[nfb-talk] Sizes of chapters
David Evans
drevans at bellsouth.net
Thu Jan 10 21:27:54 CST 2008
Dear dmgina,
There are a couple of places that you can go to look for grants.
Every area around the country has a Community Foundation or Community Chest
You need to find yours. Another place you can look for grants is at your
Public Library reference department. They will have foundations and grant
directories where you can look up foundations that give grants to
non-profits.
The NFB is a non-profit, 501-(C)(3) organization.
You must speak to your State board about using their paper work and
non-profit status and if they will give you permission.
If your chapter has its own paperwork you are set.
You can also look grants up on the internet at places such as the
www.foundationcenter.org web site.
They have two parts to their web site . One side is free and the other more
in-depth side requires a fee or membership.
Be careful of some of the web sites that promise free government grants and
then want you to buy some data on a CD . They are not all on the up and up.
Look for local foundations, if you can find some.
You would want to find a foundation that is near you, if possible, and then
look at the area of interest to see if they give grants for the kinds of
things you wish to fund. so pick one that gives in the categories of
interest your project or program falls into.
Most grants, you would look for, would likely be in the range of $2,500 to
$5,000 or maybe up to $25,000.
In the foundation directories are things called indexes. You can use the
indexes to cross reference such things as "area of interest," "Mean grant
award," "geographic location," "Grants Awarded,"and "Total Assets of
Foundation."
.
These indexes can help you thin down the list to make it easier to pick
the grants you want to go after.
There is also one other place where you can get some help. Every state
college or university has a department that is usually called "Sponsored
Research." This department writes grants for their institution's needs.
Their department name varies, so ask for the department that writes their
grants for research. They may help you find and write a grant if
asked. They usually have some mandate to do a certain amount of community
projects. They might even look at a grant you write and tell you how to
punch it up or make it better.
What I did was I found a local grant maker and asked for a grant that would
cover paying for a van and driver, once a month that would run around and
pick up our members and bring them in for our meetings. We basically hired
the van and driver for the day. Heck, we even sent him out for food for
some of the chapter luncheons too.
We also used the grant to rent vans to be used to take our chapter members
to the state conventions too. We just got a volunteer driver or paid for
the hotel and food for someone's hubby who would do the driving.
I have used grants to provide equipment for producing a chapter and state
newsletter in large print, audio tape and by e-mail and for paying office
materials expenses and long distance calls, conference calls for board
meetings as well as other things.
We even used some grant funds to subsidize some of our members to go to the
Washington Seminar or the National Conventions as part of leadership
training and education. After all, if you have an organization and it has
leaders, they need to be educated and trained, right?
The nice thing is that once you write your first grant, you have all of the
paper work for your next grant.
If you want more info, you can write me off list at my personal e-mail
address at fdrevans at bellsouth.net .
If you want to talk to me on the phone, send me an e-mail we can set up a
time to talk.
Have a great day.
David Evans, NFBF
Palm Beach County Chapter Florida Original Message -----
From: "dmgina" <dmgina at qwest.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Sizes of chapters
> Hi there,
> We had a chapter meeting last night with the transportation systems here
> in
> town.
> We are asking the cab company to help us with monthly transportation.
> I was going to write a separate message, but since this is here,
> I will write here.
> Where can I share with the group how to get a grant for the years
> meetings.
> Our year is from September to May,
> Then a picnic in August.
> We take off June and July so folks can go on vacation or national trips as
> well.
> If I can start the ball rolling, I would love to do that.
> I would need help with writing up a grant request, Jim knows of someone
> who
> can do this for us in our chapter.
> So I will ask him as well.
> Thanks for sharing.
> I would love to jump in and help any chapter if I lived near by.
>
>
> --Dar
> www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
> Every Saint has a past
> Every Sinner has a future
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 7:23 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Sizes of chapters
>
>
>> Dear Corie,
>>
>> Let me explain the situation here. We had 203 people , on paper.
>> We never saw anywhere near that many people at a meeting.
>> I think 97 was the most we ever had at a meeting and that was a Xmas
>> Party,
>> back around 1993.
>> At the time, I had gotten a grant that paid for a van and driver once a
>> month, that would go and pick up members and bring them in for our
>> meetings.
>> We also had a couple of vans from our local transportation service that
>> were
>> bringing people in too.
>> The problem was, some of these people were coming from as far away as
>> Miami
>> up to Boca Raton for the meetings and bypassing other chapters in Miami
>> and
>> Fort Lauderdale. This created some friction and was costing us allot of
>> money for people who did not live in our area. It was about a 2 hour
>> ride
>> for those coming in from Miami with picking everyone up that is.
