Doug, you wrote in your response to my 'name your own price' approach -
<One might say, Whatever you can afford to pay is the right amount!> Yep, it is an extension of the "Whoever comes is the right person" - I want to make it as easy as possible for the 'right people' to be able to get there. It is also operating out of a theory of abundance. <Lisa, do you have any unusual sources of funding you have seen in Community work?> In my world, the 'unusual' source of funding I describe above is usual. I think just like 'selling' Open Space, it can be hard to sell funding for these kinds of things before people themselves see a need, and it does not usually make sense to 'sell' based on a process or a tool you will use. So as it seems to work best when we do this work for specific reasons, the only thing I can think of is to seek specific funding for particular issues/groups from funders who fund just exactly that sort of thing - just as NGOs research grants and say 'here is a proposal that fits into your funding criteria'. Perhaps there are some funders who will understand the value of funding dialogue and democracy - I know that several foundations are funding this sort of thing around the world - as a tool for getting things done (like engaging a community in identifying issues and opportunities in their region, to tell potential candidates before an election in an emerging democracy country). Funders typically need a lot of advance notice (to fit things into a pre-set funding calendar). So perhaps it like funding anything - researching who funds something similar, when their funding cycles are, what are the criteria for funding and how does your event fit into that, and so on. There are announce lists (I can't recall their names) you can get on to receive weekly reports of funding opportunities - though be careful, because a number of them are just for projects in a certain country (like the USA). Then you just look at those over time (and they link you to other funding sites and keep doing your research) to see where there is a fit. This can be a many-hours-per-week job. I think grant writing and seeking sponsors is a special art. You might link with an experienced grant writer-researcher to let them know the thing you are interested in, have them research and write grants (with you) and if you cannot pay them a salary as they go, perhaps give them a percentage / build in a line item cost to pay them for the grants you get / the work they have done - though that last approach would mean that this individual has another source of income for themselves while you are all waiting for the funding to come. Otherwise, I think the source of financial support is often from funders who have experienced, seen and felt OS for themselves. I think it is challenging to come from outside the system to try to sell / convince about something rather than have someone within the system (the communities you wish to serve) identifying their interest or need. So I would think that this seeking perhaps should be done in partnership with the people you are trying to serve. Not a direct answer to your 'unusual source' question, just some random thoughts... Ted and Michael H - you have created events where you have invited funders - what sorts of results or actions from funders or funder-participant-group partnerships have come of these? Perhaps that would inform our conversation here... Lisa ___________________________ L i s a H e f t Consultant, Facilitator, Educator O p e n i n g S p a c e <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
