TAMPA | The Plus Project, a donor-advised fund administered by the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, has formed to become an innovative and inclusive funding resource for organizations serving Tampa Bay’s LGBTQ community.
The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which seeks to build a better community through creative philanthropy. Since 1990, the organization has awarded more than $210 million in grants and invested more than $253 million for future giving. $14.6 million in grants were awarded throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties in 2018.
Recognizing that Tampa Bay has a large number of organizations which provide services to the LGBTQ community, many of which face funding challenges for planned and unplanned costs, the Plus Project’s 12-member founding board conducted an in-depth research study with nonprofits serving the LGBTQ community.
The group reviewed data from “LGBTQ intentional” organizations, described as those which are “very clear that they serve the LGBTQ community”—and “LGBTQ incidental” organizations, those which serve the LGBTQ community “as a part of their larger client populations.” Their study confirmed the organizations faced an ongoing need for funding, complex and difficult grant applications, a lack of awareness of new funding opportunities and a need for greater collaboration with others serving the LGBTQ sector.
“One of the things we heard repeatedly was this focus on the need for operational funding,” founding board member Rob Iles says. “So we decided as a group that would be where our focus would lie. Strategically, if you are a source of operational funding for those organizations, that frees them up to focus on whatever it is that they do to provide services to the LGBTQ community.”
“It was a very important to have the survey as a base of information to see that there is a need for this,” founding board member Larry Biddle adds. “We had every reason to believe that we should found this organization.”
To fund organizations, the Plus Project pools resources of support through three primary methods, the first of which is through ongoing donations of cash or credit. The second is via legacy planning through bequests, charitable gift annuities, retirement plan assets and charitable trusts. Finally, via one-time gifts of cash or other assets.
“Of all the things we have incubated, The Plus Project has been such a pleasure because of the high quality of people involved in bringing it together,” Community Foundation of Tampa Bay President Marlene Spalten says. “We’re so proud of everything that is being done. They’ve presented a very incredible opportunity for people who want to support the kinds of causes that The Plus Project is going to provide funding to and those people want to go to a trusted source.
“That’s why the Community Foundation is the perfect partner,” she continues. “We have credibility and this makes it easy for people to get financially involved. This is going to be a new resource for nonprofits that help this community.”
The Plus Project will distribute funds in both traditional and innovative ways, its founders share. The nine-member Grants Committee meets independently from the board to review requests and make decisions regarding distribution, sharing the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay’s nonprofit expertise. It promises brief, concise applications, clear requirements, the easy transmittal of funds and even offers a “Rapid Response Fund” for emergency grants.
“This is a unique opportunity where we provide a place for our community to give money and a place for our community to receive funds to help support and sustain them,” Biddle says. “There’s nothing like it in Tampa Bay.”
The Plus Project is currently accepting gifts, all of which are 100% tax deductible. Organizations can apply for funds beginning in late 2018. For more information about The Plus Project or Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, visit ThePlusProject.org or CFTampaBay.org.
Photo: The Plus Project’s Nick Kouris, Larry Biddle, Cindy Stovall, Joan Grossman, Bill Zawadski, Rob Iles, courtesy The Plus Project.