>> We decided to split the chapter up and let people go to their own local
>> chapters. I had to cut off the van service and use it for the members
>> just
>> in our area after that.
>> A new chapter was formed in Pompano Beach and some members went to both
>> the
>> Miami chapter and the Broward Chapter.
>> We still had 94 members on our rolls , but never saw that many members
>> again. For a short time, in the 1990's, we were the largest chapter in
>> the
>> NFB.
>> One of the best things a chapter can do is to establish a chapter
>> newsletter
>> that is sent out monthly. It can be used to remind members about
>> meetings,
>> update them on happenings and events, as well as to give them information
>> they might need to know.
>> You can easily get grants for this purpose to pay for its production and
>> even to buy the equipment to make it.
>> I did it with grants I got from IBM, that got us a computer to write it
>> on
>> and a local grant for things like a copier to make large print copies on
>> ,
>> a
>> printer to use with the computer, mailers to mail the audio tape version
>> of
>> the newsletter and all of the recording and audio tape duplicating
>> equipment
>> we needed.
>> WE did the newsletter on audio tape, large print and by e-mail.
>> It was a chore getting it done each month, but we did it for years.
>> Now that I am working and busier that a one arm paper hanger in a
>> hurricane,
>> I can only manage a brief meeting notice each month.
>> Most of my members are seniors and don't have the computer skills or
>> energy
>> to do the job for me.
>> I am working on re-vitalizing my chapter now and plan on sending a mail
>> out
>> through the Talking Book Library soon to announce to people about our
>> meetings and try to give our chapter a shot in the arm. Your chapter can
>> send a mail out twice a year to people who receive the Talking Books.
>> You
>> just write up what you want to say and send it to them and they will send
>> it
>> out for you. They will not give you the names of people for legal
>> reasons,
>> but will send it out to people in whatever zip codes you want to reach.
>> I will keep you informed.
>> Most chapters are going to be around 15 to 30 members in size and like
>> mostly seniors.
>> It is a fact that 69.4% of all Blind people are over the age of 65 years
>> old
>> and that number will rise to about 74% in less than ten years.
>> Seniors are going to be the bulk of most chapters from here on.
>> The good thing is that more and more of them have some computer skills.
>> We
>> just need to help them get the O and M skills and the independent living
>> skills to keep them free, healthy and active.
>> Many of my seniors are active, but death has taken allot of them lately.
>> Death and health problems has taken over 60% of my chapter in the last 2
>> years.
>> Numbers are nice, but the most important thing is how active your chapter
>> members are. Six active and motivated members is worth more than 200 who
>> will or can do, nothing.
>> I will talk to you later. If you have any questions, just send them to
>> me.
>>
>> David Evans, NFBF
>> drevans at bellsouth.net
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Kori King" <koranking at cox.net>
>> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 7:53 AM
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Sizes of chapters
>>
>>
>>> Hi, everybody! Holy cow, David! I read your interesting message to
>>> Helene
>>> and was astounded to hear about your chapter growing to 203 members! I
>>> wonder how many members the biggest chapter in the country has. I would
>>> suspect it would be in a place like Chicago. Wow, I just can't get over
>>> that! That's just plain fantastic! I know Kathy davis's chapter in
>>> Daytona
>>> Beach, Florida is pretty sizable, and my fiance and I are looking to
>>> move
>>> there soon and join. Our Gainesville, Florida chapter has about 20
>>> members.
>>> Anyway, I just had to comment on that one! To use an old expression,
>>> that's
>>> far out! (smile) Take care.
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
>>> To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:39 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] UK Vision Strategy
>>>
>>>
>>>> Dear Helene,
>>>>
>>>> It is very nice to hear back from you. I hope that this will be one of
>>>> many
>>>> exchanges we will have in the future.
>>>> You may be across and ocean, but you are just as near as the next
>>>> internet
>>>> post.
>>>> You are not alone. You have many brothers and sisters here who are
>>>> just
>>>> waiting to get to know you better.
>>>> I hope that we may meet one day. You maybe the person who lights a new
>>>> fire
>>>> in your countrymen. You could be the one that begins the rally.
>>>> We are here to help how ever we can. We are here to talk to and
>>>> confide
>>>> in.
>>>> Let us just keep talking and exchanging ideas and information.
>>>> We might begin by telling each other more about ourselves.
>>>> I am 60 years old and I live in the infamous Boca Raton Florida.
>>>> I was, for many years, a working Nuclear/Aerospace Materials Engineer.
>>>> I
>>>> now work in Public Transit services.
