fundinggrantphilanthropyfundraising
How do regional community foundations fund splash pads?
Quick answer
Community foundations (Boston, Cleveland, Silicon Valley, Greater Houston, Austin, etc.) hold donor-advised funds and discretionary grants that frequently fund parks. Splash pad applications work best when local donors are encouraged to recommend grants to your project through their donor-advised funds.
Community foundations are place-based public charities that pool donor contributions and re-grant locally. Every metropolitan area has at least one — the Cleveland Foundation (the first, est. 1914), Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and roughly 800 others nationally. They fund splash pads in two main ways. Discretionary grants from the foundation's unrestricted funds typically range $5K-$100K; applications go through standard grant cycles 1-4 times yearly. Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are the bigger opportunity: wealthy local donors hold DAFs at the community foundation and 'recommend' grants to specific 501(c)(3)s. Identify donors who care about parks (often through your Friends-of-Parks board or capital-campaign committee), make sure your project is registered with the foundation, then have the donors recommend grants through their DAFs. Single DAF grants frequently exceed $25,000. Search 'community foundation [your county]' to find yours; Council on Foundations runs a directory at cof.org.