Use United Way to Support BDPA

Did you know that when you make your pledge to the United Way campaign you have a choice of where and how your donated funds will be used? Yes, that’s right! United Way agencies, throughout the United States, have options referred to as either Open Donor Choice, Donor Designated, Contributor Choice, or Specific Care. While the names are different, each is an option that allows the giver (you) to directly specify a 501(c)3 organization as the recipient of your donation.

We want you to choose the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF) as your tax-exempt organization, especially if you want your donation to support programs or services for any of our 45 local BDPA chapters.

BETF places funds donated via your local United Way in a restricted fund that is available only to support the education & technology programs of that chapter. In the upcoming United Way campaign, we encourage you to designate your donations to an organization that you are personally involved with. Ask your friends and family to do the same.

To do this, look carefully for the place on your United Way pledge form where you can write-in the BETF name and address information.


BDPA Education & Technology Foundation
4423 Lehigh Road, Suite 277
College Park, MD 20740
(513) 284-4968
email: unitedway[at]betf.org

Doing this will support BDPA education & technology programs in your chapter and around the country. Reap the rewards of supporting your chapter’s Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship program through funds raised via this simple effort.

Remember that your money, given locally, can work locally within your chapter; but only if you exercise this option when completing your Annual United Way pledge form. The option is probably the last on the pledge form and will have a blank line on which you may enter the name and complete address of the organization.

The BETF mission is to provide financial support for the education and technology programs BDPA at both the national and local level. Your generosity during this annual United Way (or CFC) campaign is one way we hope to complete our mission.

Please leave a comment if you have questions or if you plan to use United Way payroll deductions to support our fundraising efforts!

Public Welfare Foundation

Public Welfare Foundation Grants Program works with public and private entities, including nonprofit organizations and for-profit organizations to address human needs in disadvantaged communities, with strong emphasis on organizations that include service, advocacy and empowerment in their approach:

• service that remedies specific problems
  
• advocacy that addresses those problems in a systemic way through changes in public policy
  
• strategies to empower people in need to play leading roles in achieving those policy changes and in remedying specific problems

Public Welfare Foundation also looks for organizations that link their community and local work to other efforts to effect broader public policy change.

The Foundation provides both general support and project-specific grants. Although most grants cover a period of one year, the Foundation accepts requests for funding renewals and also makes multi-year grants. Grants for one-time purposes are also considered.

The Foundation makes a conscious effort to remain flexible so that it can respond to requests that address new, unusual, and immediate problems as they arise.

The Foundation does not accept requests to fund scholarships, graduate work, individuals, government projects, academic research or foreign study. Only when there is a close connection with their current work do they fund conferences, seminars or workshops, publications, video or media production projects, endowments, capital grants and equipment requests.

The Directors subscribe to and reaffirm the concept of a working Board, in which every member gives the necessary time and personal interest to maintain the high standards of the Foundation. It is Foundation policy that members of the board of directors make known any special interest or connection between themselves and a proposal under consideration. The director may then participate in the discussion, but may not vote, on the proposal. There is no prejudice against such proposals nor are they disqualified for this reason.

The average grant award is in the range of $25,000 thru $50,000.

Unless otherwise instructed please send all Letters of Inquiry and unsolicitd proposals VIA EMAIL to:

Public Welfare Foundation
Attn: Review Committee
1200 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009-4443
(202) 965-1800
e-mail: reviewcommittee@publicwelfare.org
I hope that this information on funding sources is useful to our BETF-Blog readers.

Grant Declination: CDW Foundation

CDW Foundation turned down the joint grant proposal submitted by BDPA Chicago and BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) in support of the chapter's Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) program. The declination letter read as follows:

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Dear Wayne:

Thank you for submitting your recent application to CDW regarding the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) Program. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with the support you seek. CDW has a very limited budget for charitable requests in each region where our offices are located. Because those funds are limited, it makes appropriating those funds especially difficult. CDW gives priority to those organizations that CDW has a history of supporting and to organizations our coworkers have expressed interest in supporting.

