Cleveland Black Futures Fund

Overview

An Introduction to the Fund

In 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, we bore witness to what is believed to be the largest civil rights movement in the history of the United States. As more people across our community and our country engage in a long overdue reckoning with the ugly reality of structural racism in America, many of us are thinking about our experiences and roles in this reality – individually and collectively.

In the field of philanthropy, we must be honest about our historic shortcomings in addressing the devastating racial disparities that so directly impact our work. The Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) has reported on the significant inequities that exist within the national philanthropic field at a time when outcomes and disparities for Black children, families and neighborhoods in many areas have widened.

While structural racism is a problem affecting our entire country, the movement for Black lives has resonated in Greater Cleveland for deeply local reasons. According to 2018 research from The Center for Community Solutions, Black residents in Cleveland are more likely to experience higher rates of infant mortality and childhood poverty, be overrepresented in the criminal justice system, be disproportionately represented in lower wage occupations and have shorter life expectancies – all of which cross socioeconomic boundaries.

The Cleveland Foundation and our donors have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to improve education, housing, job opportunities and access to healthcare in our community. And while these investments have improved the quality of life for individuals and families in Greater Cleveland, they have not yet eliminated the disparities that exist along racial lines. More than 50 years after the Fair Housing Act, our city remains one of the most racially segregated in the nation – both geographically and in terms of educational, economic and health outcomes – among other measures.

The launch of the Cleveland Black Futures Fund, seeded with $2.5 million to invest in and strengthen Black-led and Black-serving social change organizations, is just one step in what must be a long-term community-wide effort to dismantle racist systems that have made communities of color vulnerable for generations. As the Greater Cleveland community’s foundation, it is incumbent upon us to respond to the place where the need is greatest, and there is no doubt that the need is great in Cleveland’s Black community. With the understanding that those who are closest to the problem are often closest to the solution, the fund will elevate specific interventions to strengthen the ecosystem of Black leaders and Black-serving organizations in Greater Cleveland by providing intentional resources to help grow organizational infrastructure and capacity. Long-term, the foundation aims to deepen the field of leaders working to dismantle systemic racism and advance the community toward racial equity.

The Cleveland Black Futures Fund builds on the ongoing work of the African American Philanthropy Committee of the Cleveland Foundation (AAPC), which has promoted awareness and education about the benefits of wealth and community preservation through philanthropy since 1993. Established in 2010, the African American Philanthropy Committee Legacy Fund supports a variety of organizations within the African American community of Greater Cleveland. The Cleveland Black Futures Fund will complement the impact of the AAPC and its Legacy Fund, offering an additional pool of resources to support the Black community in Greater Cleveland.

The Cleveland Foundation recognizes that racial inequity is not a simple Black-white divide. However, the needs of various racial and ethnic communities are too vast for one fund to address. The effects of systemic racism on non-Black communities of color must be addressed through interventions that are designed and tailored to the specific needs of each community. As we launch the Black Futures Fund, we are laying the groundwork for future population-specific strategies to address the needs of other ethnic and racial communities in Greater Cleveland.

The launch of the Cleveland Black Futures Fund represents a new and more intentionally anti-racist approach in the Cleveland Foundation’s work, a direction that is necessary if we wish to move our entire community forward. We do not yet have all the answers, but we will continue to listen, learn and act. We hope you will join us.

