Behind many of Catholic Charities of Northwest California’s life‑changing services is the work of the Grants Department, which helps secure the funding that keeps essential programs running and responsive to community needs. In the world of grants, there are public sources and private sources. Public sources are typically government funds funneled down through the federal, state, city, and county levels. These sources usually have robust applications that specify the exact manner in which the funding must be utilized, leaving minimal room for flexibility. Private sources, on the other hand, allow organizations a bit more freedom in using the funding, or sometimes the possibility to relocate the funds in the future.
“The private dollars are typically a lot more flexible in their funding. If the program changes or we need to move the money around a little bit, it's a lot easier to do that with private foundations. We can let them know that circumstances changed, and we'd like to use this money for a slightly different purpose instead. And as long as it's in alignment with what we wrote the grant for, typically funders are open to that,” said Tawni Saiz on the flexibility of private sources.
“Whereas the government sources are more restrictive. If there are any sort of changes that need to be made, we have to file an amendment and produce all the backup and all the reporting to even talk about the change.”
“Ultimately, what it all comes down to regardless of the funder is when they release an application, they ask a series of questions, and my job is to gather all the information. Typically, that includes an organization description, some sort of needs statement about what's going on in our area, and why we need the funding. They also ask for the program description, a budget, and typically our long-term goals.”
When the grant team is looking into prospective grants, there is a lot of work that goes into deciding whether to apply for them or not. They utilize lists and prospecting tools to help in their decision-making process. Typically, funders have specific focus areas they intend to support, and the team must ensure that our programs aligns with one of these categories.
“I was really excited about the Lake County grants we applied for when LaSette was on maternity leave. I had very little experience with government grants, so the fact that I won two huge grants for $400,000 made me really proud of myself.”