We hope you are able to receive the funding you need from other sources. We wish you the best of luck with your endeavors.

Sincerely,
Sandy Pierantoni
Sr. Program Manager, Community Relations
CDW
200 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Vernon Hills, IL. 60061

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BETF will continue to work with Audra Anderson and the rest of the BDPA Chicago chapter leadership to identify funding for their youth education (K-12) programming. Please let us know if you have any ideas or suggestions re: fundraising on behalf of BDPA programs and services.

Grant Recipient: BDPA Rhode Island ($500)

BDPA Rhode Island chapter president Felix Fontes gave me a call last week. His chapter is working hard to rejuvenate itself. He asked if the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) could support their efforts to get their youth education program off the ground. BETF agreed to provide his chapter with a $500 grant award.

We are happy to work with all 45 chapters in our efforts to provide funding for Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) programs. Felix learned the power of open communication when he gave BETF a call last week. What are you waiting on to make that same call?

Top 10 BDPA Chapters (Membership, Apr 2010)

BDPA is focused on “Taking Membership to the Next Level” over the course of the next year.   It is going to take some hard work on the part of everyone in the organization.   BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is committed to do our part.   Are you willing to do your part? 

I have confidence in our National BDPA VP-Membership Management -- Mildred Allen.  Membership is the lifeblood of any organization.  We need to dig deep within each of our local chapters to determine what we need to do in order to build membership.   More members provide more revenue and more volunteers.  If your chapter is gaining membership ... then you have reason for celebration.

Let's celebrate those 10 chapters with the most membership!  The 45 BDPA chapters in BDPA-nation average 34 members (down 3 from last month).

There is some good news in the membership numbers. We welcome BDPA Los Angeles (president, John Malonson) back into the top ten list for first time since December 2008. In addition, BDPA New York (president, Judaea Lane) moved up one spot in the rankings since last month ... the 5th place ranking is the highest for the chapter since October 2008.  Also, BDPA Dallas (president, Chris Johnson) moved up one spot in the rankings since last month ... the 7th place ranking is the highest for the chapter since January 2004.

BDPA Southern Minnesota (president, Charlie Perkins) and BDPA Detroit (president, Markita Wade) each dropped one spot in the rankings since last month.  The largest drop in membership over the past month was experienced by BDPA Richmond (president, Jamar Arvin) ... it is the first time since July 2004 that this chapter has not been in the Top 10 rankings.

BDPA Chicago (president, Pamela Sexton) maintains its place as the largest chapter in the nation for the 36th month in a row!

The top ten chapters in terms of membership as of 4/1/2010 are:

1. Chicago
2. Triangle
3. Philadelphia
4. Atlanta
5. New York - (jumped one place since last month)
6. Southern Minnesota - (dropped one place since last month)
7. Dallas - (jumped one place since last month)
8. Detroit - (dropped one place since last month)
9. New Jersey
10. Los Angeles - (jumped one place since last month)

The first two (2) chapters on this list are in the BDPA Century Club with at least 100 members. BDPA Chicago chapter tops the list with 226 members!

Feel free to ask about the ranking of your chapter. In the meantime, we would love to know what you think about membership in BDPA?

Applied Materials Foundation

Applied Materials Foundation has a number of programs that are dear to its corporate heart, including:

• Applied Materials Education Initiative: Focuses resources and strategic investments over sustained periods of time toward students in underserved communities. Using a comprehensive approach, the Education Initiative targets the entire educational pathway of students - from pre-school to college completion - in communities that have lower levels of student achievement and opportunities.
• The Tech Museum of Innovation Awards: The global program recognizes and works to extend the reach of breakthroughs in applying technology to improve the quality of life around the world.

Applied Materials makes grants to selected organizations and programs whose goals are closely aligned with the Company’s values and interest. They direct approximately 65% of grants to the area of Education, 25% to Civic Engagement and 10% to Arts & Culture. Applied targets up to 25% of all grants toward projects that contribute to environmental awareness and sustainability.

