One Day, One Job » grant writing

Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:00:09 +0000

When I saw the name and location of Winston Salem, North Carolina’s Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite recent reads—Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley. A North Carolina based non-profit with Reynolds in it name has to be tied to the tobacco industry, and it is. “The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation was established in 1936 as a memorial to the youngest son of the founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company,” and it seems to be one of the few good things that has come out of the tobacco industry—”a trust for charitable works in the State of North Carolina.” The Foundation is focused on making grants to non-profit organizations in the areas of Community Economic Development, Democracy and Civic Engagement, the Environment, Pre-Collegiate Education, and Social Justice and Equity, which, in my opinion, is a huge improvement on the other things associated with the Reynolds name.

Improving North Carolina Grant by Grant

The cool thing about foundations like the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is that they get to give out lots of money. That’s what allows them to have such a wide range of focuses. Instead of having to do everything themselves, they can find the best organizations with the best people and fund them. Although the Foundation has had to make some changes due to the economy, they still have plenty of money to spread to do-gooders in North Carolina. If you’d like to spend some time working at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, then you should check out their Jobs page. Although they don’t have any permanent positions posted right now, they do have an annual fellowship that they offer (it lasts 2 years, but they offer a new one every year). It sounds like a pretty cool gig, as “the fellow acts as a junior program officer and works with Foundation staff in evaluating grant proposals and visiting with grant applicants.” The application deadline is January 11, 2010, so check out all the information and see if a fellowship at Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is something that you want to do.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation?

Oceana

Willy Franzen — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:47:50 +0000

I love our oceans—everything about them. I love swimming in them, eating the food that they provide, fishing in them, watching sunsets over them, and all of the other wonderful things that they offer. However, our oceans are both blessed and cursed by the same thing—they seem infinite. That’s what makes them so great, but it’s also what has led us to abusing them nearly to the point of no return. A little pollution will disappear in the vastness of an ocean. Overfishing doesn’t matter because there are always more fish. Scraping up the bottom isn’t a big deal because we can’t see the bottom. I wish that oceans were that resilient, but they’re not. Oceana is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth.” They recognize the value of their oceans, and they’re doing something to protect them.

Dive in to a Job at Oceana

From what I can tell, most of what Oceana does is based on advocacy and creating awareness. They do this through a number of campaigns including Stop Climate Change, Stop Dirty Fishing, Stop Destructive Trawling, Stop Seafood Contamination, Cut the Bait, Save Seat Turtles, Safeguard Sharks, Dive Into Ocean Conservation, Surf Into Ocean Conservation, Stop Cruise Ship Pollution, Advocating for Ocean Change, and Protect Prey. This approach makes sense because our everyday choices impact the future of the ocean, and until we understand that, we’re not going to take a collective action for positive change. Here’s what Oceana has to say about their campaigns:

To achieve real benefits for the oceans, Oceana conducts focused, strategic campaigns. Each campaign has a specific timeframe and objective that will make a significant difference to the oceans. Each campaign combines scientific, legal, policy and advocacy approaches to reach its goal. Saving the oceans may take decades, but in each of our campaigns we aim to accomplish an important milestone in that effort within two to five years.

If you love the oceans as much as I do, you might want to consider Jobs at Oceana. Right now they have a couple of opportunities that seem suitable for recent grads. These include Grantwriter and E-Activism Fellow. You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to resumes@oceana.org with the job title in the subject line.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you love about the oceans?

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

Willy Franzen — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:28:02 +0000

There are countless celebrities who support charitable causes. There are many who throw their full support behind a single organization; however, few celebs are as personally invested in their charitable work as Michael J. Fox is. Why is he so invested? Because his life is on the line. He is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, “a degenerative disease of the brain that often impairs motor skills, speech, and other functions.” If you’ve seen Michael J. Fox on tv lately, you’ve seen what Parkinson’s does to the human body. It’s a tragic disease that will hopefully be cured due to the work of the New York City based Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. As an accomplished actor and someone who is living with Parkinson’s, Michael J. Fox is the perfect person to lead the fight against the disease.

Outfox Parkinson’s

The MJFF’s mission is pretty simple; they are “dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease within the decade through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.” The Fox Foundation has already funded $142 million in Parkinson’s research, but they’re clearly not satisfied stopping there. To accomplish that, they need a top notch staff, so it’s no big surprise that they’re hiring. If you head over to the MJFF’s Jobs page you’ll see 5 open positions. 3 of them require significant previous work experience, but the other 2 seem well suited to new college grads—Grant Administrator – Research Programs and Development Assistant. You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to foxjob@michaeljfox.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research?

Right To Play

Willy Franzen — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:42:08 +0000

You know all those rights that you learned about in school? All that stuff in the Constitution. I’m sure it’s important to you now, but how important was it to you as a kid? Unless you were a unique kid, you just wanted to play. That’s why Right To Play is such an interesting non-profit. They’re “an international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world.” Play may seem trivial to many, but Right To Play has found that it’s often the key to opening up those other rights that many of us take for granted. They’re a Toronto based organization with a New York City presence, and they’re currently working in 23 countries: Azerbaijan, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Peru, occupied Palestinian territory, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia.