>>>> I became legally blind at the age of 16 due to RP. I was a NAVY brat
>>>> and
>>>> have lived all over the World from Alaska to Australia. I never went
>>>> to
>>>> the
>>>> same school, two years in a row, until I went to college.
>>>> I did not find out that I was legally blind until I was 20 years old
>>>> and
>>>> I
>>>> was working as a Fireman/Para-Medic while attending college in Florida.
>>>> I had grown up with my blindness and just learned how to cover it up so
>>>> well
>>>> and fake it that no one ever suspected I was legally blind. I learned
>>>> how
>>>> to cheat and get around the eye test by memorizing the standard eye
>>>> charts
>>>> used by most doctors and the Department of Motor Vehicles.
>>>> I had a driver's license and drove for over 20 years.
>>>> It was while I was working as a Fireman/Para-Medic that I learned that
>>>> I
>>>> was
>>>> legally blind. This still did not stop me from driving and infact, I
>>>> was
>>>> so
>>>> deep in denial that I did not believe it. I, instead, just became more
>>>> careful to avoid exposing myself.
>>>> It was also at this time that I was selected for the '68 U.S. Olympic
>>>> Team
>>>> and got a scholarship to San Jose State University in California.
>>>> I graduated and took Master's classes at Stanford and Cal Berkley. I
>>>> was
>>>> also a member of the '69 N.C.A.A. National Championship Track Team and
>>>> the
>>>> Pan American Team too.
>>>> It was also here that I began working for Lockheed Space and Missiles
>>>> Lunar
>>>> Rover Labs while attending College and was part of their Engineer in
>>>> Training Program. .
>>>> I built the Lunar Rovers that went to the Moon in '71-'72 with Apollo
>>>> missions 15-16-17.
>>>> I then worked in special projects including the F-117-A Stealth Fighter
>>>> Program.
>>>> I left Lockheed and worked for a year for the Stanford Research
>>>> Institute
>>>> and Linear Accelerator as a Contractor. Then worked for General
>>>> Electric-Nuclear Energy Division until '79.
>>>> I got married in '76 and in '79, I moved my family to Florida and
>>>> worked
>>>> as
>>>> a department head for a aviation hydraulic company.
>>>> In '85, I had to stop driving. It was at this time that I really
>>>> started
>>>> to
>>>> have to deal with my blindness. After a year of struggling to get back
>>>> and
>>>> forth to work, in another county, I had to give up my job and go on
>>>> disability for the first time in my life. I could still do my job, but
>>>> I
>>>> just could not get to the job.
>>>> Public transit at the time , in this area, was very bad. It was
>>>> totally
>>>> unusable for going to work. Taxi cabs were too hard to get and too
>>>> costly.
>>>> I sat at home, very depressed for a time.
>>>> Then I decided to do something about it. I found out where and when
>>>> the
>>>> County Commissioners met and I began to attend the meetings to speak up
>>>> for
>>>> Public Transit. I figured that if I had this problem; likely allot of
>>>> others did too.
>>>> It was also about this time that I found and joined the NFB.
>>>> At first it seemed to be just a little social group of 7 to 10 blind
>>>> people
>>>> who met once a month.
>>>> We formed a Chapter right here in my town and I became the
>>>> Vice-President.
>>>> The second year, after elections, I became the Chapter Treasurer and a
>>>> couple of new people became our leaders and they had some knowledge of
>>>> the
>>>> NFB organization. The only thing was that every time we raised some
>>>> funds,
>>>> they would come to the Board and ask for funds to go attend a
>>>> Convention
>>>> or
>>>> something.
>>>> They did this a few times and always came back very excited, but we
>>>> felt
>>>> that we got a better description of Mrs. Mauer's dress than we did
>>>> useful
>>>> information.
>>>> Anyway, the next time they came asking for funds the Board gave it to
>>>> them
>>>> ,but sent another person along also: Me.
>>>> I attended my first Washington Seminar. This was the first time in my
>>>> life
>>>> that I saw real examples of just what a good, well trained blind person
>>>> could be like. I did not even carry a long white cane at this time in
>>>> my
>>>> life because I was ashamed and afraid of the stigma.
>>>> For the first time, I saw blind people exploring the city freely and
>>>> independently using their white canes and guide dogs. I saw them
>>>> reading
>>>> Braille the same way I use to read print.
>>>> I took part , with them, in advocating with our Congress and Senate for
>>>> laws
>>>> that could really help Blind people.
>>>> I was more impressed than I was when one of my Lunar Rovers was used on
>>>> the
>>>> Moon.
