2007 Capacity Building Mini-Grants Awardees and Results

INPD AWARDS $16,000 IN MINI-GRANTS TO AREA NONPROFITS

MWCC's Institute for Nonprofit Development has awarded $16,000 in mini-grants to six area nonprofits. Representatives from the selected organizations include, from left, Dolores Thibault-Munoz, executive director of the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, Thomas Hall, Director of Operations for the LUK Crisis Center, Inc., Betsy Hannula, Curator of the Westminster Historical Society, and Stephen A. Perla, Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Worcester.

By Janice O'Connor

MWCC's Institute for Nonprofit Development has awarded $16,000 in mini-grants to six nonprofit organizations. With funding from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, the mini-grants are awarded to help strengthen the internal operations of nonprofits to fulfill their missions and benefit the communities they serve. To date, a total of $63,390 has been awarded to 23 organizations.

"The mini-grants are designed to help nonprofits achieve their long-term goals,” explained INPD Coordinator Jennifer Wiley-Cordone. Eighteen applications were received, totaling $55,000 in requests.

The Cleghorn Neighborhood Center was awarded $3,000 for strategic planning. The center received funding three years ago to develop its first strategic plan. The center has now enacted that plan and has been awarded a new grant for consulting fees and strategic planning for the next three years.

The New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT), working in the nine towns of the North Quabbin, was awarded $3,000 for strategic planning. The organization, offering support for women and children coping with domestic violence and for survivors of sexual assault, will use this funding to develop a plan for coordinating services with multiple service providers - continuing a tradition of collaboration.

The LUK Crisis Center, Inc., was awarded $1,000 for a consultant to assist in mentoring two new board members who will be selected from consumers of the center’s services. LUK will contract with a consultant to assist in outreach to consumers and develop a welcoming and formalized mentoring program to integrate consumers into the existing board of directors.

The Montachusett Opportunity Council was awarded $3,000 to be used toward its website redesign. As part of the redesign, MOC plans to provide a referral section of the website, which will allow other area agencies to utilize MOC's resources to promote their services to consumers in the region.

The Westminster Historical Society was awarded $3,000 for fundraising training for volunteers in preparation for a capital campaign. The historical society is gearing up for a major campaign to acquire the Upton School in the center of Westminster as its new headquarters.

The St. Paul Catholic Schools Consortium was awarded $3,000 to develop a marketing plan for greater community outreach. The consortium serves six Catholic elementary schools in Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner. The marketing plan will enable to consortium to reach out to underserved populations. Stephen A. Perla, superintendent of schools for the Worcester Diocese, said that many of the schools served by the consortium do not have the resources to conduct their own marketing campaigns, but will benefit by pooling their resources.

"We're very pleased to have been awarded seed money to do this project," he said.