Eligibility

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Application Details

Request for Proposals
January 2021
Context
In 2020, our lives were upended by the COVID-19 crisis.
Cleveland’s first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on March 14, 2019. By January 3, 2021, Cuyahoga
County had amassed the second highest number of cases and the highest death toll in the state.
While many expected that the impact of this virus would cut across all social lines, we now know that this is
not the case. "There is an old saying in the black community, 'When white America gets the flu, black
America gets pneumonia,'" said the Rev. Aaron Phillips, the pastor of Sure House Baptist Church on Miles
Avenue, near East 116th Street. And, unfortunately but perhaps not surprisingly, COVID-19 has been
disproportionately devastating to the Black community:
• “In Cleveland, one of the most segregated cities in America, the numbers are haunting: At least 70%
of the total cases in the city in which race is known involve African Americans. Black residents make
up slightly more than 45% of the city's population.”
• “Though Black Ohioans comprise 14% of the state’s population, they make up 27% of the COVID-
19 hospitalization load, state data shows.”
These effects overlay and compound longstanding racial inequity and disparity. In 2019, Cleveland was the 9th
most segregated city in the country. In January 2020, Cleveland was named the worst city in the country for
Black women, after measuring several factors related to education, income, and health. Protests in the wake
of the murder of George Floyd struck a deep nerve due to our area’s own history of death at the hands of
police.
Well before any of this, Black community leaders and activists had been working hard for years for justice
and equity. But now, the work takes on a new dimension due to this pandemic. In order for the Black
community to recover from this crisis, we will need strong, community-oriented organizations with clear
understanding of the decades-long need for racial justice, the effects of the pandemic, and a hopeful vision
for the future.
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The Cleveland Black Futures Fund
The Cleveland Black Futures Fund (CBFF) was established in 2020 to support the capacity of Cleveland-
based nonprofit organizations that are BOTH Black-led and Black serving. This purpose raises some
questions.
Why organizational capacity?
Candid.org states: “Capacity building can help make an organization more focused, efficient, and productive”
and this “makes it easier to attract the money, leadership and visibility that nonprofits need to thrive.”
What are some examples of organizational capacity activities and components?
The Free Management Library describes a host of capacity building activities, including:
• Board development • Legal services
• Business planning • Management development
• Evaluation • Marketing
• Facilities planning • Program design
• Financial management • Quality management
• Fundraising • Staffing
• Information technology • Strategic planning
• Leadership development
This is not an exhaustive list, but is meant to provide some insight into the types of activities the CBFF
welcomes in proposals.
What do you mean by Black-led and Black serving?
For the purposes of this grant, we seek to support organizations that have Black chief executive leadership
and that serve the Black community. Unfortunately, national data show us that the race of an organization’s
executive leadership has historically been correlated with likelihood of obtaining grant funding. Therefore,
this grant opportunity is designed to be intentional about providing grant funding to organizations with Black
leaders. Organizations that serve Black communities but do not have Black executive leaders will not be
eligible for this particular grant opportunity.
What kinds of organizations may apply?
Applicant organizations may operate in a range of issue areas, but grants can only be made to organizations
currently holding 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. Organizations that do not currently have 501(c)3 tax-exempt
status are eligible to apply in partnership with a tax-exempt organization serving as a fiscal agent.
Current Fund Priorities
In light of the acute crisis we face, the CBFF asks fund applicants to reflect on the effects of the pandemic in
the community.
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Please note: this framing is not intended to limit the applicant pool to strictly health, public health, or social
services work. We believe strongly that work across sectors will be important to the health and resilience of
the community during this pandemic, including environmental work, technology, arts, policy and advocacy,
and much more.
Application Process
This application differs from the standard Cleveland Foundation application process. Please be sure to use
the Cleveland Black Futures Fund application.
Rather than asking for an open-ended narrative, this application asks direct and specific questions of
applicants. We are asking a series of questions to ensure that we receive certain types of information from
every single applicant. This information will help us understand the depth of need for support across the
community, and help us plan for this and subsequent rounds of grantmaking, this year and in years to come.
Answers to these questions need not be lengthy; therefore, many of the question boxes on the application will
have word limits.
Applications must be submitted online. Hard copy applications will not be accepted. To apply:
1. Access the Grants Gateway: https://www.clevelandfoundation.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant/.
2. If you do not have login information, complete the Grantee Login Request Form.
3. Login to the portal and establish or update your organization profile. The profile asks for
information about:
• Staff
• Consultants
• Organization mission
• Programs and services
• Organizational history
4. From the Grants Gateway landing page after logging in, click on the Apply for Grants link to find
the Cleveland Black Futures Fund application. Complete the application questions:
• Who does your organization serve? This can include neighborhoods, age groups, specific
communities, and/or other identifiers.
• Where does your organization operate? Please include neighborhoods, programming sites,
buildings, and offices. Does your organization own or lease space?
• Are your organization’s staff full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?
• When does your organization’s typical programming or work take place?
• What are your guiding values?
• What are your organization’s greatest strengths and challenges at this time?
• Please describe the activities you would undertake with grant funding in as much detail as
necessary. How would these activities strengthen your organization’s capacity? For examples
of what constitutes organizational capacity, please see the Request for Proposals. Why is this
work urgent right now? What outcomes do you hope to achieve?
• If awarded a grant, when would your organization begin proposed activities?
• Please describe any partnerships that are important to your work.
• Based on your experience, please explain how COVID-19 has affected the community you
serve and your organization.
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• If you could look into the future 5-10 years, what would you want news headlines and stories
to say about your organization and the work you have accomplished?
• Additional Information: Please tell us anything else you believe we should know to evaluate
your proposal well.
5. Upload the Required Attachments, which include:
• Line item project budget in the provided Excel template.
• Board information: list of members with affiliations, term lengths of Board members, and
committees.
• Organization budget for the current fiscal year.
• Complete audit (if available, include auditors notes and management letter, if issued). If no
audit is available, please provide: Statement of Revenue/Support and Expenses for your
organization’s most recently completed fiscal/calendar year, Current Balance Sheet and
Statement of Activities for most recently completed fiscal/calendar year.
Timeline
• January 25, 2021: Online application process begins at noon
• January 28, 2021: Webinar (click here to register)
• February 1-12, 2021: Virtual office hours (click here to schedule a time)
• February 11, 2021: Virtual town hall with Radio One Cleveland
• February 26, 2021: Application deadline
• End of March: Applicants informed of funding decisions
A second round of grantmaking will be announced to take place in late summer-fall 2021.
Questions
For programmatic questions or information, contact: ClevelandBlackFuturesFund@clevefdn.org.
For application or technical questions, contact: grantsmgmt@clevefdn.org.
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