Government and philanthropy often share common goals and a capacity to enable wide-scale systems change. When they work together, they make ideal partners—philanthropy contributing nimbleness and a spirit of experimentation, while government commands the resources to sustain what works. In Los Angeles County, such collaboration was catalyzed by the murder of an 8-year-old boy in 2013. This tragic death prompted the Board of Supervisors to empanel a commission of notable child welfare experts to examine systemic failures.
Since then, an increasingly durable and agile spirit of collaboration in L.A. has fueled an ability to test new ideas, assess their effectiveness, and bring them to scale in ways that significantly impact child welfare reform. As a result of these efforts, the previously siloed and reactive child protection system is moving toward becoming a more integrated countywide child well-being system. Cultivating Hope Through Action: How Public-Private Partnerships Are Strengthening Child and Family Well-Being in L.A. County, is a report chronicling the work that drove increased collaboration and funding in L.A. County. It also addresses ways to grow similar collaborative ecosystems for child and family well-being in the future. Read the executive summary and full report below.
Courtesy of: River LA
Photo by: Daniel Postaer
The Parsons Foundation’s two-stage application begins with a Letter of Inquiry (LOI). Instructions for submitting an LOI through our online application system can be found on our “How to Apply” page. The Foundation accepts LOIs on a rolling basis (daily, no deadlines), and applicants can expect a response within approximately six weeks. Due to funding constraints, we are able to consider only one request per organization annually. If your request is declined, your organization will be eligible to apply again 12 months after the date of your declination.
If invited to submit a full proposal, applicants will receive instructions to access the online application and will have 60 days to complete their request. Once submitted, a full proposal may take up to six months to review before a funding decision is returned. Applications are generally considered in date order of receipt.
During our review, Foundation staff will reach out to request additional information and arrange follow-up conversations as needed. Review of your full proposal will likely include a site visit with a program officer, as we believe that this is an important way for us to better understand your work.
Our program officers are generalists, broadly knowledgeable about the nonprofit sector, and we have found that our work benefits from fresh and different perspectives. As a result, the program officer assigned to a nonprofit may change over time, and a program officer who works with an organization on one grant may not be involved in a future request.
If your request is approved, our “Acceptance of Grant” document will outline the terms of your grant and any reporting requirements. Additional information and instructions for submitting grant reports can be found on our “Reporting Guidelines” page.
Reports are due at the end of your grant period and provide a means to share progress, learnings, and feedback with the Foundation. Through your reports, we hope to develop a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing your organization (and perhaps the larger nonprofit community), as well as continually adapt our practices to be more responsive to the needs of those we support.
Grantees must submit their final reports and be at the end of their grant period in order to apply for consideration of a new request.
The Parsons Foundation values transparency and responsiveness in our grant application process. Our review process is rigorous, and we strive to be accessible and helpful at every stage. If you have questions that are not answered on our website, you are always welcome to call the Foundation at 213.362.7600 and speak with a program officer.