The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee announces its fourth round of disaster grants from its Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund and Tennessee Emergency Response Fund totaling $726,000 to nine local organizations providing flood relief and restoration services. To date, *$2.1 million in flood relief grants have been awarded to more than 60 organizations from The Community Foundation’s two disaster funds.

On July 12, The Community Foundation awarded the following flood relief grants from its disaster funds:

* Centerville Church of Christ has received a $20,000 Tennessee Emergency Response Fund grant to continue providing aid to residents of Hickman County affected by the flood. Approximately 25-30 victims per week are receiving services including clothing, building supplies, and appliances.

* Hands On Nashville has received two grants, one from each fund, totaling $250,000 to assist in the rebuilding of approximately 75 flood damaged homes with volunteer labor by November 2010. In coordination with Rebuilding Together, Hands On Nashville will work with homeowners through the We Are Home program, and then assess homes, determining the scope of work, requisite supplies and volunteer duties, providing volunteer leaders, general volunteers, and building supplies. Rebuilding Together will provide skilled project management and coordinate skilled labor and building supplies needed.

* The Housing Fund has received two grants, one from each fund, totaling $300,000 to provide up to three months of rental assistance to 250 households who do not have sufficient resources to carry the burden of mortgage and rent payments after insurance and FEMA.

* Hull-York Lakeland Resource Conservation and Development has received grants totaling $15,000 from the Tennessee Emergency Response Fund to support the local cost sharing required by the federal government to assist in clean-up of debris and repair work for damaged roads and infrastructure, in coordination with the USDA, for 85 different sites in Clay, Jackson and Macon counties.

* Legal Aid Society has received two grants, one from each fund, totaling $75,000 to provide direct legal assistance and counseling to Middle Tennessee victims dealing with civil legal issues in the aftermath of the flood through walk-in legal clinics and direct representation to low-income and elderly victims.

* Mission Discovery has received a $36,000 Tennessee Emergency Response Fund grant to provide materials for home repair assistance for approximately 40 families in Davidson and Sumner counties. Home repair assistance will be provided to the elderly and families who have do not have flood insurance and have not received FEMA aid.

* North Nashville Flood Relief Group received a $10,000 Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund grant to continue its work to help flood victims in North Nashville.

* Southeast Nashville Flood Relief Team received a $10,000 Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund grant to continue its work to help flood victims in Southeast Nashville.

* West Nashville Flood Recovery Network received a $10,000 Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund grant to continue its work to help flood victims in West Nashville.

Click here to get more information on flood relief grants  distributed from The Community Foundation’s two disaster funds.

Middle Tennessee organizations can apply for Community Foundation flood relief grants on a rolling basis at http://www.cfmt.org/floodrelief/nonprofit/.

The Nashville Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC) has 1-2 offices in a ranch-style brick home available for sublet to a non-profit organization. The house is located at the intersection of Harding Place & Danby drive, between I-65 and Nolensville Road (4732 W. Longdale Drive, Nashville, TN 37211). The primary office space is approximately 14” x 16” and the second room is just a bit smaller. The $330 per room rental cost includes access to a full kitchen, large front room (for meetings), bathroom and free parking (small lot next to house for staff and larger church lot next door for guests). All utilities and monthly cleaning fee is included (except phone/DSL). The space is available starting September 1. NCRC is seeking organizations who share our vision for peace and non-violence and preferably engaging in similar work. Please call Tamara Ambar Losel or Michele Flynn at 333-8400 if interested.

Big Brothers of Nashville, a near-100-year-old agency that serves low-income families in Davidson County with rental, food, and utility assistance is looking to relocate its offices, ideally, to share space with another non-profit for a common conference room and break rooms or to a low-rent, Nashville city-limits location. Our lease is open with our landlord as we have been displaced due to the May 1 flood. For more information about Big Brothers of Nashville, visit www.bigbrothersofnashville.org or please call 310-8344 to speak with Jennifer Chalos.

Humana is calling on all charity organizations in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Maury, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties to apply for a one-time, $100,000 grant for the first Humana Communities Benefit in Nashville charitable grant program.

The program – designed to give local not-for-profits the opportunity to receive a one-time infusion of funding to create new programs or enhance ongoing activities – is open to 501(c)(3) organizations located in the Nashville area that address the health, education and communities of local residents.

About Humana Communities Benefit

Humana Communities Benefit is designed to give local, nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organizations the opportunity to receive a one-time grant to create new programs or enhance ongoing activities in the areas of:

· Childhood health and education: Projects or initiatives that seek to improve health and academic achievement of children through the educational landscape

· Family wellness and active lifestyles: Projects or initiatives that strengthen the health of family through physical, social, mental, emotional, or environmental support

· Health literacy for diverse populations and seniors: Projects or initiatives dedicated to improving people’s ability to access, understand, and use health information, especially low-income populations, and seniors

Questions regarding the Humana Communities Benefit program in Nashville may be directed to Humana at 615-221-2155, press 1 and then enter extension 1030660 or hcbnashville@humana.com. All organizations based in the 10-county area interested in applying for the grant are encouraged to visit www.humana.com/HCB to download a copy of this year’s application and review program criteria. To be considered, organizations must submit an application by Friday, August 6, 2010.

