The County of Kern and the City of Bakersfield know that many local charitable organizations have incurred additional expenses in responding to greatly increased community needs, at the same time that they have experienced significantly reduced funding streams due to the COVID-19 crisis.
To help our hard-working nonprofits weather this unprecedented storm, the City and County have partnered to make grant funding available to support agencies that:
Have been financially impacted by COVID-19, and
Have not received funding from the Kern Recovers Forgivable Loan Program. (Agencies that have received other Federal or State support might still be eligible to apply.)
Funding for the Kern Recovers Nonprofit Grant Program comes from Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Relief Funds allocated by the Bakersfield City Council and Kern County Board of Supervisors.
Individual grant awards are $5,000, $10,000, or $20,000.
To help potential applicants navigate the application process, Kern Community Foundation will host an hour-long Informational Webinar on Monday, Oct. 5, at 12 Noon.
With participation from knowledgeable City and County Personnel, the webinar will address:
General information about the application process and qualifying criteria;
Detailed information about required documentation;
Testimonials from recent recipients of this funding;
Information about additional technical assistance opportunities Kern Community Foundation will offer at least through the end of this year as part of our Nonprofit Strengthening Initiative;
Q&A.
The application period for this grant program has been extended to Thursday, October 15, after which all applications will be reviewed for funding and grant awards will be made.
To RSVP for this webinar:
Please write to info@kernfoundation.org by NOON Friday, Oct. 2nd. A Zoom link will be shared only with those who RSVP. Please include your Name, Title, and the Agency you represent.
In response to the urgent needs expressed by Kern’s nonprofit community in a recent survey conducted by Kern Community Foundation, we are offering a Nonprofit Strengthening Webinar Training Series called “Growing Resiliency”to help sustain our nonprofit partners through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
The second installment of our series introduces a unique capital access program chaired by the California State Treasurer that encourages banks and other financial institutions to make loans to small businesses (including nonprofits) that might otherwise have difficulty obtaining financing.
Since 1994, CalCAP has been furthering community and economic development in a number of ways:
1) CalCAP helps small businesses, including nonprofits, that create jobs and improve the economy. The program insures loans for land acquisition; construction or renovation of buildings; start-up costs; capital projects; collateral support; and working capital.
2) Run by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA),CalCAP offers specialty financing programs targeted toward creating more charging stations for electric vehicles; helping at-risk small businesses with federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance; assisting small businesses and property owners with seismic retrofit financing; and enabling small fleet owners to purchase trucks that are California-emissions compliant.
3) It helps lenders by providing up to 100% coverage on certain loan defaults. Lenders that participate in CalCAP have available to them a proven mechanism to help meet the financing needs of California’s small businesses.
Janae Davis, CPCFA Deputy Executive Director, will share information on CalCAP for both potential borrowers and lenders–as the program is seeking to expand assistance to small businesses as well as its network of lending institutions in Kern County during these challenging times.
This hour-long webinar (taking place from 11 a.m. till Noon on Wednesday, Sept. 30) is FREE, but you must RSVP by close of business Friday, Sept. 25, by writing to Louis Medina, Director of Community Impact, at Louis@kernfoundation.org. Be sure to provide your name, title, and the name of your agency. A Zoom link will be sent to your e-mail address prior to the webinar.
For a combined 88 years, Foundation Center and GuideStar worked separately to provide the nonprofit sector with crucial information.
In 2019, the two organizations combined to become a new organization, Candid, which still powers GuideStar.org.
Candid has been very active in “pivoting” their services to assist nonprofits facing the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.
Click here or on the image to access a one-sheet that is literally FULL of FREE online resources for nonprofits, including a series of web-based trainings (No. 5 on the one-sheet) lasting through December 2020, and offered by Candid Learning. You need to create a Candid Learning account before you can register for these trainings, but it is free to do so.
In an effort to help our Nonprofit Partners keep online fundraising top of mind year round, today Give Big Kern Mascot Billy the Give Big Goat has launched a quarterly e-newsletter titled Billy’s Give B-i-i-i-g! Gazette, which will share tips and insights to help everyone stay on their fundraising A game, and plan for an even better Give Big Kern from year to year.
Highlights from the first issue include:
New trends in online fundraising since the COVID-19 crisis began, shared by GiveGab CEO & Co-Founder Charlie Mulligan; and
In response to the urgent needs expressed by Kern’s nonprofit community in a recent survey conducted by Kern Community Foundation, we are launching a Nonprofit Strengthening Webinar Training Series called “Growing Resiliency” to help sustain our nonprofit partners through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
The first in the series will take place from 11 a.m. till Noon on Wednesday, September 2, and feature a tour of grants.ca.gov, a brand-new website that is a convenient information hub on state grants and loans. Our presenter will be Shivani Bose-Varela, Project Manager for the CA Grants Portal with the California State Library. The California Grants Portal is a tremendous one-stop-shop destination for finding all grants and loans offered on a competitive or first-come basis by state agencies to qualifying applicants.
