest Indiana and the organizations we serve. Today’s event is our first endeavor to directly reach out to the nonprofit community and receive their feedback regarding how we can improve these efforts.”
South Shore Funders is open to all public and private foundations, government agencies as well as businesses engaging in grant making activities in Northern Indiana. South Shore Funders is facilitated by the Purdue University Calumet Center for Nonprofits and Civic Engagement Institute for Social and Policy Research and current participants are: ArcelorMittal, AT&T, Crown Point Community Foundation, Dean & Barbara White Family Foundation, Foundations of East Chicago, Indiana DNR Lake Michigan Coastal Program, Lake Area United Way, Legacy Foundation and Northern Indiana Public Service Company. There is no cost to participate, nor are there any formal commitments to participate in or provide funding for any given initiative that might arise from the group’s discussions.