Grants are made for one year and may be renewed for up to two additional years based upon results. Applied Materials does not award grants for general operating expenses.

To be considered for funding, all grant proposals must meet the following guidelines:

1. Generally, Applied Materials supports programs or projects that are based in, or directed toward, a city or region where Applied Materials has operations. For grant consideration outside of the U.S., please send an e-mail to community_affairs@amat.com with a brief description of the request and it will be forwarded appropriately.
2. Grantees must be a school or a charitable organization that is classified as 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service.
3. Requests for $2500 or more must be submitted through their online grant application tool.
4. Requests for $2500 or less may be submitted through their simplified online grant application tool.
5. Proposals will be reviewed to ensure they meet the specific criteria for the four grant making categories: Education, Civic Engagement, Environment, and Arts & Culture.

Applied Materials will review grant requests semi-annually, with the deadlines of January 15 and June 15. Applications should be submitted through their online tool. Their focus areas and grant guidelines remain the same as does our ongoing commitment to make a positive social contribution in communities where their company does business.

Grant Proposal: CDW Foundation (Chicago)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) and BDPA Chicago chapter submitted an online grant proposal to CDW Foundation. We requested $5,000 grant funding to support the Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) program in Chicagoland.

Wish us luck!

Grant Award: Raytheon Charitable Foundation ($5,000)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is pleased to learn that Raytheon Charitable Foundation approved our grant proposal on behalf of BDPA Los Angeles chapter. As a result, we have $5,000 to support full implementation of the chapter's 2010 Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) program.

Kudos to BDPA Los Angeles chapter president John Malonson for working tirelessly with BETF on this grant opportunity. It was his personal touch that made the difference in the end.

We look forward to seeing a great performance by BDPA Los Angeles chapter in this year's national HSCC championships!

Verizon Foundation

The Verizon Foundation is in the business of improving lives in literacy, knowledge and a readiness for the 21st Century.

Eligible organizations seeking grants from the Verizon Foundation must be prepared to track and report program outcomes as well as specific results that demonstrate measurable human impact. In the grant application, organizations must indicate what outcomes are targeted through programming and what results, as specified on the grant application, the organization will measure.

The Verizon Foundation targets their philanthropic investments to partners and programs that achieve meaningful outcomes and measurable results in specific areas within each of their Funding Priorities. Grant applicants are required to select one or more outcomes and results for grants in each of their Funding Priorities.

It is best if your chapter has Verizon employees in your membership. However, BETF is willing to partner with any interested chapter. Please review the website to determine if this funding source is a good fit for your chapter.

Grant Recipient: National BDPA ($5,000)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) approved a $5,000 grant request submitted by National BDPA to support their 2010 Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) program.

National BDPA VP-Member Services Paulette Johnson-Davis and I began a dialogue last month on ways that BETF could support her efforts to improve member services for BDPA's K-12 youth education program. She identified some specific ways that she would use the funding with us ... and her efforts led to this $5,000 grant award.

BETF was created in 1992 by National BDPA. It is nice to see that this 19-year old strategic alliance is still paying dividends for African Americans in the IT industry who seek to advance their careers from the classroom to the boardroom!

Will Obama's Urban School Grants Create Opportunities for BDPA Entrepreneurs?

According to the U.S. Department of Education, President Obama has recently announced $900 million in grants as a part of his 2011 budget to help improve student achievement at 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. Most, if not all, of the schools are in urban areas.

The budget includes a $100-million program aimed at increasing college-level, dual-credit and other accelerated courses in schools, allowing students to earn a high-school diploma and an associate's degree simultaneously.

What does this mean for BDPA entrepreneurs and business owners?

This means that local businesses that sell educational services and products can benefit too. The grant money will be allocated in many ways, such as to hire tutors, to buy educational software and materials, to upgrade old technology (computers, etc), to hire local motivational speakers, to hire scholarship experts and college consultants, and more.

