The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation (MDBF) is a family foundation with a goal to help people in the Triangle region live better lives and realize their potential through the Arts, Arts Education, and Student Academic Success. The foundation's grantmaking goal is to help nonprofits working in these areas build their organizational capacity and effectiveness in ways that lead to long-term sustainability. To support organizations' ability to build and strengthen capacity, we make operating support grants that provide flexible funding that nonprofits can use as needed to achieve their missions. We offer a multiyear grant and a one-year grant, depending on whether the organization has received funding from MDBF in the previous 5 years. See below for more detail.

Because our interest is sustainability, we want to understand nonprofit organizations' operating goals and strategies aimed at building and strengthening capacity. Our funding decisions center on an organization's internal operating goals, strategies, and implementation plans. While our focus is on supporting long-term organizational sustainability, we do take programming strength into consideration to ensure alignment with our three focus areas: the Arts, Arts Education, and Student Academic Success. Please read the funding descriptions for our three focus areas to learn more about specific goals and eligibility requirements.

Applications are assessed on the following criteria for advancement in the review process:

• Relevance of the organization's operating goal(s) on organizational effectiveness and long-term sustainability.
• Significance and immediacy of the organization's pivotal moment. Why now? Why is this particular moment the time to focus on the operating goal(s)?
• The organization's capacity to achieve its goal and feasibility for implementation.
• The organization's distinct approach and role in the Arts, Arts Education or Student Academic Success landscape in its county or the Triangle region.
• The organization's strength of programming and alignment with the foundation's focus areas in the Arts, Arts Education, or Student Academic Success.
• Consideration of the organization's current life stage in the nonprofit life cycle.

What We Mean by Pivotal Moments

We define pivotal moments as times of inflection, when organizations are in moments of growth, transition, or opportunity, and where there is an immediate need to address organizational effectiveness to support long-term sustainability.

Examples:

• The organization has developed or expects to develop a strategic plan that includes a goal to build the infrastructure that supports organizational effectiveness, such as board development, diversification of resources, and strong financial management practices.
• The organization has faced a critical juncture and the board and staff have committed to undertake a renewal in a determined and well-planned manner.
• The organization is experiencing increased demand for an existing program because it has been demonstrably effective and needs to sustainably add staff to manage the growth.

Organization Life Stage

We also consider nonprofits' life stage in assessing the application because organizations have different needs at different points in their life cycle. With credit to "Nonprofit Life Stages and Why They Matter" by Paula Manley, we focus on developing and established organizations. From our experience, very early start-up initiatives and newer organizations tend to be less competitive in our new grantmaking approach. However, we are available to talk with you and learn more about the organization.

The pre-application advising call and initial application will ask a few questions that help staff identify an organization's life stage. We provide brief descriptions below to indicate how we are thinking about organizational life stages.

Developing Organizations typically have existed for 2-5 years, are addressing a clear unmet need or opportunity, have strategic goals, and have begun offering programming.

Organizations at this stage may have limited or no board of directors with staff who are primarily volunteers. Or, their boards may have expanded beyond "friends and family" and are beginning to focus more on governance and less on day-to-day operations. Paid staffing is minimal, typically only an Executive Director and perhaps one or two program staff.

Funding sources are likely not diversified at this stage of development, but the organization may be starting to formalize financial management, volunteer management, program evaluation, fundraising, board development, marketing, and strategic planning as they grow.

Established Organizations are more mature and stable; programs/services are solid and well-recognized with strong and effective leadership. Paid program and administrative staff are in place and the board's focus is primarily policy and oversight. Organizational processes are developed. Revenue sources are more diversified. These organizations may have a well-demonstrated model and data that shows outcomes or is currently executing a plan for evaluation, continuous learning, and improvement.

Funding Opportunities

MDBF makes operating support grants to show our commitment to providing resources that empower nonprofit organizations to proactively build momentum, stay curious and creative, and shape Triangle communities into being the best places to live, work, learn, and play.

We will award two types of general operating support grants each year:

• Multiyear Grants: Three-year grants, available to organizations that MDBF has supported in the past five years, ensuring grantees have choices in how to address their unique needs, which may change over time.
• One-year Grants: Short-term funding as a pathway to get to know organizations that we haven't yet funded and to continue our longstanding history of supporting emerging nonprofits with potential for big impact.

Multiyear Grants

Each year, we will award 5-7 general operating support grants to nonprofit organizations that further our grantmaking goals. Grant amounts range from $15,000 - $50,000 a year for each organization. MDBF has a finite budget and may not be able to fund the full amount requested. If your application moves forward, MDBF staff will work with your organization to determine the actual requested amount. Please know that there is no penalty for requesting the maximum amount at the LOI stage.

Multiyear grants are only available to organizations that MDBF has funded in the previous five years. Both developing nonprofits and established organizations are eligible for these grants. All organizations must have a primary focus on the Arts, Arts Education or Student Academic Success. Organizations must be located in and main programming must take place in Chatham, Durham, Orange, and/or Wake Counties, NC.

One-Year Grants

One-year grants are available to organizations that have not received an MDBF grant in the past five years or have never received a grant from us. Both developing nonprofits and established organizations are eligible for these grants. All organizations must have a primary focus on the Arts, Arts Education or Student Academic Success. Organizations must be located in and main programming must take place in Chatham, Durham, Orange, and/or Wake Counties, NC.