>>>> I came back like a man with his hair on fire. I worked to strengthen
>>>> our
>>>> chapter so much that we grew from only 15 members to 203 members in one
>>>> year. So many members that we had to split the chapter and form a new
>>>> one
>>>> in the next county.
>>>> I became the Chapter President and we took on the transportation issue
>>>> as
>>>> our chapter project.
>>>> We lobbied our county commissioners for more funding and got a new
>>>> local
>>>> gas
>>>> tax passed to fund it over allot of opposition from the conservative
>>>> Right
>>>> Wing.
>>>>
>>>> I was appointed to serve on 3 boards that oversee transit services in
>>>> our
>>>> area.
>>>> Our transit got better and finally good enough that more people could
>>>> use
>>>> it
>>>> to get to work and all of the other things that we must do to live.
>>>> Finally, a transit company asked me to come to work for them and I did.
>>>> That is what I am still doing today. Next month, I will be going to
>>>> Washington again to take part in our annual lobbying of the Congress on
>>>> the
>>>> behalf of All Blind persons in the U.S. Maybe this why we have it
>>>> better
>>>> here than you do in the U.K.
>>>> We are politically active and speak up for ourselves.
>>>> Maybe this is what the Blind of the U.K. need to do to get some respect
>>>> and
>>>> some services.
>>>> If we can help, just ask.
>>>>
>>>> I hope that I have not bored you to death with this, but I thought you
>>>> should know something about me and as you don't know me, I thought I
>>>> should
>>>> go first. I look forward to hearing about you and your life. I believe
>>>> that
>>>> we all have a story to tell and much we can teach as well as learn from
>>>> each
>>>> other.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely, Your friend across the pond.
>>>>
>>>> David Evans, NFBF
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of helene ryles
>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 9:45 AM
>>>> To: nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] UK Vision Strategy
>>>>
>>>> Thanks David and Kenneth for your responses. Unfortunately there
>>>> really
>>>> isn't anything like NFB, that I know of. We don't even have a national
>>>> rehabilitation centre any more. We used to have one at Torquey. I
>>>> don't
>>>> think it was ever as good as the NFB ones but it was the only thing we
>>>> had,
>>>> but it got closed down. Now you are dependant on social services and
>>>> that
>>>> varies. In Birmingham there is a rehabilitation centre. It's not bad
>>>> and
>>>> I
>>>> found them very supportive as I'd just left my flatmates and didn't
>>>> have
>>>> a
>>>> proper place of my own. Just my friend's sofa. It isn't at all like
>>>> the
>>>> NFB ones though. They don't do training under blind folds. They don't
>>>> have
>>>> any braille displays or internets. They teach you individual routes. I
>>>> didn't even know there was a differant way to teach mobility before I
>>>> looked
>>>> at the NFB website. In some area's there just isn't anything.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately RNIB and guide dog association seem to want to do away
>>>> with
>>>> national residentual centres in favor of local ones. I trained with
>>>> Jilli
>>>> at a residentual center at Lemmington spa. Just being in a drug free
>>>> environment did me a world of good and after getting Jilli I left that
>>>> sort
>>>> of life style behind which I may not have done if I'd been trained at
>>>> the
>>>> kind of environment I was living in at the time.
>>>>
>>>> I will totally agree that USA does seem forward where disabilities are
>>>> concerned. Not just with Blindness but with Deafness as well. In fact
>>>> I'm
>>>> learing things that are happening in my own country affecting the Deaf
>>>> from
>>>> a USA message board.
>>>>
>>>> The problem is there is a limit as to what 1 person can do, especially
>>>> if
>>>> that one person isn't particularly sociable and in my case being
>>>> legally
>>>> blind is definately the lesser of my various disabilities. I'm sure
>>>> there
>>>> are other independant blind people in UK. They used to read their
>>>> letters
>>>> in New Beacon (RNIB magazine) but they seem to have gone quiet lately
>>>> so
>>>> wether they've simply given up or formed another group that I'm not
>>>> aware
>>>> of, I really don't know. They aren't reachable via the internet. I've
>>>> looked.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks again for your support,
>>>> Helene Ryles.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------
>>>> Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! for
>>>> Good
>>>>
>>>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>>>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.11/1201 - Release Date:
>>>> 12/28/2007
>>>> 11:51 AM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> No virus found in this outgoing message.
>>>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>>> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.11/1201 - Release Date:
>>>> 12/28/2007
>>>> 11:51 AM
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfb-talk mailing list
>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.0/1216 - Release Date: 1/9/2008
>> 10:16 AM
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
More information about the nfb-talk
mailing list