The grant money may even be used to hire interior decorators and architects to make the schools look more modern. Do your research, and find out if there are schools in your area that will receive assistance from the grants. If so, find out what the schools' needs are and position yourself to offer relevant services. There will, no doubt, be many contracting and purchasing opportunities in the near future.

Here is a listing of other 2010 business grant opportunities that you might find useful.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a leading voice and catalyst for innovative solutions to the region's most challenging problems. Their mission, vision and values reflect our commitment to serving the vibrant and diverse community that makes up San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a partner and resource to organizations improving the quality of life in that region, and to those who want to give back locally, nationally and internationally.

The community foundation has developed a series of Requests for Proposals, or RFPs, that address five grantmaking strategies: Economic Security; Immigrant Integration; Education (Closing the Middle School Achievement Gap); Regional Planning (Land Use and Transportation Planning); and a Community Opportunity Fund focused on safety-net issues and innovative ideas.

BDPA Bay Area chapter has the best chance of funding from the Education strategy.

Six Flags Friends Scholarships

Six Flags Friends Scholarships (Deadline: April 30) -- DoSomething.org has teamed up with Six Flags Friends to award college scholarships to young leaders who are taking action to make their community a better place.

Scholarships will be awarded based on past, current and planned action in the community as well as the applicant's passion, commitment and proven leadership skills. Six winners will receive a $1,500 college scholarships.

Grant Declination: Goodrich Foundation

We learned this week that our grant proposal to Goodrich Foundation on behalf of BDPA Los Angeles chapter was turned down.

The declination letter read as follows:

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Dear Mr. Hicks :

Thank you for your interest in the Goodrich Foundation. We received your Goodrich Foundation Application request for Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) Program.

Your proposal does not fit or meet our giving objectives at this time and we must decline your request for funding. The Foundation does support qualified 501 c 3 organizations like yours in a variety of ways, and these could be helpful to you as you continue to seek new revenue. Those are:

• We support organizations with matching funds under the company's Partners in Giving Program. This is an employee benefit program, and employees personal contributions are matched 1:1.


• Volunteers who also happen to be Goodrich employees can double this donation through the Partners in Giving program.


• Additional possible funding could be available in the sponsorship budget in one of our local facilties.

A full description of our giving focus and giving guidelines can be found on our website. You can also find our business unit locations on the website for your review.

We wish you success in your future activities and search for funding. We appreciate the good works you provide in your community.

Sincerely,
Kelly Chopus, Secretary
Goodrich Foundation

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BETF will continue to seek funding for BDPA Los Angeles chapter and the other 44 local chapters around the country. You can help. Do you know anyone that works at Goodrich who is also a supporter of BDPA?

Sempra Energy Foundation

The Sempra Energy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private foundation based in San Diego, California, USA. The foundation was founded by Sempra Energy, a Fortune 250 energy services company that serves the largest customer base of any energy utility in the United States. With 13,800 employees worldwide, the Sempra Energy companies develop energy infrastructure, operate utilities, and provide related products and services to more than 29 million consumers worldwide.

Sempra Energy Foundation supports educational programs that help educate children and communities in the following areas:

1. Environment
2. Math and science
3. Technology

The Sempra Energy Foundation uses a four-step process to evaluate applications and award grants. The process may take between four to six weeks, so please keep that in mind when submitting your proposal. In 2010, the Sempra Energy Foundation will accept applications from April through October.

Film Your Issue 2010 Competition

The Film Your Issue 2010 Competition (Deadline: April 19) seems like a good opportunity for BDPA chapters to consider as they conduct weekend computer camps.

Think you have a solution to problems with the environment, economic recession, education, healthcare, human/equal rights, national security/defense, poverty, public service or technology? Film Your Issue or submit it through a song.

The Film Your Issue competition, in its 5th year, is looking for solution-project ideas to front-burner issues from young adults 14 to 24 in a 3-minute video format, with accompanying one-sheet description.




