Part two of a two-part series
Sutton Mora Hayes
Foundations, individuals, corporations, faith organizations, and government are responding to the impacts of COVID-19. In this column, we share lessons learned from the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund. Here’s a few things to know. This fund is a community-wide response where funds are distributed under guidance from an Advisory Council that is 50% African American/Black and 50% Caucasian. In 12 weeks, they raised just over $4 million and supported 91 organizations through grants ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 based on the agencies’ needs and the scope of their work. In order to move resources now – and have resources for recovery and resiliency – they allocated 60% of funds to immediate needs and saved 40% for the near future. The largest grant was $500,000 from the PepsiCo Foundation, specifically to aid Black and Latino communities.
The Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund is administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis (CFGM), and for this series we talked with Bob Fockler, President and Sutton Mora Hayes, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
What have you learned about how COVID-19 is impacting Memphis residents?
The inequalities in our society are deeply-set. And they have only been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak. So many in our community are one emergency away from financial crisis. While the presence of our inequalities did not come as a surprise, the coronavirus crisis did elevate community consciousness around those disparities and reinforced our commitment to strengthening organizations that are dedicated to lessening the burden of those inequalities both now and in the future.
Bob Fockler
How are recipients of the fund selected?
Crisis philanthropy recognizes the need to provide immediate resources for triage, as well as the importance of recovery resources to ensure community resilience. Our first, rapid-relief phase did not rely on a formal application process but rather feedback provided by 300+ nonprofits and information-gathering by Advisory Committee members.
Did your grantmaking change through this process?
We committed to acting quickly and learned that it is alright to balance out speed with rigorous review. Responsible grantmaking takes several forms, and it is fine to act fast and to base decisions on trust rather than outcomes. Success has meant timeliness and it has meant impact. We have trusted ourselves to be grantmakers in a new way, and we have trusted grantees to carry out their work in the best ways they saw fit, without burdensome application and reporting processes.
What challenges have you experienced?
Our ability to provide relief was directly tied to our fundraising efforts in real time. Simply put, we did not have money to give out if people did not donate to the fund. This stark reality has led to our intention to craft a more deliberate approach for the future, setting aside dollars for the next time we are called upon to lead a community response.
You can donate online at https://www.cfgm.org/COVID or mail a check to the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, 1900 Union Ave., Memphis TN 38104.
Copyright 2020 – Mel and Pearl Shaw of Saad&Shaw – Comprehensive Fund Development Services. Let us help you find your way through this unknown time. Video and phone conferencing services always available. Call us at (901) 522-8727. www.saadandshaw.com.
