Grantmaking

“To give away money is an easy matter and in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large, and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter.” ARISTOTLE

The selection process of the Turkish Philanthropic Fund is open to all nonprofit organizations, without political or religious affiliations, from all regions of the country. In 2008, TPF identified 4 areas that are in need of support in Turkey:

Education  [projects that improve youth’s academic skills, prepare them for the world of work, successful transition to employment, and self-sufficiency; and help them avoid high-risk behaviors.]
Environmental Sustainability [projects that empower local communities to restore and preserve the environment and encourage sustainable development.]
Women's Empowerment (organizations that work to ensure that local and central democratic structures fully include the leadership of women and that women gain access to the resources, information and decision making authority they need for full civic participation. ]
Arts & Culture [projects that promote community well-being development through promoting cultural diversity.]

TPF’s General Grantmaking Criteria

A key quality of the TPF is the flexibility that it offers to donors through component funds (e.g. donor-advised funds), which may make non-competitive grants to approved organizations identified by the donor. At the same time, TPF has the responsibility to re-grant any unrestricted funds in the most effective way and to educate its donors in effective and strategic philanthropy. Competitive grants are particularly important in the growth of the nonprofit sector in Turkey. Therefore, TPF’s grant making philosophy reflects the values and vision of the organization. Following are the criteria in selecting grantees:

1. Demonstrates effectiveness through measurable outcomes. In an effort to achieve large-scale and long-term positive impact on society, TPF would like to evaluate the effectiveness of its grantees through objective, measurable outcomes. In addition to allowing TPF to support the most effective programs, this approach will also encourage potential grantees to measure and analyze their outcomes – a useful internal tool in program management.Further work with local experts will be necessary to determine the outcome metrics that are most relevant to each of the issue areas. For example, for job training programs, TPF may want to see its grantees track and report the percentage of students who complete the program (graduation rate), find a job afterwards (employment rate), and retain their job for a certain period of time (retention rate). We would also like to see other positive changes that the program brought about for the participants, such as increase in income.

2. Scalability and Replicability of successful models for maximum impact. TPFwould like to support organizations with programs that have the potential to expand beyond their current boundaries. When proven successful, the programs should have the potential to be scaled to serve additional people and/or to be replicated by other organizations in other parts of the country.

3. Financial transparency and accountability, as well as cost effectiveness. Important criteria in selecting organizations will be their financial reliability and accountability. Audited financial statements and project budgets will constitute an important part of the applications submitted by prospective grantees. In considering and comparing various programs, “cost per program participant” will also be an important metric. While there is no single cost figure that organizations need to meet, to the extent that the populations served, locations, and program components are similar, the lower cost programs will be preferred.

4. Potential to affect systemic change as opposed addressing symptoms. TPF wishes to fund organizations and projects that will create long-lasting change to social problems rather than addressing short-term issues. As a part of their application to TPF, each potential grantee will need to explain the need for their programs, how they are addressing it, and their long-term “change theory.”

5. Sustainability and Leverage. TPF would like to fund programs that have a variety of funding sources and do not rely solely on a grant from TPF but rather use it as a leverage to obtain other, large sources of funding. Once the TPF support is gone, the program must be able to survive on its own, either through government adoption or community/private support.

6. Funding the gaps. TPF would prefer to fund the gaps between the priority needs of the community and the services and funding provided by the state or other nongovernmental organizations. In addition,

7. Participatory and inclusive.TPF would like fund organizations and programs that are community-oriented, i.e. the communities must be involved in assessing needs, determining priorities, designing the interventions, implementing the program, and evaluating its impact