Winning solution-projects will be presented to senior officials in the Obama administration, broadcast on screens in every Best Buy store on the planet, presented at a VIP reception in Washington, DC. Winners will be flown to Los Angeles for the Awards ceremony co-hosted by Sony Pictures Studios. Prizes include an Apple MacBook and iPod Touches, and Sundance Film Festival 2011 Film School Pass.

Do you know any young people that might be interested in this challenge?

President Profile: Carter Hill (Atlanta)

BDPA's success in the 21st century will be determined by a new generation of leaders. We need to find new ways to reach out to members, IT professionals, students, entrepreneurs, executives and sponsors. One of the new generation of leaders is BDPA Atlanta chapter president Carter Hill. We thought you would like to learn more about this powerful young brother!

Name: Carter Hill (Turner Broadcasting Systems)
President, BDPA Atlanta Chapter

Address: PO Box 50462Atlanta, GA 30302-0998
Phone: (678) 677-5428

Website: http://www.atlantabdpa.org/ or LinkedIn or Twitter.

Newsletter: BDPA Atlanta Newsletter (Jun 2009)

Professional Background - Mr. Hill has over seventeen years of Information Technology experience working in several Fortune 500 companies in the metro Atlanta area. During his career, he has worked as a Software Developer, a Business Analyst and a Project Manager. Currently Mr. Hill works as a Business Analyst for Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

In addition to his leadership role with BDPA Atlanta, Mr. Hill is a member of the Multicultural Advisory Council which develops diversity initiatives for Turner Broadcasting's technology division. He is also a member of the National Black MBA Association and the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is often called upon to speak at community events dealing with education and career choices.

BDPA - Carter Hill serves the Atlanta Chapter as its President. In this role he is responsible for guiding chapter direction, presiding over all meetings and acting as the primary chapter spokesperson. Mr. Hill formerly held the office of Vice President of Business Management for the Atlanta chapter. In the mid 1990s, Mr. Hill was founding member of the BDPA Omaha chapter and served as its Treasurer.

Education - Mr. Hill holds two academic degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Morris Brown College and a MBA in Information Systems Management (with distinction) from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Favorite Quote - Be the change you wish to see in the world. -=[ Ghandi ]=-

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BDPA Atlanta is the 4th largest chapter in the nation. The sky is the limit for this chapter under the leadership of a powerful nubian -- Carter Hill. I hope that you will take a moment to share some 'BDPA-Love' with Carter in the COMMENTS section!

McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs Program

McCormick New Media Women Entrepreneurs Program (Deadline: April 10) gives one-time funding of $12,000 to women with original ideas to create new websites, mobile news services, or other entrepreneurial initiatives that offer interactive opportunities to engage, inspire, and improve news and information in a geographic community or a community of interest. These can be solo ideas or team projects spearheaded by women.

Earl Pace Discusses Evolution of BDPA (Video)

Earl Pace is founder of National BDPA. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors for the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation (BETF). He shares his thoughts on the evolution of BDPA since his initial vision in 1975.





What are your thoughts about your thoughts on BDPA's evolution?

Grant Declination: Amgen Foundation

We recently learned that our letter of inquiry to Amgen Foundation did not result in an invitation to submit a full grant proposal. Our request sought funding to support the youth education programs of BDPA Los Angeles chapter. Here the response that we received:

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Dear Mr. Hicks,

The Amgen Foundation carefully considered your letter of inquiry regarding support of the Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship (SITES) Program; however, we will not request a full proposal at this time.

The Foundation receives many more requests than our resources will permit us to support. This leads to difficult decisions, and in establishing funding priorities the Foundation is unable to support a number of important activities, such as yours.

We thank you for the excellent work of your organization to improve people's lives and appreciate the time and effort expended in informing the Foundation about your work. Although the Foundation cannot be of assistance, we wish you success in securing the funds from other sources.

Sincerely,
Amgen Foundation Staff

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BETF will continue to aggressively seek funding to support BDPA programs in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Please share with us any of your ideas or thoughts on how we can successfully raise funds for BDPA!