Fundraising Toolkit Case Study: Spy Hop Productions (Salt Lake City, UT)
As told by Jennifer Cho, Development Director
Summary
Youth Participation Nets a Grant from Time Warner Foundation
Original Goal: $100,000
Amount actually raised: $100,000
Cash investment: $100
Staff time and value: 80 hrs./ $1,700
Total unpaid volunteer hours: 40 hrs.
The rest of the story
A little bit about us: Spy Hop Productions is a not-for-profit youth
media arts and educational enrichment center founded in 1999, and
located in the historic Art Space district of downtown Salt Lake City.
Our mission is to cultivate the visions and voices of an emerging
generation—via the big screen, the airwaves, and the world-wide-web.
Through the Media Studio Youth Apprenticeship Program, Spy Hop provides underserved youth with hands-on, project-based 21st century learning experiences. In the six-month program youth apprentices work with professional mentors and educators to develop personal multimedia portfolios and to produce, design and develop affordable media works for local organizations. Time Warner Foundation’s support has enabled Spy Hop to expand the program.
About the grant process: In the summer of 2003 five high school interns at Spy Hop Productions applied for Time Warner Foundation’s Teen Summer Program. This program fosters and showcases teen projects integrating writing, media and technology to highlight an issue of concern in the world and/or in their local community. Along the way, the program helps young people develop basic media and technology skills.
The Foundation approved the students’ application and awarded them $1,000 to produce a multimedia product—using both web and video technologies—addressing the issue of Media Literacy. While the students’ final product did not win the final grant award of $5,000, their impressive efforts allowed Spy Hop to receive an invitation to apply for a Creative & Media Arts Grant.
The four-month application process involved:
- a conference call
- three phone interviews with Spy Hop’s Executive Director
- a 12 page proposal narrative that fully detailed center’s youth activities, and sample youth-produced works from the program
The critical component of the awarded program was the curriculum, which integrates media literacy, media production education, and critical “life skills” training. The strength of the proposal was the Media Studio Apprenticeship Program’s sample youth-produced works exemplifying multimedia expertise, creativity, leadership and level of social awareness. In this case – unlike many grant writing environments - the Spy Hop youth were a central part of the grant writing process itself.
The process for youth was empowering, and the center was able to provide a powerful presentation of the program’s impact. At Spy Hop Productions, we are grateful for the youth who take pride and ownership in the place they choose to spend their time after-school.
Advice to colleagues
Recently I attended a conference and participated in an open forum
discussion called “Fundraising Strategies for the Future,” along with
thousands of other people who work in inner-city and rural nonprofit
community technology centers across the country. Much of the
conversation circled around the use of the Internet and web-based
applications to improve and/or implement new strategies to increase
donor prospects and donations.
The research presented shows this is a truly growing trend. Many fundraisers are utilizing Internet search tools, building web sites and on-line payment/donation forms, and sending email newsletters. However, it is dangerous to assume that the traditional fundraising model that emphasizes Cultivation, Asking, and Stewardship, has been replaced by a model that focuses too heavily on the “ASK.” Many private foundations and their guidelines can readily be retrieved on-line making access to their funds and the “ASK” seem just a few simple clicks away.
Based on the application process with the Time Warner Foundation, I believe the practice of cultivation has to be personal, sincere, and well planned.
My advice:
- Go beyond the written narrative. Spy Hop submitted student produced films (on VHS) and Audio CDs. The media submissions accurately portrayed the organization’s mission and programming goals of teaching media literacy, critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and creativity.
- Talk to the foundation. Phone calls were made to talk about some specific organizational activities. Because the application had a strict page limitation, the phone calls/interviews were important in providing a more detailed account of the programs. It also allowed us to tell the STORIES of our youth.
- Youth
involvement. The participating youth were given the opportunity to
participate in both grant application processes. From producing the
actual media project sample to providing specific feedback about the
grant criteria*, their voice was critical in structuring and writing
the narrative for the grant.
* (e.g. “Does the program use multimedia as a tool to foster 21st century skills such as critical thinking, media literacy, communication, and teamwork?” The students and mentors discussed specific ways that the program and projects they were involved in required the development of all the listed 21st century skills or “life skills.”)
For more information on this story contact jencho@spyhop.org, ph. 801.532.7500
CONTRIBUTE
We're looking for more good fundraising stories. If you have one to share, please fill out our survey.
LEARN MORE
We've taken your suggestions for fundraising resources, and added a bunch of our own. Check out the Funding Support Network Bibliography.
