Build buildings and relationships!
Recently QBPGG found joy and fulfillment! Here’s how:
- BPGG took on a new trust. We decided to look into local community organizations, beyond Philadelphia, which are in the PYM region to receive funds. We knew very little about the organizations eligible for the new funds, so we researched possibilities, interviewed a number of organizations and settled on three. Each received a multi-year grant, which is currently in progress.
This is a current or upcoming project or interesting thing the granting group is working on:
- There are lots of needs out there and we’re all appreciative that money is available to help keep meetinghouses together & meetings going. Sometimes when we go out to talk to someone about a project we’re able to apply our own individual expertise to help them figure out how to better spend the money.
- You start to feel closer and more connected to other meetings when you get to meet new people and walk through old buildings. You hear about somewhere you visited once and go “oh, I’ve been there!” We aren’t just handing out money, we’re building relationships with people.
- Meetings tend to contact us when they’re in a crisis and need things replaced or major repairs. So we have considered the impact of creating a guideline that requires meetinghouses to have a maintenance plan in place.
People who participate in this granting group can learn and grow in this way:
- If you come in as a novice & don’t know a lot, you’ll sure know a lot when you leave. You’ll learn all about these Quaker organizations (retirement villages, meetinghouses, etc.). Let’s say you get really interested in those retirement villages – you could go down there and serve on their board.
- This granting group is a good starting place for people new to Quakerism or new to being on a granting group. Or even being new to the way money is generated, where it comes from, what you can do with it, etc.
This granting group functions at its best when there are people serving on it who have these skills or experiences:
- Experience in financial planning and with handling money & organizing projects with lots of moving parts would also be really helpful.
- Knowledge of construction/HVAC/contracting, etc.
- Experience in the field of retirement communities would be really helpful.
- Background in corporations & boards
The realistic time commitment of members of this granting group includes:
- We meet twice a year.
- Read applications and visit sites as necessary. Probably 10-12 hours a month if they’re very diligent about reading, and site visits will take 1-3 hours depending on circumstances. Not a lot of work, really.
What We Do
The PYM Quaker Buildings and Programs Granting Group (QB&P) makes grants for construction, renovation, and capital improvement projects of Quaker organizations, and to support programs that strengthen Quaker retirement communities and other specific Friends organizations, in accordance with the donor restrictions of the funds under the group’s care.
Provided is a list of recent grants to better understand the size and scope of projects that the Quaker Buildings & Programs Granting Group has supported in the past.
How To Apply
The Quaker Buildings & Programs Granting Group meets twice yearly to consider applications, with deadlines on March 1 and September 1 of each year. The members of the group conduct site visits to many applicants following those deadlines, as part of their review process. Consult the Quaker Buildings & Programs Guidelines [PDF] for application details; in addition to the Guidelines, download a copy of the Quaker Grantmaker Common Form [PDF], which the Guidelines will instruct you to complete. Note: funds available for family planning have been committed until 2024. Organizations interested in applying for a grant for family planning should contact PYM for an update on the next round of funding.
Who We Are
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- The members of the Quaker Buildings & Programs Granting Group are appointed by the PYM Granting Committee. Current membership:
- Bianca Ansiki, Little Egg Harbor Monthly Meeting
- Hugh Harr, Newtown Monthly Meeting
- John Hayden, Harrisburg Monthly Meeting
- Scott Hoskins, Newtown Monthly Meeting
- Michael Lane, Westfield Monthly Meeting
- Wayne Peischl, Media Monthly Meeting
- Carl Stanton, Chester Monthly Meeting
