“We like small organizations and we are willing to take a risk on a ‘crazy’ idea”
Founded in 1997, the Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation https://www.rmyf.org/index.cfm aims “to help underprivileged youth reach their full potential by supporting innovative youth-serving organizations in the geographic areas conducive to RMYF board members.” The foundation supports two separate types of grants: Innovation Grants and Advancement Grants. With pre-applications for the Innovation Grant due in a few weeks on April 29, I ran a few questions via email by the foundation’s Liz Van Brunt and here is the result:
Based on your website, it looks like prior to 2013 the foundation offered Evaluation Grants in place of Innovation Grants. Can you provide some background on this change -- maybe in terms of the direction you are hoping to head as a foundation?
We funded evaluation in the beginning because it was not the trend, but we saw that with proven results a NPO could get further funding. Funding evaluations was pretty much unheard of when we started. As time passed it became more common to ask for, fund and receive "proof" of success so the need to fund evaluation wasn't as large. We decided to turn to our other main focus - innovation. We want to make sure that new ideas for reaching youth are funded, and if successful, are replicated.
Does your organization's definition of innovative programs as "uncommon, untested, or otherwise unconventional that lead to breakthrough results" make an organization's proposed evaluation plan even more important in the application?
We don't require an evaluation plan but we strongly recommend it. It is in their best interest so they can prove results and get further funding from us or others.
With the Innovation Grant program, you are working with small nonprofits that might not have an extensive track record with the ideas that they are proposing. What are some ways that you assess the impact that an organization is already having within its community?
As crazy as it may sound, we aren't very concerned with that. We like small (which often means new) organizations and we are willing to take a risk on a "crazy" idea. We figure if they think this program concept will work then we are willing to help them test it.
Can you provide any insight on some of the challenges that you've experienced overseeing this small foundation during the past 19 years? Any surprises?
The organization has been internet-based and the general running of the organization has been very smooth. A challenge that arises each time at the board meeting discussions has been that there are so many organizations out there and the grant money available (ours and others) is limited so choosing grantees is tough. Also, there is a learning curve for business oriented board members to understand the world of the nonprofits. One other item was making the original decision on "what" to fund (evaluation and replication) and then making the transition to innovation and advancement. This was not particularly challenging but it took effort. All in all, this foundation has had smooth sailing and met its goals without too much trouble.