It is never easy to decide which organizations to fund and how to distribute the funds fairly. Board members often need technical support to make informed decisions, and need it in a timely fashion as deadlines loom.

Assuming that your foundation receives hundreds (if not thousands) of requests every year from eager and persistent fundraisers, my guess is that it becomes increasingly difficult to screen requests and find the "right" or "best" organizations to support. Not only is this process labor intensive, but it can also infringe on your capacity to engage in perhaps the most rewarding aspect of grant making—distributing funds to those who most need and deserve it.

Despite its inherent complexities, grant making has come in for some heavy (and in some cases appropriate) criticism that the process is slow and unfair. Such claims are even being made now following the charitable wave of September 11 contributions. In most cases, we know the claims are distorted. However, it is true that many foundations need support in making decisions about which organizations to fund.

The big question is: What can your foundation do to better ensure a fair and manageable system for giving? We ask you to consider securing Laurence A. Pagnoni & Associates, Inc. (LAPA) for technical support and/or outsourcing to make the job of the grants review committee easier and more efficient.

Our technical support for your grant making will strengthen your foundation’s giving strategy and re-energize an already good one. We suggest that you look at LAPA’s technical services in order to reach more meaningful grant making outcomes

Key aspects of LAPA’s fund management for grantmakers

LAPA works with foundations or Grantmakers to accomplish the following:

Work with your grants review committee or board members. We have worked with hundreds of non-profit 501 (C) 3 charities and foundations. We are sensitive to the often-overstretched commitment of board members and volunteers. We will work with your board members or selection committee to refine or develop funding criteria and offer counsel for the final selection of organizations to fund.
Research the “field of service." We monitor philanthropic giving trends through various non-profit and business resources including the Foundation Center, the American Association of Fundraising Council, Council on Foundations, and others. We research interests for foundations and examine giving trends in a particular "field of service." We check for duplicative services and heavily funded service areas to better inform foundations of where their funds would have the most meaningful impact. We use the latest research technology to make the screening of requests most accurate.
Screen proposals and maintain correspondence. We will work with your existing staff or volunteers to screen proposals, letters of inquiry, invitations for involvement, etc. This includes reading proposals, maintaining correspondence, and qualifying prospects according to the funding criteria established by your foundation. (Since we often also work directly with many local nonprofits, we realize that there may be a conflict of interest. We guarantee full disclosure to ensure a fair screening process for all candidates.)
Gather information about qualified prospects. We will gather all salient information concerning a qualified candidate. We will also make site visits, interview funding prospects and make recommendations to the review committee or board members.

The fees for this service vary according to the level of service required.We often look at the range of giving and your budget size to determine an appropriate fee. Our retainer rates are the most affordable the longer we are hired.