A Job That Is Fun and Games

Although working among “the most marginalized including girls, people living with disability, children affected by HIV and AIDS, street children, former child combatants and refugees” doesn’t sound like very much fun, Right To Play does its best to change that. Part of being human is having fun as a child, and Right To Play aims to ensure that’s a reality for all children. The organization has great stories about the work that they do. They’ve done a handball clinic in Jordan and put on a Peace Dream Cup in Liberia. If you’re looking for the intersection of sport and philanthropy, this is it. Right now, Right to Play’s Jobs page has a number of openings posted. None are explicitly entry level, but I think that you should take a look at the Grand Writer and Research Coordinator and the Development Coordinator positions. To apply, you can send a cover letter and resume to usa@righttoplayusa.org with the job title in the subject line before June 1st.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about Right To Play?

U.S. Soccer Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:42:43 +0000

As an overweight asthmatic when I was growing up, I was almost certainly one of the least fit soccer player to grace the fields of Fairfield, CT (if only there was a video to share with you). I don’t remember having a particular affinity for soccer, but all of my friends played, so I played too; in fact, it seems like most kids play soccer growing up now. That’s a big achievement for a sport that has to compete with more entrenched sports like baseball, football, and basketball. Much of the success of soccer can be attributed to U.S. Soccer, the sport’s national governing body. One of the major successes of U.S. Soccer was to bring the FIFA World Cup to the United States in 1994. The World Cup generated quite a surplus, and the U.S. Soccer Foundation was started in 1995 as the charitable arm of soccer in the United States to put that surplus to good use.

Kick Off Your Career

The U.S. Soccer Foundation’s mission is “to enhance, assist and grow the sport of soccer in the United States.” I think this mission statement sells them short; they’re not only promoting the sport, but also improving the lives of people through their charitable programs. The Foundation has programs like Passback – a nationwide soccer uniform and equipment collection and distribution program to help players in disadvantaged communities; Build a Field – a project in conjunction with FieldTurf to build a total of 50 All Conditions Fields; and Soccer United Recovery Fund, established in September 2005 to help rebuild soccer programs and facilities in Gulf Coast communities affected by the three massive hurricanes of 2005 (hopefully they’ll be expanding this program). The Foundation isn’t just about expanding the reach of soccer. Soccer is a vehicle for them to achieve the same goals as many other charities that affect disadvantaged youth.

Right now, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has one job opening that we think might be a good fit for a new college grad. It’s a position as a Grant Assistant. They say that their ideal candidate has 2 years of experience in a non-profit, but we think that they’ll change their definition of “ideal candidate” when they meet one of our readers. The job description sounds about as entry level as you can get, so we don’t think that it’s a stretch for new grads to apply for this one. If you love soccer and want to work at a non-profit, give it a look. The U.S. Soccer is located in Washington, DC, and you can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to search@ussoccerfoundation.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were you a better soccer player than I was growing up?

Harlem RBI

Willy Franzen — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:00:11 +0000

Were you a baseball fan growing up? Was the floor of your room often covered in baseball cards? Did you spend more time oiling your glove than actually playing with it? Did your Mom make you throw away your favorite team’s cap because you absolutely wore it out? It’s amazing how your love of a sport can define your childhood. Harlem RBI is a non-profit organization that is cultivating that love of sport in New York City’s youths. Through the power of teams, the kids that participate in Harlem RBI’s programs are given the opportunity to play, learn, and grow – hopefully into graduates who are physically fit, confident, caring, and work-ready or headed for college.

Harlem RBI is an organization that has big dreams, but is also showing results. Since 2004, 96% of Harlem RBI Seniors graduated from high school and 93% were accepted to college, while 100% of Harlem RBI youth have avoided teen parenthood. Harlem RBI has also earned a 4-star rating on charity navigator. By putting kids on teams (usually a teams link directs you to an organization’s staff, but Harlem RBI actually has over 3 dozen baseball and softball teams as a part of their mission) and combining the baseball aspect with after-school programs, Harlem RBI is maximizing the potential of its participants through consistently high involvement in their lives.

Harlem RBI is offering a nice mix of full and part time positions that might appeal to entry-level baseball lovers. The best fit for most new grads who are looking for a job might be the Grant Writing Associate position, since it is the most similar to other entry-level jobs that you might be considering; however, you may also want to take a look at the Senior Program Coordinator job, which is not exactly entry-level, but could be an excellent fit for a recent college graduate with extremely strong volunteer experience. Harlem RBI is also offering a number of part-time positions that have varying levels of time commitment. They might be a nice paid alternative to volunteer work (since getting by in New York City isn’t easy), or they might be a fun second job. We especially think (and we could be wrong) that these part-time jobs would mesh well with a teaching fellowship position. Harlem RBI currently has part-time openings as a Baseball Coordinator, After School Program Teacher, or After School Program Assistant.

Think about how much baseball meant to you as a kid. Why not find a job that allows you to share your passion with inner-city kids.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at Harlem RBI.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What is your fondest baseball memory as a kid? Tell us in the comments.