I found my organization pretty quickly - I've been riding horses since I was ten years old ("Mom! I'm going to be a jockey!"), and I have seen how cruelly people can treat these beautiful animals that would lay down their lives for the right owner, so working with a horse rescue was a natural fit.
I googled horse rescues in Texas, and Habitat for Horses and Lone Star Equine Rescue were the first two that popped up. I found out pretty quickly that Habitat for Horses and Lone Star had merged, so it was an easy choice. I have been in e-mail contact with the person who currently writes their grants, and they seem excited and willing to work with me. Hopefully we'll be able to carve out a time to talk on the phone this weekend.
Finding a potential funding source was a little more difficult. I used the Foundation Finder site to start my search, but there were over 350 results just in Austin. I decided to try my own path to finding some possible sources. I decided to try looking up other equine non-profits to see if I could find information about their sponsors/donors. It seems to be pretty common practice for non-profits to list on their website their funding sources. From there I located the EQUUS Foundation, a community foundation devoted entirely to supporting equine-related grants and projects. This is the foundation I will be doing my presentation on for class on Wednesday. Hopefully I can figure out this voice-over powerpoint thing!
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Heather, I think you are lucky (and smart) to be able to follow up on something you are truly passionate about. Surely your experience in this course is going to go much deeper than if you had simply picked a generic organization from a list and began filling out forms. I can't wait to see how much success you have this semester.
ReplyDeleteHeather, Good call on looking to other like organizations to find a foundation. The number of foundations out there is both encouraging and daunting. I think seeing where other non-profits have been successful is definately a good place to start. I look forward to tracking your progress with Habitat for Horses.
ReplyDeleteI encountered a similar result when I started looking at funding sources. The sheer number that often come up in an initial search can seem daunting. However, I find it hopeful that there are so many organizations who are interested in funding so many different causes. I can see how it will take some serious time and attention to find that funding match that makes the most sense given the problem you're trying to solve. Looking forward to seeing how your proposals progress.
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