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.3 million medical members and approximately 7.2 million specialty-benefit members.

Humana is a full-service benefits solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals.

Over its 49-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.

The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University has announced a call for applications for the 2010 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. The first-place prize is $100,000, thanks to a generous grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation. The second-place award is $7,500, and the third-place prize is $5,000. The award application is now available. The submission deadline is July 1. (If you have questions about the application or award process, please contact Jamie at award@druckerinstitute.com). All IRS-certified 501(c)3 organizations are eligible to apply. Administered annually since 1991, the Drucker Award is granted to a social-sector organization that demonstrates Drucker’s definition of innovation-change that creates a new dimension of performance. In addition, the judges look for programs that are highly effective and that have made a difference in the lives of the people they serve. Last year, the Drucker Award application was revamped so that, in addition to collecting information from nonprofit organizations seeking the prize, it would provide them with some of Peter Drucker’s key insights on innovation.

INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE AT THE NATIONAL MS SOCIETY

MID SOUTH CHAPTER

Position: Internship in Development Department

Internship Title: Development Assistant

Duties: Work independently and with Development Department team on donor-based campaigns. Duties include but are not limited to assisting with overall development, management, fundraising, promotions, monitoring of budgets & logistics, developing relationships with donors, enhancing contribution averages and helping to benefit the National MS Society. Also required to participate in other events and programs associated with the Chapter.

Start Date: June 2010

Hours/Week: 15-20 hours per week (schedule is negotiable)

Duration: June, July, & August depending on class schedule

Qualifications: Applicant must be detail oriented, flexible, cheerful, professional, enthusiastic, self-motivated, well-organized and possess solid oral and written skills. Requires good project management skills, the ability to set priorities and work independently toward time specific goals. The position requires proficiency in commonly-used basic office software systems (database, word publishing, spreadsheets and desk-top publishing).

Location: Most work will take place in our office (4219 Hillsboro Rd., Nashville, TN 37215.). A portion of this job requires work outside the office.

What is the National MS Society? A non-profit voluntary health organization. Our mission is to mobilize people and resources to drive research for a cure and address the challenges of everyone affected by MS. Our vision is a world free of MS.

Compensation: We will provide exceptional exposure to national & local area businesses and leaders and have many in-kind incentives.

Contact Information:

Megan Wingo

Development Coordinator

4219 Hillsboro Road, Suite 306

Nashville, TN 37215

Phone: 615-690-5349

Fax: 615-269-9470

Email: Megan.Wingo@msmidsouth.org

Company website: www.msmidsouth.org

How to Apply: Please forward resume via email or fax with cover letter to the attention of Megan Wingo.

 One of the huge takeaways of the day came from keynote, Dan Pallotta. Dan brought forth many new ideas for our sector to explore. Anyone in the room could see that there were light bulbs going off in brains throughout the Curb Event Center during his speech. Some of his major points included:

 1. “Feel-Good” Benefits of a Nonprofit Career are Overrated

Pallotta argues that medical researchers, book publishers, and environmentally conscious companies all feel they are giving back to the world and are not asked to sacrifice quality of life. Nonprofit employees are often working in typical office environments and are not the volunteers on the front lines helping the community. Therefore, the majority of nonprofit employees are not getting the feel-good benefits of daily service. In addition, board members and funders have considerable power over nonprofits, while those individuals have for-profit employment. They are also getting to experience service without sacrificing their income.

 2. “Overhead Costs” are Crucial to Fulfilling Mission

Culturally, we have been trained to ask the question, “What percentage of my donation goes directly to the underserved?” Pallotta argues that this is the wrong question to ask and is perpetuated daily by the media, state attorney generals and organizations like Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau. He states in a blog post, “The next time you’re pressured to keep overhead low when you know it will compromise effectiveness, explain that doing so is a violation of your conscience, your ethics and yourself.”

 3. People Want to Be Asked to Do the Most, Not the Least They Can Do

Why is the person who spends 99% of their time building personal wealth and 1% of their time on a charity board called a philanthropist and individuals that give 100% of their time to building a service organization are called “staff”? Pallotta believes that our definition of philanthropist is too limited to the wealthy class, and therefore, small donors never aspire to be more. We are making giving to charity easier every day, but what we need to do is ask donors to do more than send a text message to give a small amount.

What Are the Next Steps?

CNM would like to explore with the Middle Tennessee community how we further this discussion. What do you think are the next steps in this conversation? Should we even be having this conversation? Tell us what you think in the comments section! We promise to put your ideas into action.

Following the flood disaster, she reached out on the CNM blog and offered help to the Middle Tennessee nonprofit community. As a result of Katrina, Eileen has vast experience working with FEMA on disaster relief  and she wanted to share what she has learned with our community. Click here to read “Through the Looking Glass: Working in a Topsy Turvey World,” an article she put together about how to rebound when your service area has been deemed a “national disaster.”

The Junior Chamber has teamed up with nearly a dozen other young professional groups, including CNM’s Young Nonprofit Professionals Group, to host the forum, which will take place at Lipscomb University.

Please click here for a flyer with registration information.