As an added bonus, Ms. Bose-Varela will also provide a tour of the State Library’s website, library.ca.gov, a great resource for many types of research.
This webinar is FREE, but you must RSVP by close of business Monday, August 31, by writing to Louis Medina, Director of Community Impact, at Louis@kernfoundation.org. Be sure to provide your name, title, and the name of your agency. A Zoom link will be sent to your e-mail address prior to the webinar.
Stay Tuned for more “Growing Resiliency” Training Announcements in the Coming Weeks and Months! Kern Community Foundation will continue to provide as many training resources as possible to meet our nonprofit partners’ resiliency and long-term sustainability needs during these trying times and beyond.
At the upcoming August 18 meeting of the Kern County Board of Supervisors, Kern Community Foundation will present our Program-to-Date Jumpstart Report to the Community, highlighting the tremendous success of Year One of this Fundraising Technical Assistance Grant (representing a TENFOLD increase in the Supervisors’ investment in local nonprofits–$11,000 turned into $118,978 of new nonprofit impact dollars from individual donors for participating agencies!) and the Progress of Year Two, which is well underway.
As our County Supervisors are Funding Partners in this Public-Private Partnership, together with the Foundation and Network for Good (NFG), they deserve to know that Kern County’s dollars are making a big difference in the fundraising health of Jumpstart participants.
There are plenty of data about Year One Cohort accomplishments as well as testimonials from them and Year Two Cohort participants in the report, as well as invaluable insights from our NFG partners.
Click on the graphic at left or here to read the full report, which is also included as part of the agenda for next week’s Board of Supervisors Meeting.
As “shelter in place” directives went into effect in mid-March, we have only been able to host one Philanthropy on Tap event this year, in February, featuring Junior League of Bakersfield.
The remaining events, featuring the following agencies, have been pushed back till 2021:
Southern Sierra Council Boy Scouts of America
Covenant Community Services
PathPoint
Helping Animals Live Tomorrow (H.A.L.T.) Rescue
Strength of Shadow (S.O.S.) Dog Rescue
Bakersfield Pregnancy Center
Be Finally Free
Due to the postponement of most 2020 Philanthropy on Tap events till 2021, the Foundation will not be accepting Philanthropy on Tap Visibility Grant applications this year. The application period usually lasts through the entire month of August.
We will most likely (barring a worsening of the current crisis) open up the Application for 2022 Philanthropy on Tap Nonprofit Showcase events in the summer of 2021. We ask for your understanding, knowing that we have taken these measures with the best interest of everyone’s safety and well-being in mind, and look forward to the day when we can once again lift our glasses in a toast to the great work of Kern County’s hard-working nonprofits.
Please continue to monitor announcements about Philanthropy on Tap and all other programs and services available through Kern Community Foundation on our website as well as our Facebook and Twitter feeds @kernfoundation. For more information, feel free to reach out to Louis Medina, Director of Community Impact, at 661.616.2603 or Louis@kernfoundation.org.
Are you a passionate problem solver ready to step up and meet the moment through a year of service?
As part of the #CaliforniansForAll initiative, California Volunteers, Office of the Governor, is recruiting for AmeriCorps VISTA members to strengthen the volunteer infrastructure of partnering organizations, including food banks and other nonprofits.
The State of California has launched a consolidated grant portal, grants.ca.gov, designed for nonprofits and local government agencies seeking grants and loans from state sources. The site was built by the California State Library with input from numerous stakeholders.
This is a new website that is still evolving, but it is definitely a wonderful grant research tool for our nonprofits. Kern Community Foundation encourages our nonprofit partners to check it out, especially the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section for starters.
We have also linked to it from our website: kernfoundation.org > KAN > Nonprofit Resources. Or just click here.
The County of Kern and the City of Bakersfield know that many local charitable organizations have incurred additional expenses in responding to greatly increased community needs, at the same time that they have experienced significantly reduced funding streams due to the COVID-19 crisis.
stations for electric vehicles; helping at-risk small businesses with federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance; assisting small businesses and property owners with seismic retrofit financing; and enabling small fleet owners to purchase trucks that are California-emissions compliant.
In response to the urgent needs expressed by Kern’s nonprofit community in a recent survey conducted by 
grants and loans. Our presenter will be Shivani Bose-Varela, Project Manager for the CA Grants Portal with the California State Library. The California Grants Portal is a tremendous one-stop-shop destination for finding all grants and loans offered on a competitive or first-come basis by state agencies to qualifying applicants.
Are you a passionate problem solver ready to step up and meet the moment through a year of service?
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