GIFFORD FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $900,000 FOR CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE

The Gifford Foundation has announced the names of the six local organizations to participate in the third round of ADVANS. ADVANS, or Advancing and Developing the Assets and Value of Nonprofits in Syracuse is a major capacity building initiative started by the Foundation in 2007. In this round of the ADVANS initiative more than $900,000 has been committed to six local nonprofits that undertake and complete a one to three year intensive assessment and business planning process. Those undergoing business planning will receive an additional $100,000 in grants to implement their plans, along with three years of consulting support totaling $55,000. ADVANS follows the organizational capacity model developed by Dr. Susan Kenny Stevens as outlined in the book Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity. The organizations will work with trained area consultants utilizing the self-assessment techniques of Dr. Stevens, and then identify their primary capacity needs.

"This well-chosen new class of six organizations joins the ranks of 13 nonprofit colleagues who have successfully completed the ADVANS program, and emerged with stronger strategic and operational capacity to better serve the greater Syracuse community," states Dr. Stevens.

The six organizations in this newest round of ADVANS are:

• Community Action Partnership of Madison County - CAP’s mission is to partner with individuals and families to promote empowerment, foster economic independence and develop opportunities to create a stronger, healthier community. CAP works for and with
  low- and moderate-income families in Madison County to provide education, guidance, and resources for individuals and families striving for economic self-sufficiency.
  


• Cooperative Federal – The mission of Cooperative Federal is to manage the aggregate assets of members in responsible ways, rebuild the local economy in ways that foster justice, and serve the financial needs of members and those underserved by conventional financial institutions. Cooperative Federal programming includes financial services, financial education, business services, affordable housing financing, and the only full lending certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in the CNY region. Cooperative Federal is currently completing their work in the ADVANS 2 cohort and will be moving into ADVANS 3 for the business planning and consulting phases.
  


• Home HeadQuarters offers housing and related opportunities and services in Central and Upstate NY that improve the lives of underserved people and revitalize the communities in which they live. They offer Nationally-certified Homebuyer Education for first time homebuyers, financial and homeownership counseling, Foreclosure Prevention and real estate planning and development. Home HeadQuarters is also one of the largest regional providers of affordable home and energy improvement loans and grants to area homeowners.
  


• InterFaith Works of Central New York, through education, service and dialogue, provides advocacy and human care through six social service programs which serve people in need, including refugees, the elderly, the disabled, and the institutionalized.
  


• McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Site is dedicated to ending child abuse through intervention and education. Their main goals are to provide a safe, child and family friendly environment for child abuse victims and their non-offending family members and to reduce the trauma that abused children face during the investigative and treatment processes.
  


• The Samaritan Center is an interfaith effort of community members who are committed to serving the hungry and those in need in Central New York in order to promote their welfare, dignity and self-sufficiency. They serve hot, nutritious meals 365 days a year, pair meal service with individual support and case management, traditional information/referral services and the coordination needed to help other agencies assist their clients to their services.
  

The first round of ADVANS, or ADVANS 1, concluded in the fall of 2010; currently there are four organizations participating in ADVANS 2, which will conclude in November 2011.

About The Gifford Foundation
The Gifford Foundation is a private foundation supporting community needs in Central New York since 1954. Through its grantmaking, they fund organizations in an intentionally transformative and flexible manner. This is based on a fundamental belief that change at the individual and/or organizational level holds the potential to institute change at broader community levels. For information visit www.giffordfoundation.org.